Cheesecake cures boredom!

I am supremely bored tonight.  So, why not cook and stuff my face with homemade cheesecake?  I'm not usually a baker, but tonight I decided I couldn't live without cheesecake. So I took down a cookbook that I have not used yet.  I got this cookbook from one of the hundreds and hundreds of books that were in the HUGE garage sale that Karen B. had. 

I am not sure who actually bought or owned the cookbook, but I am guessing that it was either Karen's or Aunt Fran's!  

First step is the crust.  I am extremely conflicted about the crust part of this cheesecake.  Normally I am not a crust girl, unless it is my Mom's pie crust or a good east coast pizza crust.  I always wonder what the point to a crust on cheesecake is when the good stuff is on the inside.  But, thats what the recipe calls for, so I'm going for it. And it has an entire stick of butter in the crust.  Nothing can be wrong with that, LOL!

Then comes the cinnamon graham crackers and sugar.  I really need to get a food processor, but I never seem to justify spending money on it when my hand crank tupperware one works just fine! 

The recipe said to cover the bottom and sides of the pan with the graham cracker crust.  I am compromising since I usually don't like crust and doing the bottom and a little bit of the sides. 

 Now comes the best part of cheesecake.  CHEESE!!!!  Look at all that cream cheese and sugar, no wonder this is my favorite cake! I have always said I can live off of cheese and bread alone!

Into the oven it goes.  I think I lost all of my heat taking this picture though, so I'm sure that I will have to add a few minutes cooking time.

Disaster Averted.  I am sitting on the computer and Jeremy asks me if my cheesecake is burning.  I say of course not.  Not only because I don't burn things, haha, but because it had only been in for ten minutes. Okay, so maybe I have burned things before.  But, it doesn't happen often, and it is usually myself and not the food :0)  I have a little cold, so I can't smell much of anything.  I am glad he said something though because the butter was dripping through the springform pan and onto the bottom of the oven, smoking, of course. So had to open the oven take out the grate and wipe off the bottom of the oven, then put a pan under the cheesecake.  I am GRATEFUL the fire alarm didn't go off!!!  But, there went more of my oven heat :0(.  Definately going to have to add cooking time.

Now for the second controversy of this cheesecake recipe.  It has a sour cream topping.  Now I have nothing against sour cream.  But, once again, I don't see the point of topping such yummy cheese with sour cream!!   But, thats the recipe so here I go.  The topping is a mixture of sour cream, sugar, and almond extract. It gets added to the top after baking, then baked again for ten minutes.

I have to say that I dipped my finger into the topping and really did enjoy the taste of the almond.  I'm really interested to taste it all together.  I may convert to being a fan of cheesecake toppings, but I think I will still prefer no crust.  So the cheesecake is now cooling in the fridge!!!!   The only question I have is..........

WHO IS COMING OVER TO SHARE IT WITH ME, LOL???????????



Okay, here I go.

So, I am not sure about whether I will enjoy actually blogging.  I became a member because I wanted to follow "The House on the Hill".  I love reading Kathy's blogs :0) 

Now for the real problem.  I don't think that I have enough going on in my life to actually blog about. I work, cook, read, watch TV, listen to music, play with my dog, and spend time with my husband.  Although I have kind of taken a break from my guitar, I love playing it.  None of which makes great copy!


Gypsy

For now, I guess I will start by saying that I grew up in Long Point, IL.  I still love that little town and miss the simplicity and familiarity.  I went to Woodland High School, then to Dominican University in River Forest.  I majored in Sociology/Criminology.  After college, I married my high school sweetheart and love of my life, Jeremy.  Although we have been married for just 5 years, we have been dating since I was 15.  I have been with him for over half my life.  I remember telling him in 8th grade that we were going to get married.  He laughed and told me I was crazy for thinking that, we are only in 8th grade, lol.  Anyone that really knows me, knows that he basically challenged me to marry him that night :0)  And I am thankful every day that he set my stubborn crazy head on that course.  

July 23, 2005

Jeremy's job then handed us a surprise.  We packed up and moved 14 hours away to New Jersey.  Now I am working as an Assistant Supervisor in a group home for disabled adults.  I could talk about how much I love this job for far too long, so I will move on.  Will have to do another blog on my job.

This is the farthest either of us has been from family in our lifetimes.  I do have to say that I love it here, but its hard not to get lonely too.  There is definately never a shortage of things to do.  Close to the beach, the mountains, and the city.  The only way it could get better is if I could share this with family!

I remind myself all the time that I am so lucky to be part of such a large family.  Not everyone has that experience and it is something I could never imagine going without.  Even though we are scattered, I am still luckier than most.

So, I think that is me in a nutshell, sortof.