Chocolate in My Cheesecake Please

The question of the week - what to do with a few things of cream cheese I didn't want to go to waste? Cheesecake! Luckily that question has never been hard. I automatically think of cheesecake every time I think of cream cheese. No, it's probably not a healthy relationship between us, but I don't believe I've ever heard of meetings for cheesecake addicts, so it can't be all bad.

I didn't have much in my cupboards so I had to hunt for a recipe that didn't use sour cream and was pretty easy since it's not a payday week for me and I'm really trying to keep on budget. I couldn't justify going to the store just for items to make a cheesecake! At least not this week, in a few weeks ask again and I'm sure it would constitute and emergency, right along with a bag of chocolate and a coke. But I digress... here's where I found the cheesecake recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cheesecake-i/

The only thing I altered was I used chocolate graham crackers instead of regular ones with cocoa powder mixed in. I think it turned out fine, maybe even a little sweeter :-)  The greatest tip in this recipe is to coat your chocolate chips with just a touch of flour - apparently this keeps them from sinking towards the bottom! Worked great!

My cheesecake before it went into the oven - sprinkled with chocolate chips it looked amazing! Of course, the one of the right is when I pulled it out - even better! It was almost impossible to wait for it to cool down so I could test it out, but I managed to make it all night and had a piece (or two) for lunch the next day. It was worth the wait. I highly recommend this recipe - if I can make it and it turns out nearly perfect - there were a few cracks but that's because there was no water bath - I'm sure anyone can. Since we don't need an entire cheesecake just laying around I did cut it up, wrap it really good and put it in some freezer containers to pull out at a later date. Or I could just pull one out a day for a few days!

Carefree Puddle Stomping

 

There's something about puddles, especially the ones on dirt roads, that bring out the kid in the adult and the trouble in the kid. 

Don't you miss being so carefree all the time?

 

Class of 2012

So in my last piece on here I wrote about my sister graduating but hadn't gotten to the best part of the day - the party! (Or open house if you'd rather go that route)

 

We started the morning with heading off to church and meeting up with the rest of the family - All of my immediate family, except for my other little sister who decided to be a poop and refuse to show up, both sets of grandparents and then my aunt and uncle who live about 2 hours away.

 My grandparents on my dad's side and his oldest sister and her hubby met us early to attend church with us, major kudos to them because it takes about 2 hours for them to get here and church starts around 1030... not that bad of a drive and really not that early I guess, but on a Sunday morning not really something I'd want to do! The other set of grandparents met us out at the Alerus for the graduation ceremony directly after church.

Graduation went fairly quick. They had the varsity jazz band playing while everyone was coming in. Mrs. Aleshire never disappoints when it comes to good music for stuff like this, one of the best band directors/teachers I think most of the high schoolers in the city ever had. The graduates only half filled the allotted area this year, not sure if that was due to them not making it, or just a much smaller class then I remember having

After graduation it was a race
 out to the parents to get everything ready for the open house. BBQ pulled pork, cookie salad, fruit and veggies and then of course, cupcakes! Oh, and I printed out awesome little stickers for the bottom of tons of kisses, but I didn't do the sticking of the stickers. I'm sure that was tons of fun I didn't miss out on! The weather held up beautifully and we only had a few slight mistings, but nothing to make anyone want to leave or go inside. Over all I think it went pretty well.

On a different note - we saved a ton my making almost everything on our own. We did all our own cooking and even baked and decorated the cupcakes on our own - actually, I didn't, mom and the others at home did. The cake stands were an idea mom found on, take a guess, Pinterest! We of course manipulated them a little to fit our theme and keep it super cheap. Nothing but cardboard cake boards, cans of peas, scrap book paper, ribbon, hot glue and a little spray adhesive! Not bad and I think they turned out amazing! The kisses was also my mom's idea, I just happen to be lucky enough to work somewhere that I have the capabilities of printing out mass quantities of them very quickly. Pink lemonade in super cute dispensers borrowed from a friend topped off the whole look! 

Time Flies

Isn't it crazy how fast times flies by? My baby sister is graduating high school this Sunday and it hardly feels like she's old enough to drive! Craziness I tell you, pure and utter craziness. She was such a doll when she little - the cute strawberry blonde curls, big brown eyes and evil smirk, I mean cute smile.

She's going into hair design, or to school for hair, or whatever you want to call it for now. I'm pretty excited for her because that means I'll be able to get cheap pedicures and hopefully she continues  onto massage therapy and facials... I could really use someone for that in my life! lol. I hope she doesn't read this until after graduation, when I'm safe in my apartment again and not standing right next to her.


 Here's some of my favorite pics of her growing up - and then of course just a couple senior pictures I was so lucky to be able to take.

 

Starbucks for Lucy

Our newest addition out at the farm is a little stray we picked up last year about this time. We're not sure what breeds are in her, but we're pretty sure she's got some lab. Lucy, the white dog in the photos, has such a good nature about her I couldn't believe someone would dump her off in the streets and not go looking for her! She has more personality then I've seen in most dogs. She smiles all the time and her tail is constantly in a light wag, especially as she saunters up to meet you when you drive in.

 It was a hot day, so Starbucks fraps were in order. After I downed my caramel frap, Lucy was all over the cup! A little whipped cream wouldn't hurt, and it was just a little because I'm pretty good and getting all that out for myself ;-)

She was definitely excited to get the cup to herself, there was no sharing with the other pups. Every last drop was cleaned out and thoroughly enjoyed, as I'm sure you can tell!

 It was exhausting trying to clean out those cups!

Flowering Trees for Shade

There is just something about spring flowers that amaze me. I took these a few weeks ago, and they've already finished blooming or were blown away with the wind. It makes a walk more peaceful and the bees and butterflies a lot more interesting to watch.

That's all for today. Here's to hoping the summer flowers bloom just as bright and beautiful!

A New Life Beginning

 I love spring in North Dakota. Besides the allergies, random snow fall and the crazy rise and fall of temperatures, it's not so bad.

My little brother made a cool discovery this spring while out mowing -

A Robin decided to make her next right at eye level for all of us. I missed the shot of just the eggs in the nest, but you can kind of see the last little blue one in the first picture. These little fuzz balls weren't more than a couple days old when I first got a peek!

They definitely grow a lot faster then I ever thought possible. This is only a week or so later and they have all their feathers and barely fit in the nest!

The parents were both around and I was lucky enough to hang out quietly not too far when they started to come in for feeding time. Those little birds know exactly where their parents are if they have food. The moment they start getting closer I could watch their scrawny necks stretch out and their mouths gape open, just waiting. 

They have all flown off now, but I'm sure we'll see a few of them around.