Archive for February, 2010

White Chocolate Rasberry Cheesecake

February 11, 2010

For Valentine’s Day, J picked a recipe for me to make for him. Today I attempted white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It wasn’t too difficult to make and definitely has a Valentine’s flair.

I wanted those fancy white chocolate shavings on top but instead of curls it looks more like snow. Oh well. It tasted good. So, anyone who has debated humoring us with a surprise visit, here’s a little motivation :)

Here’s the recipe, copied from www.allrecipes.com

//
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
  • 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
  2. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.
  3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.
  4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.
  5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

This Starts Tomorrow!

February 10, 2010

This Has Happened to Everyone

February 9, 2010

We have all done it. You’re on vacation. You want someone to take your picture. You scout out the crowd, looking for that person who looks kind enough to stop what they are doing for a second to take your picture. You hand them the camera and instantly know, you’ve picked the wrong person. 

 It reminds me of the time I was standing in front of the leaning tower of Pizza with my two sisters in Italy. We asked a young Chinese guy to take our picture. We were goofing off, leaning to the side like the tower as he took the picture and laughing. When he was done, we decided to make small talk and asked what the Chinese characters on his tee-shirt said. He laughed with embarrassment and read, “Stay away from me, I don’t want to talk to you.”

The worst is when you’ve picked the wrong person but your stuck going through the drill because you can’t  just fire a volunteer. This happened to us on our cruise and we were patient while this well-meaning lady first learned where to look through the view finder and then where to push the button. We’ve all been there, smiles starting to freeze, waiting patiently, knowing this one is going in the trash.

Picture one: “Oh, oh, I’m so sorry, I might have cut off your heads.”

Picture two: “I’m not sure if I got you this time.”

Picture three: We grab the camera before she can adjust her bifocals to see the result, exclaiming, “This one is great! Thank you SO much! Just perfect!”

Visit with Sara Abla

February 8, 2010

Last week, we went to Austin to visit Sara who lived in Central Asia for a semester. She is amazing with kids and N especially has a sweet bond with her. Her bedtime stories are unparalleled and I would always cringe when I was putting N to bed and he would ask for a Sara story. My stories don’t even begin to compare!

She had make your own pizzas for N and J. We do this at home all the time but I’ve never let them put on their own sauce, cheese and toppings. They loved it and kept saying, we’ve got to have this at home, Mom! This was topped off with ice cream, a movie and a Sara bedtime story.

Our lives are richer for knowing Sara. My favorite part of the visit was staying up late after N and J were finally asleep. I let Sara beat me in Nertz for the 100th time. She doesn’t know I’m actually a Nertz superstar wiz , I have just let her beat me repeatedly for the past few years so she’ll feel good about herself. J and I would never practice on our date nights in attempt to beat she and Lindsey, just once. We would never analyze their every move to figure out if they somehow cheat. We wouldn’t have to since we’re a power couple when it comes to Nertz.

Until next time, keep practicing Sara!

It’s A…..

February 5, 2010

We took a family trip to the doctor today for my ultrasound to find out if we were having a boy or girl.

N’s first reaction upon hearing the news:

J’s first reaction:

GIRL!

J’s Big Girl Room

February 4, 2010

We have definitely been creating around our house this week. Over the weekend, we painted our guest room pink to become J’s new big girl room. We also painted the kids bathroom- a long overdue project. My goal was to turn our guest room into a little girl room for under $50 and I made it under $40. I had already made the curtains for the guest room and my mom made the black throw pillows. So, this time around we just painted the walls pink, added a pink comforter, a few beads glued on the lamp shade and window shade and re-covered a couple more pillows. It is definitely girly but the kids still call it the guest room and when I told her she had to go to her room this morning, she said, “Which one?” Now, that her room is done, I’ll be ready to sew for our new baby when we find out if it is a girl or boy, tomorrow…..!

Cutie

February 3, 2010

Funny Things Actually Said by Carnival Cruise Passengers- Part 2

February 2, 2010

As I mentioned last week, my friend who works at a ski resort always said that people leave their brains at home when they go on vacation. Well educated, intelligent customers told to grip the ski pole like so who just stand there looking confused. Seasoned business travelers who can’t find their passport when it is time to clear customs. It happens.

On Carnival cruise lines, they started keeping a list of the funniest things said by carnival passengers. I shared some last week but saved my favorites for today.

A customer in his room has a question. He picks up his phone to call the customer service desk. Because so many employees are from different parts fo the world, they are required to identify themselves and where they are from. Lorna at the ship’s customer service desk takes the call. “Hello. This is Lorna from South Africa. How may I assist you?” Customer responds: “South Africa? Good gosh, how did I get through to South Africa? This is gonna cost a fortune!” Click.

Keeping  in mind the large amounts of alcohol typically consumed on these ships, another customer service call: Even before the chance to identify herself, the customer service representative hears a frantic voice saying, “Can you send someone to help me out of my room? There only two doors. One is the bathroom and the other has a ‘do not disturb’ sign!”

One customer service representative answers the phone to hear a sweet old lady asking, “Can you send someone to my room to fix my microwave? It seems to be broken.” Microwaves are strictly forbidden as they are a fire safety hazard and the representative is worried that someone has brought their own microwave. She calls security and has someone immediately check on the situation. The security officer went to the room to find a frustrated lady with two pieces of pizza in her cabin safe!

My favorite, a lady who raised her hand at the end of an informational talk to ask, “What religion are those people with the little patches behind their ears?” Answered by a sarcastic man in the front row, “They must be Apache!”

Weekend Review

February 1, 2010

I had intended to write a post about our very fun trip to Austin last week to visit Sara who lived in Central Asia with us. Unfortunately, I still haven’t  fully unpacked from the trip, haven’t found my camera yet and therefore haven’t uploaded pictures to post. The highlight for N and J was playing at Jungle Java. Can anyone guess what this is? Jungle Java. Only in Austin. A coffee shop with a huge kids indoor playground so that moms can have coffee and chat while their kids played. And how much do you think moms will fork out for this little privilege? Try $7.50 per kid. Ridiculous. I wasn’t expecting it to cost anything, I mean, they’re all gonna buy an overpriced coffee too. So, unfortunately for N and J when I found out the price we turned right around to high tale it to the McDonald’s I had seen down the street. I tried to smooth the debacle over with telling them they could have ice cream at McDonald’s but, they were pretty much devastated. And, I have to say it was a really cool playground. We left anyway. We were almost to the car, two crying kids in tow, when a high school girl who worked there chased us down. She explained that she had forgotten that it was actually $3 Thursdays.  I didn’t want N and J to think their crying was what got them in but at the same time a one time experience at Jungle Java just might be worth $3 so back in we went. And worth it, it was!

I’ll post pictures from the fun time with Sara after I find my camera.

Over the weekend we painted J’s big girl room pink and also painted a bathroom that we had been meaning to paint since we moved in. We worked hard but were able to finish and still fit in a trip to the swimming pool and a good hour spent cleaning up a flourescent light bulb that fell on the floor and shattered, more like exploded!

The highlight of the weekend was a surprise visit from our friends Scott and Abby who were fresh off the plane from an overseas trip and wanted someone to hang out with so that they could delay sleep a little longer and adjust to the American time schedule  more quickly. I love surprise visits. It was a part of Central Asian culture that was difficult to adjust to but now I miss it greatly. No one in America just shows up, except Scott and Abby. So, now you know. If you know us, give us a surprise visit sometime and make our day!


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