Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

Last week we had our Relief Society Enrichment Activity. The theme of the evening was a 'Chocolate Festival'. Everyone who wanted to could bring something to eat, but of course, it had to contain chocolate. I have been concocting this idea for quite some time and, while it didn't turn out quite the way I had anticipated, considering the circumstances it was great. So, as painful as it may be, here's how it went down in pictures.

I decided that Milano cookies would make a good crust. (If you have an outlet store, go there. Buy cheap - you're going to crush them up anyway)

I put the cookies in the food processor until finely chopped. I then added some melted butter. Stir until it looks like all of the crumbs have had a butter bath (no, you do not want it soaking wet, but you want it to stick together once you get it in the pan)

Dump the crumb/butter mixture into a spring form pan (I line the bottom disc in foil so it is less messy and SOOOO much easier to clean) and press down. I have issues with getting things on my hands so I use a plastic bag. Beside, you leave more cookies in the pan and none on your hands.


Bake in the oven until the crust is set (about 10 minutes...I think).


While the crust was baking/cooling I made the cheesecake batter. I melted a white chocolate Lindt bar and added it to the batter.


While the cheesecake baked I made the chocolate mousse. It was turning into a very long night and the pictures started to become fewer and further between.

While everything was baking, cooling and setting, I also decided to melt some more white chocolate and added pink food coloring to make swirls to top the whole thing of with. At this point my wonderful mother came to my rescue at 10:30 pm and helped me with everything.


We made lots and lots of swirls....


Here is the before and after shot of the cheesecakes.

Before.....After.....


I was a little concerned how the mixture of textures would work out, but personally, I loved it (and that, in my mind, is all that matters).

I think I dream in chocolate...

Cows

I've been having all sorts of fun lately, some of it real fun, some of it sarcastic 'fun', but all in all, things are great and I am really happy. I am happy that today is the holiday known as Tuesday and that my work week is now half over. Today I got an added boost of excitement as I drove into the parking lot at work. There are two doors on the loading dock side of the building; the first is ours and the second is primarily for the company we share with upstairs. As I was making the turn to the back of the building, I saw what I thought was a cow - wait, could that be??? This is not farm country, nor is this a farm. What on earth would a cow be doing here? And if it was a cow, what was it doing going into our building? The only option would be to put it in the elevator or make it take the stairs and I really couldn't imagine either option. So, I ran inside (seriously, I don't think I have ever been so anxious to get to work) and asked one of the people that sits near me if he saw a cow this morning. He said he had but that it was parked out back. I told him that, in fact, the cow was in the building. Of course, nobody believed that the cow could be in the building, basically because of the elevator/stairs dilema. A few moments passed and my manager walked into the office and I asked if she had seen the cow because I knew she arrived before I did. She looked at me like I had six heads, 'a cow, here?' she asked. 'Are you sure it was a cow?' So, being the smart woman she is, she said, 'let's go for a walk'. We went to the offices on the other side of the building and the property manager was there and asked if we had seen the cow; I was right! He explained that it was their bosses 50th birthday and that he is obsessed with cows (no joke, the man has those gi-normous Cow Parade cows (life-size) in his office, as well as one in their main lobby), so they rented him one for the morning! They set up a pen right in his office and put her in it (and if you're wondering, there were tarps on the floor, just in case...) We got to go in and see her; it made me incredibly happy and I've been smiling ever since. What a classic idea! I'm going to have to do that one day... If nothing else good happens today, it doesn't really matter - I'm all set.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Grateful

Have you ever had those moments when, amidst whatever you're doing, everything in the world seems so much clearer and out of the blue you understand something, or maybe you know what you want to do, or something like that. I have been having a week like that. I don't know what it is exactly, but I feel incredibly empowered, like I'm really on the right track with my life. I know what I want to do, who I want to be. I know mostly how I am going to accomplish it and I have some really big lifelong goals that I'm working on. I have some really positive things going on that truly outweigh the negative and I just feel good. That isn't to say that I don't think about things too much and confuse myself, but when I can clear my mind and focus a little bit better, everything makes sense and I know that what I'm doing is right for me. Oh, how I wish I could remember that 24/7.
I have a whiteboard behind my door in my bedroom that I put quotes and reminders on, things that make me smile, and some that just remind me to do something. I recently updated it with some new statements and now, every time I shut my door, I see these new phrases that give my life purpose and meaning. So, I guess that at this very moment, despite the turmoil of the workplace and the weird world in which we live, I personally have peace and for that, I am GRATEFUL.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Needing a laugh

I was watching America's Funniest Home Video's last night. There were two little kids - a brother and sister doing karate (rather, pretending they were doing karate). The little boy keeps looking at the camera and saying "Do you want a piece of me??" The little girl steps in front of him after some of his bantering and, in the cutest little voice, says "Yeah, do you want a piece of ham?" So she heard, do you want a piece of meat? I laughed so hard!!! Hope it brightens your day.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Therapy

I just saw this quote on my sidebar; it's by C.S. Lewis and I absolutely love it! It is now my therapy quote - you know, that one eye opening comment that helps to either define or solidify your position/belief in, well, whatever.
"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
It's been almost 3 weeks since I started 'the project' in my room. It has changed a lot since we finished the painting but I think everything has made it to a more permanent arrangement. I have been clearing out all the old junk and the fun memories and now, to my amazement, I have open spaces in my room and I don't know what to do with them exactly. I still have stuff that needs to be put away but I am having trouble thinking of redistributing the stuff in my clean space. I guess I'll just have to get over that one. The good news is that I have almost all of my stuff out of Lori's room - it looks almost liveable again, so COME HOME LORI!! Oh, and if you haven't heard, she is coming home in just over a month. She and her roommate Tausha (hi Tausha) will be visiting for a week and I just can't wait!!! It's going to be a party here. (Pretty sure I might be 'sick' (cough, cough) one day, but I would never really do that).

If you're wondering what she is doing this summer, take a look at these...

Lori didn't come home this summer so she could stay and work as a cake decorator. This is what she gets to do everyday. This cake, however, was not for work. She made this cake FOR FUN after she got home from work. What can I say? She is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

So here we are again, on the edge of another fun and exciting week. I hope yours is great, too.