Cream cheese.

Alright in the last 48 hours I've baked two double decker yellow cakes soaked in caramel with two pounds of Hershey chocolate icing per cake, and I pierced the cakes with small fork holes and spread hot caramel over the naked cakes hot out of the oven and so they soaked up the caramel with ease.  Calories are not an issue when you are a dinner guest at my home.  I made my signature spaghetti, which is two cups of white onions, hamburger meat, red sauce, and one brick of Philadelphia cream cheese on top of garlic dusted, fresh butter coated, and freshly shredded Parmesan tossed al dente noodles.

I have embraced the fact that nothing else outside of Faith/God/Church makes me as happy as feeding people.  I don't understand how people see cooking as a chore I relish (no pun intended) the next opportunity to wow someone with my culinary mad crazy skills.  Even as I sit here typing I am creating menus in my head for upcoming dinner parties.  My friends make for amazing guinea pigs, they are brave but greatly appreciated.

I think I am going to buy a charcoal grill, hopefully if I buy and prepare the food, someone will take pity on the clueless and grill the dinner in exchange for a free supper.  A girl can dream.

Parties and Dinner Parties

I cannot believe it is finally Friday!  I had a small dinner party last night and I think it went well.  Of my four guests only three ate and one was a vegetarian.  As a foodie I think it bares mentioning that when you have a gathering to always contact each guest either via Facebook or text or carrier pigeon to see if there are any dietary restrictions that should be observed.  For example my vegetarian friend last night; I sent her my menu and ingredients and learned that one item was not vegetarian at all even though you would have thought it was, thank goodness I asked her, as it would have been horrible for her not to have been able to eat!     For my friend Jennifer I assured her that not only was I careful about the ingredients, I used separate utensils, and separate electric skillets, and a separate baking sheet so at no point would her food come into contact with my other guests meat filled food.   So on the menu last night:

Salad dusted with garlic and fresh shaved Parmesan, croutons, and bacon.

Garlic bread with four cheeses

Rotini baked with butter and 5 cheeses and marinara.

Piroshki's (butter biscuit rolled out and stretched) stuffed with sauteed; butter, brown rice, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, white onion, hamburger, brown gravy.

Dessert: Hot out of the oven baked chocolate chip cookies floating on a bed of caramel and Hershey's piping hot fudge stuffed with Great Divide ice cream (half chocolate/half vanilla) and topped with another hot cookie, and drizzled with caramel.

My friend Jennifer brought two white wines that went lovely with the meal.

Ferals need love too.

Whenever I go on to Craigslist I get pretty darn angry when I click on pets and I see things like:  Moving, cannot take family pet, or "we just got this kitten and our child is allergic".  Seriously?  I would not move into a place where Sookie could not live also, she is not optional, she is a member of my family so far as I am concerned, where I go she goes, period.  Now those of you who do not have pets, you might think this is odd or weird or extreme but trust me, it's really not.  As far as finding out AFTER you got a pet that your child is allergic, sorry sell it to someone else, because I am not buying it.  Are you seriously trying to tell me that your child has never been exposed to any ones animals, ever?  Now I'm no genius but how about this, before buying FeFe or Fido take your child to a friends home or whatever and if they get hives or sneeze DON'T buy that doggy in the window, please spare us a rescue!

As far as people saying it is to expensive to have their pet spay or neutered, spare me, call any animal shelter or SPCA and they will tell you where you can get it done for free or at most for $10.00, however if you think you cannot afford even that STEP away from the box full of adorable kittens, you cannot AFFORD it!  I spent more on Sookie last year than some did on their grand kids, trust and believe these furry family members are not and should not be cheap to maintain.

Since Sookie is a Feral I have a soft spot for them, and think they are an often forgot about demographic, unless someone is calling animal control because they have a feral colony set up in an abandoned house, but think on this, the only difference between Ferals and your beloved Persian FeFe is love and a litter box.  Sookie has more personality because she is a feral, also she is far more alert than any dog, and since I live alone in an apartment this has come in handy, I always know when someone is going to knock on my door by her reaction.  Also, Sookie alerts me within seconds of any creepy crawlies in the house by stalking it as prey.  Sookie plays fetch, I didn't train her or anything, she just came up with this game all on her own.  I know I will NEVER have mice either, and since I live by a field this can be an issue. So the next time someone says "I'm thinking of adopting a cat or worse, buying one", please ask them to look around on-line for the nearest Feral rescue, they won't be sorry.http://www.feralcatrescuemd.org/

Beautiful

Comfort food Cheesecake

Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves 8 to 10 persons

Ingredients for crust:	Ingredients for cheesecake:
1 3/4 cups Graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup (1/4 pound stick) butter, melted 1/4 cup granulated sugar	3 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature 3 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup granulated sugar

Ingredients for topping:
1 pint (2 cups) sour cream 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for Graham cracker crust: Prepare your springform pan. Use pan bottom to trace circle on parchment paper. Cut out circle leaving two inch-square tabs at the 3 and 6 o’clock positions (more on that later). Cut strips of parchment paper equal to the height of your pan and enough strips too around the inside of the pan. Spray the inside of the assembled pan lightly with non-stick vegetable oil spray. Wipe off excess. Place circle on the bottom of the pan and fold the little tabs up against the side of the pan. Line the inside of the pan with thin strips. A small spritz of the non-stick spray will help the overlapping strips stick together. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine Graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix. In oven- or microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, using just enough heat to melt butter - just melted but not hot. Combine butter and crumbs and mix well. I have a small coffee scoop measuring cup. It is made of plastic, has a square edge on the bottom and the sides are almost straight up and down and the bottom is flat. It is an almost perfect tool to form the crust. Place about half of the crumb and butter mixture on the parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. Using your plastic coffee scoop or a similar tool, smooth out the crumbs forming a layer about 1/8-inch thick. Mover the excess crumb mixture towards the sides. With the side and square bottom edge of the tool, press the crumbs against the side of the pan forming the side crust. Add spoonfuls of crumbs as needed to form the crust up the side of the pan about 1 ½ inches. Carefully place the prepared crust in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. Procedure for Pie Filling In a large bowl, a stand mixer works best for this, beat the cream cheese until creamy. Slowly add the sugar in small amounts pausing between additions. Add eggs, one at a time, pausing between additions. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly. Pour into the prepared Graham Cracker crust. Use a spatula sparingly to smooth out the cheese mixture. Bake in a preheated 450°F. oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 200°F and bake an additional 45 minutes. While cake is baking, prepare topping. Preparing the topping and finishing the cake In a medium bowl, mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla together until you have a smooth mixture. Set aside. When the cheesecake has finished baking, remove from oven and reset temperature to 500°F. Carefully pour the topping mixture on top of the pie filling; Remember, the center of the cake will be soft and easily damaged. Carefully smooth with spatula allowing the topping to meet with the crumb crust. Return to oven and bake at 500°F. for 5 minutes. Watch pie carefully while baking the last 5 minutes. The crust may get too brown in which case reduce the oven temperature. After 5 minutes, turn off oven and open door slightly. Allow the cheese cake to cool undisturbed in the oven for at least an hour. After the cake has cooled to room temperature, open the springform pan and remove the side. Carefully strip away the parchment strips. The little tabs at the 3 and 6 o’clock positions can be used to grab and pull the still soft cake from the springform pan bottom and onto the serving platter. As is, the cake is wonderful and will bring you raves from your guests. For variety, you might slather a thin layer of prepared cherry pie filing over the top or lightly spread the top of the cake with seedless raspberry jam. Prepared Graham Cracker crumb crusts come in light-weight aluminum foil pie tins. This recipe makes enough filling and topping for two pie-sized cheesecakes. The cheesecake filling is heavy. To avoid possible burns to yourself and reduce the chance of the filling cracking, move and bake the cheesecake on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes. Apply topping and return to 500°F for 5 minutes. On very dry days, it might help to prevent cracking if you have a roasting pan or jelly roll pan with a quart of tea-kettle hot water on the bottom rack of the oven when you are baking the cheesecake.

Pork Ribs

1 jug of vinegar (your choice of type)

1 rack of pork ribs

A dry or wet rub to your taste

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of salt

Soak ribs in vinegar/salt/sugar brining solution for 24 hours in refrigerator.

Rinse ribs and wrap in aluminum and

Bake at 250°F for one hour - remove from oven - turn meat. Bake at 250°F for one hour - remove from oven.

Drain and add barbecue sauce as needed - increase heat to 400°F. Bake 30 minutes.  

Remove from oven and put on hot grill for 30 minutes to caramelize sauce.

A poem by Samara Sant

I walked along a beach on the beautiful northern California coastline it was a day like any other; the chill in the morning fog was unkind to those who dare have the audacity to venture out onto the ever changing sands.

I happened upon a seashell, I didn't think it possible for an object to seem so incredibly lonely. I sat down as I felt a chill to my very core. With my knees drawn up to my chest hoping to warm my skin if not my heart. So many people see the ocean for all the beauty it holds, I have seen it without it's mask. It is the coldest, most desolate, most lonely sight to behold. I have always felt the ache as I stand on it's beaches. Even now, as I think of it a thousand miles away; a tear comes to my eye. It's as if it represents the loneliness the entire world feels in it's murky dead silent depths.

No matter how far I move inland, it haunts me, the sound of the waves beating mercilessly upon the helpless land, standing bravely, yet still aware of the impending danger the seemingly weak waves might bring with every crest. I often wonder if I am the only person who can hear the deafening silence in the fog I feel the sadness envelop me cling to my skin, it's as if the ghosts of all the lost souls are begging for a reprieve. I turn thinking surely I am not all alone on the precipice, but alas it is I and I alone who sits shivering; weeping for those who can't sympathize with the emptiness.

I still find the ocean beautiful but I respect that it has secrets never to be shared with those still to be found unworthy.