I love cheesecake!

Good morning! It's gonna rain today. I must admit that it has been an odd summer with cool weather and lots of rain. Does this mean more mosquitoes? Keep your fingers, toes, and eyes crossed....Tink has a job interview today that is in alignment with her career goals. It's been a wild ride trying to find the right position. However, this one looks really good. By the way, thanks to BP Grandpop who asked the Pink nuns on Green Street to pray for our girl. That's right. They call themselves the 'pink sisters' whose convent is on Green St in Philly. Nice, eh? Got that going for her...If anyone needs a prayer or 100, call the convent. The sisters will take care of you.

How is the big kid? Well, he seems pretty good as he works out 3-4 hours a day then goes to the bakery to earn money for school. He got me out of bed this morning and told me that I have to get started on my day.       It reminded me of the old days when he would slink out of bed in his footie pajamas to grab a handful of Golden Grahams (no milk) and watch Barney singing around the campfire as I dizzily got out of bed. He would find Tink already in front of the television watching Sesame Street before the sun came up.

This worries me about the future. Heck, if he is picking out my nursing home, I am afraid that I am going to be stuck in a military-like setting with revelry being played at 6 am for us senior citizens to hobble to the showers. It's not a pretty picture and nothing like my personal goal of spending my senior years looking at the ocean while my masseuse massages my sore muscles.











By the way, I went to my first Tai Chi class yesterday.

 

Can you spell boring? I was in the room with a few girls who were younger than me and lots of girls who were older. As we bent to take our first position, I could hear 20 or so knees crack. I almost fell over laughing. If I wasn't trying so hard to keep my balance, I would have hit the floor. I believe that that was my first and last Tai Chi class. On to the next class...balletone. Although, I am not sure what it is, I might as well try it as the last of my days off click off the calendar.

The next few days will be spent maxing out my credit card.

 

The big kid has to furnish the poop deck and we have to equip the kitchen too. I already hit Walgreen's 75% off sale and picked up plastic instruments for the kitchen as well as cheap forks, knives, and spoons. He bought the uber cheap white plastic chairs for the deck. I actually hate those chairs. They never look clean and grow mold. He needs a shower curtain, floor mat, rug, sofa or futon, lamps, and so on......and so on.....and so on....he will take the 32 year old broken lounge chair from the basement and television. He has checked out of the house of mold and left it in the not-so-capable hands of the crazy room mates.

The cable company has to be called and we have to rent a van to bring the rest of the furnishings to campus. I actually thought that I checked out of the process after I paid the first month's rent. But it seems that my job is not done yet. Finally, he is giving the old sofa away since the guys want to trash it. And so, another call is set to the Salvation Army to pick it up next week.

With that said, it's time for me to work out. The big kid has been a motivating factor getting me to work out every day. No cheesecake for me...lots of fruit and veggies....cardio....sweating.....cussing at my hips.....

One last word....it's on cheesecake. Yes, I know....pure fat....pure yummie-licious....check out Sunny Anderson's recipe on the Food Channel website....I made this cheesecake for the family at the beach.

After the gang fell out of their chairs in ecstasy, Big Sis and I grabbed forks and tackled the last of it....no plates were needed....too much to clean up. We finished it on the cake plate. Why did we do this at the shore when every bulge is revealed at the beach? Uh....would you believe that it was sooo good that we did not care? And so, for those of you who are sick of counting calories, carbs, and sugars, here is a recipe that is calorie-worthy. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
6 to 8 tablespoons butter, melted
4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sour cream
1 pint blueberries
1 pint strawberries, sliced

Directions

Special Equipment: 9-inch springform pan Heat oven to 325 degrees F. In a food processor blend crumbs and melted butter until moist, but not wet. Press into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan. In a large bowl, using an electric beater, combine the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and the lemon juice, until light and smooth. Slowly mix in eggs then pour into the prepared pan. Bake 55 minutes or until the center sets. Turn off oven and remove cake. In a medium bowl mix together sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla. Spread this over the top of the cheesecake and return to the warm oven for 30 minutes. Remove then let cool to room temperature before removing springform.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl toss together blueberries and sliced strawberries with remaining sugar.

To serve: slice cheesecake into wedges and garnish with fruit.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/lonestar-state-cheesecake-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback