1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 (8-ounce) and 1 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water
1 1/3 cup strawberries, mashed
For the Crust: In a bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs and 2 tablespoons sugar. Mix in melted butter and turn 1/2 into a 9-inch springform pan. Use the remaining crumbs up the side of the pan by about 1 inch. Make sure to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Bake in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 10 minutes. Cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F (150°C).
For the Filling: Beat softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl on high for at least 20 minutes until cheese itself becomes fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup sugar; beating until fluffy. Add grated lemon peel and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Pour into the shell and bake for 1 hour, or until the center is set. (center may be a little jiggly when done cooking, it will set while it cools. Do not over cook!) Cool then spread with the strawberry glaze. Chill for 3 hours.
For the Strawberry Glaze: Blend 1 cup sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in water and mashed strawberries. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Cool thoroughly before spreading over the cheesecake.
To remove from pan, run knife around outside of pan before unlocking spring form.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Couldn't stay away
I tried to stay away, but it turns out I can’t. I’m like the cat – came back, couldn’t stay away ... knew she a goner, etc. etc. Things are not as bad as I made them out to be – I just had issues that I was dealing with and Tuesday was a rather fragile day for me. I posted before leaving work early. So please disregard – I’m baaaaaack!
This past week was actually pretty nice, other than the mini crises early in the week. Tuesday we went to Shell’s house for couples’ night. It was a picnic dinner of pulled pork pitas (amazing), purple Peruvian potato salad (yummy), baked beans and cheese and fruit. It’s entirely possible that there was other food, but since it’s been a week, I don’t remember. I made a strawberry cheesecake for the occasion, and I dare say I think I outdid myself. The recipe to follow. I think the trick, though, to making the cheesecake so light and airy (quite possible to eat the whole pie) was that I whipped the cream cheese on its own for about ½ hour, and then started adding the sugar and continued to whip it.
Wednesday night all were supposed to come over to our house, but Shell and Richard bailed to have together time … the nerve! Haha. Imagine, married for 3 months and wanting personal time. You don’t get that anymore! But Shea and Kyle came over and we had stuffed green peppers and Bogle Zinfindel and meringue cookies for dessert. We went to The Zone, but between 2 weeks ago and this week it became a dance club. I guess whatever to pay the bills, but it was muy disappointing. Shell & Richard would have hated it, so it's a good thing they didn't end up coming. Kyle liked it because he could do his networking thing for his DJs ... the rest of us were just hoping that the boys had somewhere else to play that we could go listen. Thursday I went with my ex and Shell & Richard to see our friend Manny who lives in Japan. He was in Orlando for the week, so we met up with him at Islands of Adventure. The park was a bit of a bust, because it rained until after 4, so we rode a couple things right before we left and that was about it. But seeing Manny was awesome, and meeting his family and his boyfriend was very cool. The trip started out a little weird, and I kinda felt squeezed out by someone, but by the end it was a lot of fun and I’m very glad I went. We dined at Jungle Jim’s, which is my favorite Orlando burger joint. They have the peanut butter bet (they bet you’ll like it or they’ll get you a new burger), which I had to bring home one to Christen because he would have been very upset if I had dined there and not brought him back one. It’s what I ate as well. Yum!! Jim had the headhunter, which is a ridiculously monstrous burger. Which he, of course, ate the whole thing.
Friday was my off day, and Christen and I went for a stuffed pizza at Old Chicago. We didn’t really have anything in the house, and it’s pretty inexpensive – they have delicious spinach artichoke stuffed pizza there (well, I pick out the artichokes because I don’t like them).
At this time, I would like to bring your attention to the most engrossing game on the face of the earth.
Christen and I played this game for the entire weekend. Less about 7 hours on Saturday night when we went to Shelly’s house for an engagement party for her and Simon, we played this game all friggin’ weekend. It was awesome. Awesome. I’m still way far behind Christen, and I think I played a lot more than he (but he had an additional week of play before I started). It’s so fun! You probably shouldn’t get it – it’s far too engrossing. You’ll start losing weekends left and right.
Shelly and Simon’s party was very fun. The boys (previously from The Zone) were there and set up to jam (Simon joined in on bongo drum) and there was a lot of food and Belgium beer (very tasty) and I got to catch up with Shelly’s family and play with my godbaby Rachel (not really a baby anymore, she’s 7 and a total handful but lots of fun). Shelly was toasted by about 8:30, but I think she had a good time too. :)
And now I'm back at work and I've gotten a lot done, so I think I'm going to go downstairs and get breakfast before starting up again!
This past week was actually pretty nice, other than the mini crises early in the week. Tuesday we went to Shell’s house for couples’ night. It was a picnic dinner of pulled pork pitas (amazing), purple Peruvian potato salad (yummy), baked beans and cheese and fruit. It’s entirely possible that there was other food, but since it’s been a week, I don’t remember. I made a strawberry cheesecake for the occasion, and I dare say I think I outdid myself. The recipe to follow. I think the trick, though, to making the cheesecake so light and airy (quite possible to eat the whole pie) was that I whipped the cream cheese on its own for about ½ hour, and then started adding the sugar and continued to whip it.
Wednesday night all were supposed to come over to our house, but Shell and Richard bailed to have together time … the nerve! Haha. Imagine, married for 3 months and wanting personal time. You don’t get that anymore! But Shea and Kyle came over and we had stuffed green peppers and Bogle Zinfindel and meringue cookies for dessert. We went to The Zone, but between 2 weeks ago and this week it became a dance club. I guess whatever to pay the bills, but it was muy disappointing. Shell & Richard would have hated it, so it's a good thing they didn't end up coming. Kyle liked it because he could do his networking thing for his DJs ... the rest of us were just hoping that the boys had somewhere else to play that we could go listen. Thursday I went with my ex and Shell & Richard to see our friend Manny who lives in Japan. He was in Orlando for the week, so we met up with him at Islands of Adventure. The park was a bit of a bust, because it rained until after 4, so we rode a couple things right before we left and that was about it. But seeing Manny was awesome, and meeting his family and his boyfriend was very cool. The trip started out a little weird, and I kinda felt squeezed out by someone, but by the end it was a lot of fun and I’m very glad I went. We dined at Jungle Jim’s, which is my favorite Orlando burger joint. They have the peanut butter bet (they bet you’ll like it or they’ll get you a new burger), which I had to bring home one to Christen because he would have been very upset if I had dined there and not brought him back one. It’s what I ate as well. Yum!! Jim had the headhunter, which is a ridiculously monstrous burger. Which he, of course, ate the whole thing.
Friday was my off day, and Christen and I went for a stuffed pizza at Old Chicago. We didn’t really have anything in the house, and it’s pretty inexpensive – they have delicious spinach artichoke stuffed pizza there (well, I pick out the artichokes because I don’t like them).
At this time, I would like to bring your attention to the most engrossing game on the face of the earth.
Christen and I played this game for the entire weekend. Less about 7 hours on Saturday night when we went to Shelly’s house for an engagement party for her and Simon, we played this game all friggin’ weekend. It was awesome. Awesome. I’m still way far behind Christen, and I think I played a lot more than he (but he had an additional week of play before I started). It’s so fun! You probably shouldn’t get it – it’s far too engrossing. You’ll start losing weekends left and right.
Shelly and Simon’s party was very fun. The boys (previously from The Zone) were there and set up to jam (Simon joined in on bongo drum) and there was a lot of food and Belgium beer (very tasty) and I got to catch up with Shelly’s family and play with my godbaby Rachel (not really a baby anymore, she’s 7 and a total handful but lots of fun). Shelly was toasted by about 8:30, but I think she had a good time too. :)
And now I'm back at work and I've gotten a lot done, so I think I'm going to go downstairs and get breakfast before starting up again!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
temporary hiatus
Hey. So some things happened last night that I don't want to get into, but I won't be around much for a little bit. Might be a week, might be longer -- I'm not sure right now. I'm fine, everything's fine -- don't worry about it. Just wanted to explain if you stop by wondering where I am -- I'll be around.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Rosebud ... wasn't that the sled?
I don’t understand the prospect of coming to work on Monday more tired than when you left on Friday. I had a great weekend, but really I think I should have gotten some sleep sometime … right? Friday I had planned on a quiet night of laundry and hanging out with Lola, but Stacy ended up coming over for pesto pasta with asparagus and wine instead. We had a great time, just hanging out and drinking and talking. Saturday, Christen and I did some shopping and just basically hung out being silly and not doing much of anything. I bought a shirt and a dress on clearance at The Loft Ann Taylor, and a couple shirts on clearance at NY & Co, both of which are a couple of my very favorite stores. I was looking for a birthday gift for a friend of mine and made the trek down to Baywalk because I knew The Buzz would have what I wanted but alas, everything I liked had chips in it or was otherwise not acceptable. Still looking for that birthday gift … I made steaks in a red wine sauce that night (left over Bogle Petit Syrah, a fantastic wine) and fresh green beans. Sunday I woke up to Christen making banana pancakes (if only it were raining I’d start quoting Jack Johnson again). I wasn’t really in a breakfast mood – I can’t eat right when I wake up – and we went out again, this time for a larger trashcan and to get my pearls cleaned at Jared’s and to see if they could fix a ring of mine, but it turns out they can’t … and I got to try on some necklaces to see if there was anything I couldn’t live without. Hehe. Not that I could have gotten anything, but it’s nice to look. I think he’s pretty intent on getting me a necklace for the wedding, which I’m psyched about. I love jewelry. I never knew I was such a girl, and now I’m so into shoes and purses and jewelry … if I wasn’t so spastic about my books you wouldn’t know I’m the nerd that I am. Well, maybe you would know, but whatever. :)
Sunday night Shea and Kyle came over for shrimp and rice pilaf and more wine (sensing a trend? Thought so) and we all hung out and acted stupid. I made peaches flambé! for dessert (I thought the dessert needed an exclamation point) although I think it needed more brandy -- there was just a little blue flame -- I was hoping for something a little more sensational. All tasted good though, and that's important. Shea and I looked at invitations for the wedding and the boys went outside and smoked their cigars … it was a pretty typical Saturday night – except that it was Sunday. They didn’t stay real late, but I still didn’t get much sleep last night and I think I consumed more than 3 bottles of wine by myself over the weekend. I do know the wine refrigerator is mighty light right now. I might take a trip over to the wine store for replacement … :) There’s a wine store in
I’m still working through A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain. I only read 3 pages over the weekend, while I was watching War of the Worlds (I know, I know, I’m sorry). But I plan on getting back into the swing of things today, and I’ll probably finish at lunch (I only have 48 pages left). So next will be The Nasty Bits, also by Bourdain. Then I get to start in on my bag of books from Jordan.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
What's a lost apostrophe between friends?
For some reason if I post to this blog first and then copy it to my MySpace, I lose all the punctuation except periods. Never lose your period.
Went out with the girls last night for sushi at Bonsai sushi -- it was fantabulous! The usual suspects, of course, and a couple specialty rolls like a Rising Sun roll and a Gator Roll (with tempura gator on top) ... yum yum! But no yum yum, because I'm not a fan. We also meandered through the stores and went shopping but we were all pretty good about our spending (for once ... hehe). I stayed later than I meant to at Shelley's, because Christen was going to be home late and I didn't want to be home too long by myself late at night. It turned out he got home about 45 minutes after me, and we stayed up talking until far too late. It was hard to get up for work this morning. To tell you the truth, this whole week has been tough. Hopefully I'll get caught up by tomorrow afternoon and next week will be easier. I don't like not enjoying work.
Went out with the girls last night for sushi at Bonsai sushi -- it was fantabulous! The usual suspects, of course, and a couple specialty rolls like a Rising Sun roll and a Gator Roll (with tempura gator on top) ... yum yum! But no yum yum, because I'm not a fan. We also meandered through the stores and went shopping but we were all pretty good about our spending (for once ... hehe). I stayed later than I meant to at Shelley's, because Christen was going to be home late and I didn't want to be home too long by myself late at night. It turned out he got home about 45 minutes after me, and we stayed up talking until far too late. It was hard to get up for work this morning. To tell you the truth, this whole week has been tough. Hopefully I'll get caught up by tomorrow afternoon and next week will be easier. I don't like not enjoying work.
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
we can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind
So I’ve been trying to read The Way the Crow Flies, and I just can’t get into it. Technically, I guess I’m into it – I’ve read 56 pages of it. But it’s just not thrilling me. So I bought 15 books from a Jordan, some of which I bought for my brother but all of which I plan on reading and borrowed two Anthony Bourdain books from Brad, so I think I’m going to put this aside. If someone has read it and liked it, please tell me if it gets more intriguing. I don’t want to read all 810 pages thinking as I turn the page, “I don’t want to put this down, because one day it’ll get good” and then it just doesn’t. That happened when I saw Not Another Teen Movie in the theater. I was sick, and wanted to sleep through it, but I kept thinking I was going to fall asleep and miss the one funny part. It turned out I should have just taken the nap. So I brought A Cook’s Tour with me to work, which I’ll probably start reading during lunch. I love food porn.
I’ve decided not to worry about the divorce rate in America anymore. I figure, in my family there’s not nearly as much divorce as I would think: My parents are divorced, and my uncle has been divorced twice, and my aunt has once (she’s been remarried for 10-15 years). But that’s it. So theoretically, my family has a very low divorce rate. And in Christen’s, the rate is even lower – I think two of his uncles have been divorced, and one of them has been remarried for awhile, and his aunt has been divorced and remarried for ages. Plus, I could have gotten married when all my friends from high school got married, but I’d probably be divorced now too. I was just too young; everything about me has changed. The guy I would have married and I are just two completely different people now. Nothing against him, I’m still rather fond of him (although it did take awhile for us to grow up enough to be friends again).
Last night I went over Jordan’s and cooked for him and Brad. I made that veggie pesto pasta with shrimp and a chocolate peanut butter pie, and I must say – all food was fabulous. Hehe. It was a lot of fun though, which I am very happy about. I was starting to worry about some of the friendships there, as it had been a long time since I had seen either of them and a very long time since I had even spoken to one of them. But there was great conversation, lots of laughter, good food, good wine (Jordan got a bottle of wine for us, and it was not bad at all – La Bastarda, or something like that). Very pleased, I was. It must not be that long before we do it again.
Tonight is girl’s night, and I have pledged to make the trek back out to Tampa because I am the only one with air conditioning and they’ve been driving out to see me for the past two or three weeks. I don’t know what we are to do – currently there’s not a lot of wedding issues to iron out, although I do need to get on with a photographer, dj, and florist. I’ve picked out the dj & florist, but I really need to contact them to make sure that they are available for that day. And I have a few prospects for photographers. Man, if you want to make good money, become a wedding photographer. They make money hand over fist, seriously. I wish I made $225-350 an hour. I should get Christen start doing weddings. He’s a really good photographer; he just needs a good digital camera, which he plans on getting for the honeymoon anyhow. So afterward I can start farming him out to different weddings, maybe at a discount price until he gets some experience so he has pictures for his Web site, and hike up the prices to two grand for a 6-hour session. Sound like a plan? I do need to start working out. I put on this dress that I love today and it was a bit tighter than usual – still fits, but not as comfortably as it should. Plus, I ordered my wedding dress, and though I didn’t order a size too small, I did order the tighter size, with the intention of dropping 5-10 lbs to make it more comfortable, which would mean that I wouldn’t need to get the bodice taken in at all (read: cheaper). I want to join a gym close to home, so that when I’m sitting on my butt at home I can just go around the corner to work out. I was working out at the work gym, but my workout partner stopped coming, and then I kept on for a little while longer and then I got waylaid as well. I might just buy some little weights and try to start walking, but I don’t know how much drive I’ll have that way either.
I’ve decided not to worry about the divorce rate in America anymore. I figure, in my family there’s not nearly as much divorce as I would think: My parents are divorced, and my uncle has been divorced twice, and my aunt has once (she’s been remarried for 10-15 years). But that’s it. So theoretically, my family has a very low divorce rate. And in Christen’s, the rate is even lower – I think two of his uncles have been divorced, and one of them has been remarried for awhile, and his aunt has been divorced and remarried for ages. Plus, I could have gotten married when all my friends from high school got married, but I’d probably be divorced now too. I was just too young; everything about me has changed. The guy I would have married and I are just two completely different people now. Nothing against him, I’m still rather fond of him (although it did take awhile for us to grow up enough to be friends again).
Last night I went over Jordan’s and cooked for him and Brad. I made that veggie pesto pasta with shrimp and a chocolate peanut butter pie, and I must say – all food was fabulous. Hehe. It was a lot of fun though, which I am very happy about. I was starting to worry about some of the friendships there, as it had been a long time since I had seen either of them and a very long time since I had even spoken to one of them. But there was great conversation, lots of laughter, good food, good wine (Jordan got a bottle of wine for us, and it was not bad at all – La Bastarda, or something like that). Very pleased, I was. It must not be that long before we do it again.
Tonight is girl’s night, and I have pledged to make the trek back out to Tampa because I am the only one with air conditioning and they’ve been driving out to see me for the past two or three weeks. I don’t know what we are to do – currently there’s not a lot of wedding issues to iron out, although I do need to get on with a photographer, dj, and florist. I’ve picked out the dj & florist, but I really need to contact them to make sure that they are available for that day. And I have a few prospects for photographers. Man, if you want to make good money, become a wedding photographer. They make money hand over fist, seriously. I wish I made $225-350 an hour. I should get Christen start doing weddings. He’s a really good photographer; he just needs a good digital camera, which he plans on getting for the honeymoon anyhow. So afterward I can start farming him out to different weddings, maybe at a discount price until he gets some experience so he has pictures for his Web site, and hike up the prices to two grand for a 6-hour session. Sound like a plan? I do need to start working out. I put on this dress that I love today and it was a bit tighter than usual – still fits, but not as comfortably as it should. Plus, I ordered my wedding dress, and though I didn’t order a size too small, I did order the tighter size, with the intention of dropping 5-10 lbs to make it more comfortable, which would mean that I wouldn’t need to get the bodice taken in at all (read: cheaper). I want to join a gym close to home, so that when I’m sitting on my butt at home I can just go around the corner to work out. I was working out at the work gym, but my workout partner stopped coming, and then I kept on for a little while longer and then I got waylaid as well. I might just buy some little weights and try to start walking, but I don’t know how much drive I’ll have that way either.
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