Preoccupied with Peppermint

It’s a well-established fact that I love to bake. And it’s also a fact that I’m a big fan of cheesecake and have really enjoyed creating some amazing ones here at home so that my food allergy kiddos can enjoy the creamy, dreamy taste of a good cheesecake as well. Over the past few years, I’ve reserved cheesecake for my birthday, but I came across a white chocolate peppermint cheesecake recipe that looked absolutely divine, so I jumped the gun a bit and made cheesecake a few weeks in advance. I mean, peppermint flavored goodies at Christmas time are kind of ubiquitous and I know that I won’t be craving that particular flavor as much once January rolls around. So, I broke my one treat a week rule, which honestly, I’ve broken pretty much every week since Thanksgiving, and created a red and white swirled confection that just screams out North Pole.

I wanted to make sure there was plenty of peppermint flavor, so I used peppermint extract in addition to the Andes white chocolate peppermint baking chips the recipe called for as well as a bit of extract in the whipped cream I swirled on top. The verdict on this particular cheesecake is that it is delicious, but maybe just a bit too strongly flavored. I think that if I leave the whipped cream plain next time, the flavors will balance better. But despite that, I really enjoyed it! It is rich, creamy, and I suspect it will be making a repeat appearance in Decembers yet to come.

Culinary Experimentation

Today is my birthday. And while in most respects it was just like any other day, my yearly celebration is the time when I allow myself to make cheesecake. I love cheesecake and I enjoy creating them, but they are an indulgent treat, so I have to limit how often I bake. Because once I bake, then I eat! I have a recipe for a dulce de leche cheesecake that I adore and it has been my cheesecake choice for at least three of the past five years, but this year I wanted to give another flavor a try. Obviously, Matthew can’t eat cheesecake made anywhere else, but neither can Malia. Cheesecake is one of those things that always has cross contact warnings for peanuts. So, they have only enjoyed the cheesecake flavors I’ve made at home. In addition to the dulce de leche, we’ve had orange, mango, strawberry, lemon, and raspberry white chocolate cheesecakes. But I wanted to give them an opportunity to try another flavor combo, one that is high on my list of favorites at the Cheesecake Factory-lemon raspberry cream cheesecake. 

The lemon raspberry cream cheesecake is a combination of a raspberry-vanilla cake, lady fingers soaked in raspberry coulis, and lemon cheesecake all topped with a lovely lemon mousse. I was going for a taste-and-texture-a-like but not necessarily an identical dessert, so I opted to leave out the ladyfingers. This is a complicated cheesecake and leaving out that element simplified things a bit. Because when I make cheesecake, I always make two. One dairy free for Matthew to enjoy and one with all the lovely milk and eggs. Because while I can make a darn good allergen free cheesecake, I love the flavor and texture of traditional cheesecake, and it is my birthday so I’m going to eat the real thing!

Needing to create two complete cheesecakes multiplied the number of elements I needed to make, so I started making the freezer or fridge stable things about a week in advance. So let me lay out for you exactly what creating these delightful desserts included.

-Raspberry Coulis-naturally allergen free so I only needed to make one

-Vanilla Cake Base-while a traditional egg risen sponge makes the base for the Cheesecake Factory version, I opted for a Matthew friendly vanilla cake, again to simplify things a bit

-Lemon Cheesecake-two separate mixtures, one dairy free and one not

-Lemon Curd-again, two versions, one with eggs and one without

-Lemon Mousse-one for Matthew and one for everyone else

-Stabilized Whipped Cream-real and coconut cream

Add it all up and I made ten different elements. Hence my starting a week in advance. But the end result was wonderful! The only thing I would do differently is make the cake layer thinner so the cake to cheesecake ratio is better. I felt like it was a little heavy on the cake with not quite enough cheesecake for me. Which means that I’m going to have to repeat this adventure at some point. 😂

We had planned to go out for dinner, but I was not feeling spectacular today (Darn migraines. They are seriously interfering with my life.) so we will reschedule that for another day. Kevin did get some balloons for me. And they are taller than I am! And Matthew asked Kevin to go to the Home Depot with him so that he could give me some butane to go with the crème brulee torch he gave me for Christmas. I guess that means my next experimental dessert will be crème brulee…both the milk and eggs version and the Matthew friendly version. Because why make one dessert when you can make two? 😜

This is the Day and the Place

With Matthew away on tour with the high school band and Kevin shadowing their travels in his role as an emergency food back up plan for him, Malia and I have been home alone for the past few days. Malia was out of school on Friday and today, so we figured we would take advantage of that and have a little outing of our very own. We decided to take an expedition to This is the Place Park as neither of us had been there. Yes, I have lived right here in the valley for most of my life, but sometimes I forget to be a tourist in my own town. That just means there are new and exciting things to do close to home! We had originally planned to go on Friday, but it was cold and rainy on Friday and today’s weather outlook was much better. I was ten degrees warmer and while rain was still predicted, it would likely not be the freezing rain/sleet we were pelted with before the weekend. So this morning we headed out for our girls’ day.

It ended up being a perfect day to go to the park. The weather cooperated and we had jacket temperatures with sun and no rain until we left the park after lunch. Since it was a workday, the park was not too busy. In fact, I think besides Malia and me, the only visitors were nineteen school buses worth of kids on field trips. That may sound daunting, but the park is big enough that even the hefty crew of kidlets didn’t make it feel crowded. 

There were lots of things to see and do in the park. Even on a weekday morning when not all the activities were running, we got to see someone spin wool into yarn, watched a tinsmith working, and stepped into a working blacksmith shop where they were making metal S hooks. We also spent a bit of time perusing a candy shop. We skipped the historically accurate horehound candy, but I did try some maple sugar candy. We also skipped some not historical but pretty nasty looking Crick-ettes and chocolate covered bacon and opted for a few gummi candies.

I did come away with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the incredibly prosperous lifestyle we live. We saw 8’x10’ log cabins that housed a dozen people (literally) for years. We caught a glimpse of the daily activities that were required to simply sustain life. And I asked Malia numerous times if she needed to take a visit to the outhouse. In terms of physical comforts, we are incredibly spoiled. I guess that was the big take away from the day because Malia expressed similar feelings.

We definitely want to visit again another time. We left after lunch because we were both tired, and there were lots of things we didn’t see. Maybe next time we’ll let the boys come along. 😉

And…because we didn’t need to eat Matthew friendly today, we had some delicious cheesecake bars to end our day on a sweet note.

Glad to be a Grad

Although there were many times when it seemed like high school would never end, Nathan’s graduation day finally arrived. Last year’s seniors were unable to have a normal graduation, so they did a graduation parade instead. The parade was such a success that they did it again this year. The parade was yesterday evening, and although he waffled back and forth, Nathan decided to participate. He wasn’t sure he would since high school has not really been a happy time for him, but ultimately, he decided he was going to participate in all the traditional events that occur at the end of the school year. I think he was glad he did. I was certainly glad. Although his high school experience was not at all what he hoped it would be, I would hate for him to have regrets later in life. So Kevin drove, and Nathan hung out the car window and grinned and I think he enjoyed himself.

We weren’t certain that they would be able to hold a traditional graduation ceremony, and in fact none of the normal venues would allow that, but since this is only the second year our high school has been open, the graduating class was small enough that they were able to hold graduation on the football field. It was enormously hot, but I think that worked in our favor as those speakers who are well known for being long winded kept their remarks short and sweet. Nathan sang with the Madrigals and because he had a solo and the choir sat in the front rows, his was the very first name called. In fact, I’m not sure everyone was even ready because we barely heard his name. But we were watching and were able to cheer him on. He got a good cheer from the other seniors, and I honestly think that caught him by surprise. He has felt alone and friendless for most of high school and those choir people who he expected to be friends with didn’t turn out to be cronies, but he has found friends in unexpected places like physics and ASL. And he is a rather high-profile person at the high school whether he realizes it or not. Faculty, staff and students alike know who he is. He has made friends with the lunch ladies (which I love because most students are not nice to the cafeteria staff) and because of his kindness to them, they have a tendency to give him perks in the form of food. 😉

Speaking of ASL, Nathan earned the Utah State Seal of Biliteracy to accompany his diploma. Let me explain what that means. The state has a program where graduating seniors who are skilled in a foreign language can test to see if they are considered literate in their second language. If they are, they earn the seal of biliteracy which is basically and endorsement on their diploma stating that they are conversant in two languages. It is not an easy test, and it is estimated that students need at least four years of foreign language instruction in order to pass. There are different levels of biliteracy as well: beginner-high, medium or low; intermediate-high, medium or low; and advanced-high, medium or low. Nathan took ASL 1 as a junior, skipped ASL 2 and took ASL 3 as a senior. After only two years, he earned the seal of biliteracy passing at an intermediate-low level. He is one of only two students from his school who earned the seal. I believe the other student passed in French. Of all his ASL classmates from both high schools he has attended, I think there was only one other who passed. Needless to say, we are very proud of him. He has picked this language up incredibly easily and has discovered that he has quite a passion for it. He has a desire to learn more and wants to be able to become involved in the deaf community. I don’t know where this skill might take him, but for now, we are all pleased as punch with his accomplishment!

After lunch, Nathan went bowling with some friends. He opted to skip the grad night party since it was held at Lagoon and 1) he hates rollercoasters and such as they give him headaches, 2) he really didn’t feel safe driving home at 1:00 in the morning and 3) there were not a ton of people he wanted to hang out with anyway. He opted to spend the night at home instead where we celebrated with some delicious chocolate orange cheesecake. Nathan told me to surprise him with the flavor, so I made a creamy orange cheesecake and topped it with a dark chocolate ganache. I made a tiny one sans chocolate for me, and both turned out delicious. And then we watched a movie. So it was a low key grad night, but one that held exactly what Nathan wanted-some time with his few friends, a reason never go to the high school again, and cheesecake. Oh, and there were presents as well. Kev and I gave him a super cool game piece organizer for one of his favorite board games, my mom made him a super cool quilt that featured a piano keyboard, and there were the super dorky graduation socks we gave him on his birthday last week so he could wear them for the big day.

Although high school was not what he hoped it would be for a multitude of reasons, I’m very proud of how Nathan soldiered through. He did his best to be positive at school and while he had to verbal vomit on a regular basis once he got home, he had a reputation for being optimistic and upbeat at school. He was the “student of dreams” for several teachers in that he was so excited and enthusiastic about the topics being taught that he literally radiated joy and was always asking for more knowledge. Not many high school math or science teachers get that kind of enthusiasm from their students. And I can vouch for that enthusiasm because Nathan would come home and draw physics diagrams or physics problems on my white board as he was telling me about what he had learned that day. 😂

While many kids are reluctant to leave high school, Nathan is most definitely ready to be done with this chapter of his life. He has already been in contact with his academic advisor at the university on multiple occasions and for a variety of different reasons, has his schedule planned out, and is looking forward to experiencing college life. He can hardly wait to get started. Now he just has to wait out the summer…

 

The Only Number that is Twice the Sum of its Digits

As of today, Nathan is a legal adult. That means he can vote, join the military and go to jail if he is extra stupid. However, he still can’t get legally drunk. Having said that, I don’t really expect him to do any of those things except vote. He’s a good kid and has a life plan that does not currently involve the military or jail time.

As has been his habit for quite a few years now, Nathan wanted a pretty low-key celebration. Kevin and I took him out to dinner without any of the other kids which meant we got to have a good discussion (one of many as he is the one of our kids that talks to us of his own free will the most frequently) over sushi at Tsunami. After dinner, we returned home where the other kids were ready to give him presents. He received a variety of card games from his siblings. Since he is headed off to USU for a semester of college before his mission, they thought it would be a good idea for him to have his own sets of some of our family favorites. Kevin’s mom gave Nathan a fantastic and very appropriate music themed wall decoration. Kev and I gave him an ASL t-shirt, half in honor of his passage into adulthood and half in honor of his recent earning of the seal of biliteracy (I’ll talk more about that later on). He also got a fun pair of socks to wear then he graduates. 

 

Nathan requested mango cheesecake for the occasion, and I was more than happy to comply. It has been a bit since I’ve created a new masterpiece and it was an opportunity to further my skills with whipped cream and cream cheese. Being the math geek genius that he is, Nathan opted to use base 18 when he put his candles on the cake. (For those of you who don’t speak hard mathematics, that means he put one candle on and called it good. 😜) The cheesecake turned out delicious except for the crust, which was very soggy. I made the cheesecake in advance and froze it, so somewhere in the defrosting process far too much liquid made its way into the crust. It’s a problem I’m going to have to research to solve. But like I said, other than the crust the cheesecake was delicious-light, creamy and full of mango flavor. 

 

Nathan is a great kid. Not only is he very smart, but he’s also very kind. Empathy is one of his spiritual gifts, one that we first became aware of when he was in preschool. He was a pretty wild toddler, not because he was naughty, but because he was curious about everything and wanted to help everyone. He started preschool when he was three and when his teacher called me over to talk with her after school one day, I was sure that he had done something…creative. Much to my surprise, she informed me that Nathan had been finishing his work and then helping the other kids at his table with their work. She was so astounded by his desire to help others at such a young age that she wanted me to know. It was completely out of the blue for me, and from that point onward, I watched my second born with new eyes.

His desire to help others and treat them with kindness has not waned with the passing years. He has such a tender heart that he feels bad about any kind of conflict or confrontation with other people. Kindness is so ingrained in him that sometimes we actually have to tell him that it’s ok to put his needs and feelings before those of his classmates. But this gift of empathy is one that I know will serve him well throughout his life once he is able to find the balance between his own emotional health and that of those around him.

Nathan is also very funny, witty and full of sarcasm. He loves big words, big math, and big music. He finds joy in crazy socks and has tempered the negativity of the pandemic with a fun face mask collection that rivals his sock collection. He is very responsible and organized and has a tendency to be a bit OCD like I am which means I can often understand how he thinks. Unfortunately, he is also a worrier like me, but at least I can understand that tendency and can try to help him deal with the anxieties. When he is happy, his joy overflows and lights up the room. Piano is his happy place and is one of the best ways for him to lift his mood when he has had a rough day. He is a hard worker and is willing to put in the effort required to achieve his goals. Overall, he is a fantastic kid, a great teenager, and an amazingly important part of our family. I’m so glad the Lord trusted me to raise this kid.

Dulce de Lightful

With my current food trend focusing on cheesecake, I was unable to resist a cookbook called “The Cheesecake Bible.” This tome contains three hundred ways to make my mouth happy. After poring over its pages, I selected my first experiment. My latest delightful cream cheese creation was a luscious dulce de leche cheesecake. I could eat this stuff all day. It’s probably a good thing I’m required to share with my live-in taste testers. 😉 

Say Cheese!

When it comes to baking, I have a tendency to go through phases. I’ll have periods of time when I’m focused on a certain category of baked goods and I’ll explore lots of different varieties within that category. A year and a half ago I spent months working to perfect an eggless coconut layer cake. Last summer we ate pie of all varieties for several months. My shutdown binge watching of The Great British Baking Show led me to a ciabatta bread phase last year. In the fall, the focus was pumpkin. I’ve also had phases focused on cookies, quick breads, and cakes. You get the idea. My current phase is cheesecake. It’s definitely not something I can bake and eat every week (although it’s delicious, it is not exactly a health food), but I’m planning on experimenting with several different flavors and recipes over the next few months.  I’m particularly proud of how pretty this week’s experiment looks. When it both looks and tastes great, I feel like I’m well on my way to being a domestic goddess. 😉 Now I just need to garner some rockin’ food photography skills…

 

One Year Older and Wiser Too

As of yesterday, I am another year older, although in some ways I feel like the past year has aged me a decade or two. Mental state notwithstanding, I really am older one year further along my road of life. We didn’t have a big celebration or anything, but Kev and I did go out to dinner. It was nice since eating out has been a rarity in the past year. I decided I wanted cheesecake for my birthday treat and while Kev offered to buy it for me, I opted to make my own. That is the only way Matthew and Malia can have cheesecake and I have been feeling in need of a new focus for my tendency towards recipe experimentation, so it seemed like a perfect solution. I did, however, make two cheesecakes-one small dairy free one and one full sized, full dairy version. I considered a variety of flavors and finally settled on strawberry lemonade. Yum! I baked the cakes on Friday to give them plenty of time to set up and for the flavors to blend so I wouldn’t spend the entirety of my birthday standing in the kitchen. In fact, I don’t think I spent any time standing in the kitchen. It was a nice break!

Early yesterday morning, Kev snuck out and had some beautiful roses and a balloon bouquet for me when I got up. Nathan went to work yesterday morning, leaving before the first balloons arrived, so he got another bunch. I ended up with a big mass of balloons and it was so great! After our dinner, Kev and I went home to share cheesecake with the kids. It was tasty and pretty too. 😉
 

 

I mentioned previously that I feel like I’ve aged more than a year in the past circuit of the sun. It’s not my body that feels older, although the body warranty definitely lapses at forty. I feel like I’ve aged a lot in experience and knowledge. The past year has been a wild ride for all of us and in that time, I think I’ve learned a lot. In general, I feel calmer and more at peace despite the chaos in the world around us. We are always taught that joy and peace come through living the gospel and I have seen that blessing in my life in the past year. As my understanding has increased and I have become more fully converted, I have been blessed with a greater sense of calm. So the long as the short of it is the fact that I’m older and wiser. I hope that in the coming year I can continue to progress in faith and knowledge, although not having a world in chaos as a catalyst would be a most welcome boon.

Mmmm…Cheesecake!

It has been a really long time since I’ve had real cheesecake. Not only was I on Matthew’s diet the entire time I was nursing Malia, but while I pregnant I had gestational diabetes so that much sugar was off the menu. As I neared the end of my pregnancy and prepared for my walk on the allergen-free side, I had every intention of blatantly defying my strict pregnancy diet just once and indulging in a slice of allergen-full heaven.  But due to Malia’s haste to arrive, I never got the chance.  I’ll admit I did a little happy dance when Kev walked in the door today with a Cheesecake Factory bag. So here I am, a year and some change on the other side of the gestational diabetes and today I finally got to partake of some creamy, milky, nutty goodness. It was carbalicious.  And so, so tasty.

Splenda and Spice and Everything Nice, That’s What This Little Girl’s Made Of

I have officially been diagnosed with gestational diabetes again, which is really no big surprise.  Considering the chances of getting it once you’ve already had it are crazy high (like 70% or something close), I’m actually amazed I didn’t get it with Matthew.  But since I’ve been on the diet since before I ever got pregnant, the only thing that is different is that I’m back to testing my blood glucose every day.  And my numbers are just fine so it’s not a huge deal.

I am, however, having a wicked cheesecake craving that I can’t do anything about.  So in honor of National Cheesecake Day, all of you who can indulge should go and have a big old slice for me.  Just don’t tell me how delightful it was afterward.  I’ll feel better if you tell me it was the nastiest cheesecake you’ve ever experienced.  (Esther, maybe you could even tell me you found a hair in yours…)  :-)

Tasty Tofu

In the past two years, my kitchen has seen a lot of strange things as I've attempted to cook for Matthew's allergies. After all that time, I've found some pretty good recipes and tricks and have become pretty confident in my ability to produce tasty things that are allergen free. I often get looks of skepticism when I take treats to a party or ward function and tell people it is completely dairy, egg, and nut free. Then there are looks of surprise when they discover it actually tastes good. But one thing I had never worked up the courage to try was Toffutti Better Than Cream Cheese, a tofu based cream cheese substitute. I mean, cream cheese is a little bit of heaven right on earth. Almost everything is tastier and richer with a bit of cream cheese. A good smear on a bagel is a perky way to start the day. And cheesecake. Need I say more? Nothing made out of beans has even half a chance of being even remotely as luscious. So naturally I was reluctant.

Then my mother-in-law bought me a new cookbook entitled The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book. It was written by a mom who cooks for a child with the exact same allergies as Matthew and it is all about sweet treats. In the past few months we have tried a number of these treats and not one of them has been a disappointment. At last I have found an egg-free cake recipe that will hold up to being molded into fancy birthday cakes! And the ingredient that makes this wonder of a confection possible? Silken tofu. I kid you not. On Daniel's birthday, my siblings were skeptical when I told them I was feeding them tofu cake, but the platter was completely empty when it was time to go home.

So with the success (and tastiness) of all the other recipes I had tried, I finally decided to break down and try the dairy free cheesecake. I made it as my birthday cake thinking that I needed a lot of people to share it with so that 1) if it ended up nasty I wouldn't feel guilty about throwing an entire faux cheesecake away and 2) if it turned out tasty I wouldn't be tempted to eat the entire thing myself. And I must admit that I was leaning more in the direction of needing to chuck the thing in the nearest trash bin. The appearance of the not-cream cheese did nothing to convince me otherwise. It was kind of gray and nasty looking. I was not hopeful. I was so convinced it didn't have a chance of being yummy that I swirled in raspberries in an attempt to cover up any nastiness that might occur. I figured at least that way people could pick out the berries before discreetly scraping their portions into the garbage disposal.

But apparently miracles do happen because not only was the tofu cheesecake palatable, it was actually pretty darn good. The texture was closer to a gelatin based cheesecake rather than a baked one, but I can forgive it that due to the fact that it did in fact taste good. No lie. Now, I'm not going to be slapping that gray bean substance on a bagel anytime soon, but it does feel good to know that my son will not live out his entire life never knowing the wonder that is cheesecake.

Life Is Short, Eat Dessert First

Today was Esther's birthday . . . and National Cheesecake Day. Which means that cheesecake was half price at the Cheesecake Factory and we were there to enjoy it. Which led to a very pleasant cessation of my cheesecake withdrawals (I ate cheesecake almost every day while I was in New York. I think I might be addicted. Do you think there is a support group for that?).