Turtle Cheesecake

Since my first cheesecake was a success, I thought instead of baking your run-of-the-mill angel food cake for my mom's birthday this past weekend, I would try another cheesecake recipe. I mean, if for no other reason than to put my new spring form pan to good use...gotta get my money's worth! Plus, when my family heard I made a cheesecake a couple of weeks ago, a cheesecake they were not able to sample because they were hundreds of miles away, I could almost see the guilt oozing out of the telephone. :)

I decided turtle would be the flavor of choice. Minus cooking the caramel a little too long, resulting in a hard-to-cut-through-the-crust scenario, it was another success. I received rave reviews from the fam.

What I love about trying out new things in the kitchen is you always learn something, find a better way to go about something, and/or you are led on a path of further experimentation.

Music of the Heart?

While watching TV a few nights ago, I saw a vacuum commercial, featuring Etta James' At Last playing in the background. I kind of laughed as I looked over to L and said, "How do you think Etta James feels about this song being used for a vacuum commercial?" It kind of sucks the romance right out of the song. (pun intended)

If you think about it, lots of commercials use artists' songs to help capture their audiences. Sometimes I think it can work when there is a storyline involved, like the AT&T commercial featuring Landon Pigg's Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop.

Other times, I can't help but wonder if the artists are insulted that their work is being used to advertise such mindless things like the McRib or Overstock.com.

The Color Purple

I took a Carrie Bradshaw-ish fashion risk today and wore a bright colored pair of purple tights to compliment my black skirt and gray and white button up.

The tights went over really well with some and not so much with others. I received some compliments and even had Jos betting that we will see a lot more bright colored tights next week in the office. I caught others doing the slight head tilt + squinty eyes and puzzled expressions look, which of course, is the equivalent of saying, "yeah, I'm not getting/liking your look."

Personally, I dug it. Sometimes how you accessorize the outfit is what makes what you're wearing the outfit. So watch out you head-tilters+squinty eyes and puzzled expressions people, because I plan on wearing more of colored and patterned tights this season!

Sarcastic Wednesday

The office-themed Hoops and Yoyo, for me, never get old. Happy Wednesday!

High Five

Friday I spent the day in Cedar Falls with my sister and Regan. It's hard to believe she is 14 months old now! Her newest trick - giving high fives! I was able to capture it on video. I can't help but laugh at her struggling to get up in the beginning - if only that darn ball weren't in the way! :)




What I love about Regan is her ability to make me smile. It's impossible to be upset with the world when she's around.

There's a First Time For Everything

It was a somewhat adventurous weekend for me, a weekend of firsts, if you will.

It all started with my first attempt at making a cheesecake. And this wasn't your standard "No Bake" cheesecake - this was the real deal...I even ventured out to the store to buy the appropriate spring form pan for this kind of dessert! I had a hard time deciding what flavor to make - Turtle Praline, Pumpkin, Raspberry Swirl - although these all sounded delicious, I finally decided on Mocha. Minus the battle wound on my finger and the split that formed in the middle of the cake (see picture below), I would deem this 'first' a success. L and I cut into it this afternoon - verdict? L gave me an A+. And you know what, I do too! Add this to the list of Nic's talents - Cheesecake!

Mocha Cheesecake

Cutting the first piece



My battle wound, aka burn


The next first - Frisbee Golf! I've always thought it sounded/looked like fun, but had never attempted this sport until this afternoon. After my first throw, where I pegged L in the stomach (sorry L!), I thought I was in for a terribly painful afternoon. But, I persevered, thanks to the cheers of encouragement from L, JW, and LW. Although I'm not ready to join the Pros, I think I improved, and hope to get out there and do it again. It made for a fun Sunday afternoon activity. Thanks for the invite LW, and for rescuing me from my boredom!

Auto Zone

Cars really aren't my thing. Sure, I can appreciate a sweet ride, but I'm not one of those people who can point to a random car and rattle of the year, model, engine size, etc.

One thing I've never understood is the 'souped up' ride - anything from spoilers to decals and detailing - especially when you know the person spent more on that than the car itself.

Here are some examples:

1. Spoiler Alert: I've never been into spoilers - not just any spoiler but those obnoxious ones such as these








2. Sweet Decals: I'm not big on the wavy designs or the lightning bolts or flames. And I'm really not into the personalized decals.







3. Dubs and Dumber: And I'm just really not into this...





Now what inspired this blog topic this evening? On my way home from work, I saw a souped up old school VW Bug. Unfortunately I was not camera ready so I can't show you what I saw and Google Images wasn't much help. However, I did come across the closest thing that resembled what I saw driving beside me tonight. It wasn't this extreme, but close, with a giant engine protruding out the back of the car.