Exactly one year ago, I published a post where I documented one of my very first experiences with deep frying. I made a batch of classic, old-fashioned yeast doughnuts, fried them up, dipped them in a chocolate glaze, and then covered them in rainbow sprinkles. I called them Birthday Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts, and they were published for my little sister's birthday, as per her request. Today, my little sister is definitely no longer that little, as she's turned 18 (holy crap, she's an adult too now...I suddenly feel so much older...). To continue with this sudden "tradition" of dedicating a birthday post for her, she requested nothing less than mini everything bagels, to be photographed in an assortment of styles, ranging from a mini bacon egg and cheese sandwich, to being sandwiched with homemade strawberry cream cheese. Now, I'll give her that this would have been such a fun project to work on, and the photos could have looked really awesome with all the different ways I could have used the mini bagels, but really...mini everything bagels? Homemade strawberry cream cheese? Multiple photo sets and sandwiches?
Ain't nobody got time for that. I certainly don't, at least.
This is not to say that I won't ever make mini everything bagels and photograph them in different applications. Not at all. I love everything bagels, in all sizes, and I do love a good photo challenge, so these will definitely grace the blog at some point, just not when I'm trying to be an efficient baker and bake up a decent sized batch of recipes to bring back with me to school. I explained this to her, and she reluctantly agreed, instead suggesting that I make her a NY style cheesecake, as seen on Smitten Kitchen, but with a strawberry sauce instead of cherries. Even though I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake, I agreed, as this seemed like a much more reasonable request. I knew exactly which cheesecake recipe she was referring to, as it was one that we had both been eyeing for at least two years. Yes, two years. It took me two whole years to finally agree to make this recipe for my sister, and while it may have initially started out as only a way to appease her for not making her bagels, I'll be the first to say that this recipe may have changed my mind about cheesecake. Maybe not about cheesecake in general, but I'm now going to be willing to eat NY style cheesecake a bit more often. This recipe was life-changing, if we want to be dramatic. If we want to be a bit more down to earth, this recipe was just really damn good, and was able to make me, a non-cheesecake loving person, consider taking a second slice.
My mind is in a whirlwind. I've spent too much time in the past couple of days reading about Japanese architecture, some things about darkness and space (I don't exactly remember what those were about...), attempting to fabricate a physical model depicting "structured cacophony" (we've been assigned to create a model in response to some really, really, really crazy music samples), attempting to learn the dictionary in preparation for the GRE's, finish laying out a publication that should have been completed last semester, and researching affordable housing policy and design in the US for my independent study. Sounds like a lot right? Good thing I've been putting Gossip Girl on the very top of my priority list! Yes, I know, the show is over, and I'm only several years behind, since I'm only halfway through season 3, but that's ok. It's my sister's fault, really.
My sister got me into watching the show over Thanksgiving break, and it's become a guilty pleasure of sorts. Instead of pretending to be interested in upcoming football celebrations, I'm allowing myself to be entertained by other things. Am I watching the Super Bowl on Sunday? Psh no way. I have a model to build that's due on Monday. Will I have the commercials on in the background? Probably not. Will my laptop have Netflix playing what remains of season 3 of GG? Most likely. I seriously need to get my priorities in check. I have homework to do! I have things to research! I have things to bake and photograph and write about! Ah!!! Sigh. One step at a time. Let's start with these. Chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars. Yes, I think that would be a wonderful place to start.
Happy October, everyone! I'm loving this fall weather and everything else related to the new season. Hot cider and colorful leaves are some of my favorite things! Pumpkin flavored things are starting to appear EVERYWHERE and while I'm not as big of a fan of pumpkin (shocking, I know), it's been growing on me, so I knew I had to have some pumpkin treats in store. My sister is a huge fan of literally everything with pumpkin (actually, the only pumpkin-flavored food she hasn't liked is pumpkin Greek yogurt...I can't blame her, that sounds kinda weird to me), so last year she stocked up on canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling. Seriously. This girl went on a major pumpkin shopping spree once the supermarket started selling them for 99 cents a can. I think we're gonna be good on pumpkin for a very, very, very, long time.
It's a good thing she ended up buying so much canned pumpkin; it actually came in very handy! Pumpkin cravings were satisfied with ease throughout the year, once canned pumpkin couldn't be found as easily in stores. My sister started making pumpkin pies (the recipe will be coming eventually!), slicing them up, and freezing the individual slices to enjoy as snacks for later. I prefer having pumpkin in muffin-or-some-other-kind-of-bread form, so muffins were my choice when I decided to bake something with pumpkin. I knew that to make them "extra-good," a cinnamon crumb topping would be necessary. And cheesecake filling!? Geez. Too good. These muffins ended up being my favorite pumpkin treats to date. Seriously, I never thought I'd say something like that, but it's true!
I like cheesecake. I like it a lot. However...it's just one of those desserts that I find myself craving, but then am completely satisfied after only two or three bites. I'm not sure why, but I've always been that way. I'll always take a mini cheesecake cup, cheesecake square, or cheesecake pop over an actual slice of cheesecake. Sometimes it's just nice to have something sweet that you can just pop into your mouth and enjoy in just two or three bites. And if there's a strawberry in there somewhere, then I'm just all over it!
Not to mention that these cheesecake bites are completely adorable, and can also be a very elegant way to serve cheesecake. It's like a slice of cheesecake, but transformed so that you can have an entire cheesecake in only one bite! Much more sophisticated than gobbling down an entire slice....although...you may find it hard to restrain yourself with this one, and you might end up watching yourself just pick up cheesecake bite after cheesecake bite, they're that good! Sigh, so much for trying to be elegant and classy.
