Pancakes for Tuesday

 

    I do not like cold weather, all things must be admitted. My idea of fun is running around outside playing with water guns and water balloons. Not sitting huddled up in armchairs for hours on end with a cup of coffee and a book for company. I get cold and restless.

  Last night I went to bed with the information that it would freeze during the night and still be freezing in the morning when I woke up. On Tuesdays we usually have cereal for breakfast but I figured it would to cold for cereal so I decided to wake up and make pancakes. Everyone was glad I did, until we realized it was almost ten and breakfast still was not over. The joys of being homeschooled on the days it freezes.  



Stories

  There are times when doing school with my brothers is one of my greatest joys and simultaneously a pain. Recently, I have been teaching my younger brother James how to write stories. Of course, since he is only seven, I am just having make up stories and then write them down in a semi-logical fashion. My main goal was to get him to practice his hand writing and use his imagination. James is a pretty good student, but he is more often then not rather unenthusiastic about reading and writing.

  Ever since I have started getting him to write stories, however, James loves to do school. He will bring me his notebook in the evenings and ask if we can write another story. I am thrilled with his newfound love of writing. At the same time, I do not particularly enjoy sitting down for an hour and a half telling him how to spell 'raced' and 'tree' and 'climbed' and jumped'. At the end of his stories I thoroughly anticipate 'the end'.

  That is the pain, but it is only a small one when compared to the joy I get from teaching my brother to write. James now has a genuine love of writing. If he keeps that love, if he nourishes it and lets it grow, who knows what could happen. Maybe he will be a great writer one day. Or he might be like me, scribbling thoughts in journals and on fluttering scraps of paper. I hope his love will grow, and that I will have the patience to water it and to wait.  



Freezing

 

  Need I say anymore. We in Texas will complain when it gets below freezing. Of course, we also get to experience the joys of drastic climate change here in Houston. The forecast for tomorrow promises a high of 70. I think it would be an understatement to say I am living in anticipation of tomorrow's weather. Hopefully, it will warm up. 

For the Love of Food

 This week I started a cleanse. You know, one of those diets where you eat  fruits, veggies, minimal protein, and no carbs so your body can get rid of all those toxins you have been collecting in your digestive system. Since yesterday I have done my by best to ignore the call of cinnamon rolls, pigs-in-a-blanket and leftover grilled chicken. Six hours into my cleanse I realized just how much I worship food. Not like, not even love, outright worship. For some reason I had the idea that just because I have the self-control not to eat a cookie every time I walk past the cookie jar I have my love of food under control. Well, I do not, sad to say.
  Yesterday, I did not pray when I was hungry. Yes, I did work on things that needed to be done, but I spent my fair share of time complaining to my family about how hungry I was and how much I wanted to eat something substantial. I let my hunger and exhaustion get the best of me while I moped and snapped at my family. Every time I open  the pantry I looked up longingly at the jar of Nutella. All in all, I was a pathetic mess.
  So today, instead of looking at the jar of Nutella and thinking about how I cannot eat any, I will look at the contents of the vegetable drawer and think about how I can eat all of  that. Instead of moping I will work at what needs to be done. Instead of laying around thinking about steaks, I'll go running and pray. I will learn that man does not live on bread (and Nutella and coffee) alone. I cannot cleanse on my own, but with God's help, I can.

Resolutions

  I suppose I am not the only person who thinks New Year's resolutions are superficial beyond words. The main reason I ever come up with any is to keep people from thinking I am lazy beyond words. Because of that they tend to end up being, well, superficial. I did try to do better on making my resolutions substantial this year though. Here they are, the ones I felt like publishing for the whole world to see anyways.

  1. To finish memorizing the book of 1 Peter. I memorized the first two chapters last summer so now I have three more to go.
  2. To run a 5K every month. This one is unrealistic at this point because I already know I am going to miss this month, but I do know I will be running the 3.1 miles when I get out and run.
  3. To journal more. There are so many little things that happen I do not want to forget.
  4. To blog twice a week and this post counts as my first for this week.
 
  So there are my resolutions. Now to see how well I keep them.

Happy New Year and Cheesecake

  Here's to 2014. Happy New Year everybody! As a general rule, I do not start any resolutions until my birthday (which is a week after the New Year), so this post will be about the cheesecake I made New Year's Eve. And I have yet to decide if I will blog about my birthday resolutions.
  The thought of making cheesecake used to strike terror into my heart. A dessert so velvety smooth and decadent had to be hard to make, so I thought. Well, making cheesecake is not hard. Here's my rendition of Better Homes and Gardens Cheesecake supreme.


Here's my assistant demonstrating how to wash one's hands.





Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
3-8oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare spring-form pan for water bath. Place a 9-inch spring-form pan on a double thickness of 18x12 inch foil. Bring the edges of the foil up and mold around the sides of the pan to form a watertight seal. Place in a roasting pan.

2. Mix the crushed graham cracker crumbs, walnuts, 1 tablespoon sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium mixing bowl. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Press mixture into the bottom and two inches up the sides of the spring-form pan. Set aside.

3. For the filling in a large mixing bowl combine cream cheese, the 1 cup sugar, and corn starch. Beat for five minutes. Beat in eggs and lemon peel until just combined.

4. Carefully pour filling into crust-lined pan. Pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches half-way up the sides of the spring-form pan, being careful that the water level does not go past the edge of the foil. Place in the preheated oven.

 

 

5. Bake cheesecake for 35-40 minutes or until cheesecake is set two inches from the edge when gently jiggled. Turn off oven and let cheesecake cool in oven for 1 hour.

 

6. Remove cheesecake from oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake and allow to cool for another 30 minutes.

7. Remove sides of spring-form pan and cool completely on wire rack. After cheesecake is cool, replace the sides of pan, cover, and chill in the fridge for at least four hours before serving. Cheesecake will last for about a week in the fridge, but chances are it will be eaten up by then.

  I served my cheesecake with strawberry sauce To make your own, puree a 16oz package of frozen strawberries, thawed. Combine with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook, and stir as needed, for 2 more minutes. Chill in fridge for at least one hour before serving. Enjoy!