Talking About Cheese Cake and Blue Apron Dinners

Hi there everyone...how you all doing this fine day. I should be outside pulling weeds.....but....I am dreaming about cheese cakes!!! I have had this post in a draft for over a month or more. Thought I would bring it up and drool a little bit today. I finally bought myself a (promised at Christmas) spring form pan. I had a couple, but they were rusted and old, inherited from JP's mother and grandmother. I decided to sell them, some lady bought them....months later I saw them in her garbage, they were moving.

I have been wanting to make a cheese cake for a very long time, checked out many, many recipes, till I found this one, which was easy and to the point. My graham cracker crust was VERY thick, which JP liked. As you can see, I had a few crumbs left over and sprinkled them on top of the finished cake.

This is my first "real" Cheese Cake, I shall have to make another one, as the spring form pan sits in the dinning room on a desk, for me to look at every day, if I put it away, I will forget about it. This way, I see it everyday and it reminds me to make another cheese cake. I have seen some recipes using the spring form pan....shall have to try them all someday.....sometimes, someday never comes....right?

A slice of heaven in one bite! Yes....this was! So good, plain and of course embellished with strawberries and  Cool Whip!!! No calories.....right?!?!?

Below are some meals I made from Blue Apron. Sorry to say, I have cancelled my subscription to Blue Apron. They were great and I really enjoyed them.....but to keep JP happy I had to eliminate spicy seasonings....like below, radishes were spicy....so no radishes on his Ginger Pork Burgers with Black Bean Mayo and Roasted Broccoli. Ginger makes things spicy too, so eliminating those two things kind of defeats the taste of what the burgers were supposed to taste like. This meal, by the way was delicious because for my burger, I kept the ginger and radishes in my burger.

Top Chef's Winner - Seared Steak and Mushroom Sauce with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli.....now this was delicious.....really liked this recipe and will do it again...no spicy in this dish.

The next meal was Chicken Paillard and Olive-Raisin Sauce with Warm Fennel and Potato Salad. No spice here either. What was interesting about this meal, was working with the fennel bulb. Never worked with that before. Again the meal was delicious with no spice.

I had to think long and hard about cancelling my subscription, and had to think of all the pros and cons. The meat and vegetables were always fresh and if there was something missing from the box, all I had to do was contact them that an item was missing and they would give me credit for the next meal which would be FREE!!!

Blue Apron is a good company to deal with. Never had a problem with them. Don't know about the other companies that offer meals. But I think just for now I will stick with the basics for JP, meat and potatoes and fruit. Simple, simple and more simple.

I found too, that being on the Keto/Atkins diet, Blue Apron was not conducive to those diet needs. Too much salt and carbs are added to the delicious meals. So that was another reason to cancel. Blue Apron said they were sorry to see me go and if I ever had a change of heart, I could come back. I guess, no change of heart is in the future for me at this point.

Well, time to close, I guess my weeds are calling my name as are my cards in the basement....yeah, there is always SOMETHING that calls my name. "Hey Stupid" (my step-father always called me a "stupid idiot" so I am used to that name.)

Talk later....I shall have more cards for you from Betty's class last Wednesday. Keep looking up....better days are coming soon and very soon. Cheers ~ Louise

Post Valentine's Day

Hi Everyone...Hope you had a beautiful day with your sweet friends and family. Yeah, I had a nice day. We went to church. Bought some chips for the 16 mile trip home. Stopped at home to pick up Kylie and take her for a ride to the store. One of her favorite things to do. She likes to go for walks too.....but it has been very cold. But a warm up is coming next week....whew, can hardly wait.

So we picked up Kylie and went to Shopko to get JP's meds, then to Festival Food for a Valentine's treat. Cheese cake, bought 4 slices for $4 and some whip cream. Then I bought some fried chicken and butter lettuce for salad. When we got home, unpacked, and through fries in the oven, set the table, ate our chicken, fries, salad and cheese cake. Yummmmmy little meal.

The rest of the day was for rest and relaxation and a nape at 4:00pm. Made some Valentine cookies and did some dishes. Don't want to over exert myself, do I??? So now, here I am typing this blog. After I am finished I shall go down-stairs and watch Downton Abby.

So in the above picture is the Valentine card I made for JP.....lots of hearts for him from Louise and Kylie!!!

Here is the Blue Apron recipe I made Friday night. (or was that Thursday)????? Anyways, "Goat Cheese and Kale Quiche with Butter Lettuce and Chive Salad" I AM IN LOVE with Butter Lettuce!!! I bought another head Friday.....and came home with another head today!!! Love, love, love, where have you been all my life???? So I mix a little garlic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, sweetener, and wa-la a delicious salad. I think I may not use regular salad dressing again.

Here is a picture of Kylie.....she got a new blankie for Valentine's Day....can you tell she likes it???? Snoozy-doozy girl!!!

Well, you have a great couple of days.....I will be house cleaning, as we will be having some company from Chicago coming on Friday. So, I must dust and straighten up a bit. And get those darned dust bunnies mopped up and  the dishes done!!!!

Keep looking up cause better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Snowmen, Blue Apron and Pumkkin Pie

Hi there everyone. Well, first off, here is part of the order for my friend Biz. I told her I would put some of the cards I made for her on my blog tonight for her to see. There are 20 cards made in all. I love the two cards on the bottom, the one on the left and the one on the right....both were made with Christmas napkins. You never would know would you. I think they all turned out fun. So now all I have to do is put a verse inside each of the cards. Then off they go to their destination.

Today I received my Blue Apron box of food.  Today's entry was Trattoria-Style Cheeseburgers with Crispy Rosemary-Garlic Potatoes and Aioli. MMMMMM was this ever a good hamburger!! Yep...5 Stars on this one.

The Potatoes were roasted with oil, salt and pepper then topped with sauté' sliced garlic and rosemary leaves. The burgers were mixed with lemon zest and salt and pepper....that's all. Then fried and topped with the Fontina cheese. Topped with Kale, lemon and oil dressing. The sauce was mayo, garlic and lemon juice. MAN was that a delicious burger. But, alas, too spicy for JP for some reason. He is getting a bit picky in his old age.

Kylie seemed to be under my feet the whole evening while in the kitchen. Don't know if she was hoping I would drop her some food or maybe she was just keeping company with me. Don't you just love (hate) my 1970's (ugly) floor???? Looks good from this view, but don't look too close.

Also on the agenda tonight was pumpkin pies....hopefully these babies can last till my birthday, if not...guess I will have to make something else.....maybe something cheese-cakey. Yes you do see pumpkin seeds on the pie on the left...I just started putting seeds on the pie.....it's actually very good and crunchy and then some cool whip, yep just what the Doctor ordered. I cut down quite a bit on the sugar. So it can be diabetes worthy.

Well, time to close this post for now....it's going on 2am and time for me to get some sleep. You all have a good day tomorrow and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Christmas Eve Waffles

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve. Got all your shopping done, cooking and baking done? I just got the pork roast with sauerkraut in the oven and will add the potatoes and carrots in about an hour. The bean casserole will be made later, possibly on the menu will be a no-bake cheese pie with cherries on top....sounds yummy. Tomorrow will be leftover pork roast.

One of JP's Christmas gifts is Lox and bagels. So I will pack that box first thing tomorrow morning. He will probably eat it right away. So that will cover his breakfast and lunch. It will be a quiet day for us as we have no children or family here in Appleton.

This morning I made some waffles, plenty of waffles for JP to munch on. Gosh they were good, my choice of toppings, peanut butter and cranberry sauce. Munched them down while making more waffles.

My little waffle maker makes the best waffles....this was just the start of the waffle making, should have taken a picture after all the waffles were made....but you get the idea. There was enough batter to make about 12 of these cakes. Oh so good!!!!

 

I watched a great movie last night from Netflex...."Jersey Boys" about the Four Seasons and their bumpy offstage lives stretches across four decades....it's ironic how Jersey Boys has showcased the group and they are even bigger then ever. I went on Youtube to see Frankie Valli and he is still singing and going on...amazing story!!! So I probably will watch it again downstairs while making a few cards....I have to get some more cards ready for the Hospice meeting in January. Valentines and winter cards are on the agenda.

 

Well, you all have a wonderful day and enjoy the blessings that God has given and don't forget to keep looking up.....the merry go round will slow down and you can get off for a breath of fresh air. Then we will have the NEW YEAR to think about and what it will hold for us all. Take care.

Cheers ~ Louise





Birthday Update.....

Hi there everyone....how did your day go??? Today I was totally surprised by a gift in the mail from Amazon!!!! A Hamilton Beach Blender sent to me by a blogger friend. My blender was starting to sound like a cement mixer (that's what JP said). I think I shall really like this blender. I make smoothies every morning, plus I shall be able to do many other things, like crush ice, make salsa, grind, grate, whip, puree, stir, dice, chop among other things. I may also get the food chopper attachment that goes along with this blender....maybe for Christmas.

I am wondering how she knew I needed a blender, I don't remember ever mentioning it in any of my posts....but then, maybe I did. But what ever the reason....it sure was nice of her to think of me...."Thank you Beth that was very sweet of you."

Lots of snow tonight 4-7 inches..........I still don't think those politicians know what they are talking about...."Global Warming" is some one's fantasy dream. Does not look like things will be warming up till at least March!!!!

Our car was ready to be picked up, a new serpentine belt and pulley was put in. It seems that this is a common thing to go out for this year and model car. Well, better it happened Sunday when there was no snow on the ground. We had a towing bill of $138, hopefully our Ins. Company will cover part of that. Not sure what the total bill will be. I guess that will be another "UPDATE". JP will pick the car up after he shovels out. Uge.....winter.

Well time to close this blog for today....I need to get downstairs to make up some cards. You take care and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Birthday Update......and Car Problems

Hi there everyone and everybody.......hope you had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to Thanksgiving!!!! I am still dancing around my birthday as you can see. A few more pictures of my flowers and birthday cake, which was a cheese cake from Festival. Oh yum, half chocolate chip and half plain. I so thoroughly enjoyed this cake and will do it again without any celebration.

I love this picture of my bouquet of flowers....you just may see this picture again and again....I think it is sooooo pretty.

In this picture is the chocolate chip....I made some cranberry sauce and spooned it over the cheese cake....was so very delicious and healthy.....don't you think????

This was my slice......had to hold the plate up so the flowers could be my background. Sort of an odd picture, but you get the idea.

Well as you see by the title of this blog, this is an update of my birthday celebration. We had a wonderful time at BJ Clancys. where I had a free steak dinner....no I did not take any pictures. I guess you can take just so many pictures of a piece of steak and fries and salad and some chocolate ice cream with a candle on top.

After dinner, we came home, and I took Kylie for a walk around the block....or I mean she walked me. After the walk, I went downstairs and worked on some Christmas cards for Hospice, have about 30 Christmas, now I need to put some Birthday, Thinking of you and Thank you cards together.

Next thing on my agenda is to make some Christmas cards to send to some friends and family. Hope I can come up with some new ideas.

Speaking of family....our niece had her baby on my birthday....now I share a birthday with a little girl named Madelyn Renee....that should be an easy birthday to remember when sending a card.

Bad news, we went to church this morning which is 32 miles round trip. The car was making a funny sound when we drove off. We got to church, went through the motions of church, sing, prayer, tithes, greet, music, preach. After church this man started talking to us and we ended up staying till 2pm (church had finished at 11am) This guy was the leader of a gang of 300 guys in NYC.....my goodness, did he have some stories to tell......I suddenly felt like I had been to church...gosh he was full of the fire of the Holy Spirit. I probably could have listened to him for another hour. But, all things have to come to an end. His wife was calling him to come home. So we locked up the church and got into the car.

We were going to have something to eat at the restaurant but, it had closed. We stopped at the gas station and JP noticed that the steering was a little hard (that's strange). We left the gas station and the battery light went on...then suddenly another light went on and then a beeping sound....suddenly I saw that the radiator gauge was on hot....."JAY the radiator gauge!!!" We stopped on the side of the road, he got out and lifted the hood and he saw that the serpentine belt had broke.....oh geez...that connects everything to "everything"!!!!

So now what????? So JP called the service station we have gone to for over 25 years....no answer, but then the called transferred to the owner and he answered, we told Dave the problem and he sent a tow truck to pick up the car and us. We sat in the car for a half hour, it got a little chilly, but JP had a few snacks in his lunch box....I could feel my blood sugars either rising or lowering....but the snacks helped.

The tow truck showed up, the mechanic put the car on the truck and we jumped in the front seat of the tow truck (well, I did not exactly jump into the front seat...68 years does not jump very high or fast). The mechanic drove us to our house, cause the service station is about 5 blocks away.

What a crazy day....way too much stress of this old lady. Another adventure with JP.....no....not liking these adventures much anymore. So now we wait to see what tomorrow brings, hopefully the car will be fixed in time for JP to go to work....if not, that will be our next problem. The service station has some cars that people can use if their car is un-drive-able....well, that would be us, hopefully they have an extra car if our car is not finished.

Well, I can see this is way to long of a blog and you have probably stopped reading, cause it is so boring. I shall close here and follow-up tomorrow....I am hating the idea of seeing the bill for this job. Since I was only $125.00 away from paying off our previous bill, now they will add on to this bill the new total....uge, can we never get ahead???????  Just wondering.

Have a good day and keep looking up.....I know I do.
Cheers ~ Louise