Our Christmas Newsletter

Merry Christmas everyone! Click here to read our Christmas Newsletter! Hopefully we will be posting more updates during Christmas break.

Magirology, Philosophy, and Theology (minus the last two)

So when Christy and I started this blog it was determined that my posts would deal mostly with subjects in the field of philosophy and theology. I thought it appropriate to begin my adventures in the blogosphere by dealing with neither topic. Instead I will here present a detailed account of the finer point of preparing a cheesecake (I mean come on, philosophers and theologians have to eat some time!)

The impetus' behind this project was the incessant nagging of a dear friend of mine for me to satiate his uncontrollable urge for cheesecake (just kidding Terrence in case you read this). Unfortunately, this means that we did not get to taste test this one but going on the assumption that this one tasted very similar to the other ones I've made, I'm guessing it will be pretty good.

The recipe is a slight modification of the Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake found in the 2011 edition of Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorites recipe book.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces (6 ounces), melted and cooled

First I smashed 9 graham crackers into a mixing bowl, added the powdered sugar and melted butter and mixed them all together.

 

Once this was all mixed, I put about 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of a springform pan and pressed it all around. Then, I took the rest of the mixture and put it around the edge of the pan and used a spoon to push it up the sidewalls to form a wall (it was supposed to be about 2 inches high but yeah, that didn't work too well).

Having set that aside, I moved on to the filling. As anyone knows, the filling is the most important part. Think back to those Little Debbie's commercials where everyone was asking "Hey! Where's the cream filling?" They all understood (animals included) that anything can have a good exterior but it's what inside that counts. Oh wait. I said I wasn't going to get off into the other -ologies yet.

The filling consisted of the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar, raspberries, and chocolate (basically everything else you have left after the crust).

I mixed the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together.

Then, added the eggs and vanilla.

Next I melted the chocolate and added that.

Finally, I gently folded the raspberries into the mixture.

The final step is to pour the mixture into the prepared crust, smooth out the mixture so it's all even on top, and pop it into the oven (which is conveniently set at 350 degrees).

It bakes for about 50 minutes or until roughly 2 inches around the edge stays firm when shaken (don't shake it too hard or you'll have to start all over again, not to mention having to do some serious cleaning of your oven).

Once it's done, set it on a cooling rake. We have a very nice cooling rake from Pampered Chef but that has little influence on the quality of the cake, I just thought I throw it in there since I waited like a year before we got a cooling rake.

It cools in stages. First it just sits on the rake for 15 minutes doing what cheesecakes do best: looking WAY to tempting! Second (or as some people so irritatingly put: "Secondly". "Secondly"? Seriously, what's that supposed to mean?You don't say "Firstly" or "Twelfthly" or "Eighty-Thirdly" so why say secondly?), I took a plastic brownie knife, which coincidentally was also from Pampered Chef (I think it was a wedding gift) and separated the cake from the springform pan and let it cool for another 30 minutes. Third (see above for my views on "Thirdly"), I removed the springform pan entirely and ...let it cool again, this time for a whole hour. Once it's done cooling to roughly room temperature, I placed it in the refrigerate to cool for another 4 hours. This is going to be one cool cheesecake. Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.

There you have it! A Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake!

Summer Adventure: DuPont State Forest

Thursday I had my wisdom teeth out. So I've been stuck at home on the couch the rest of the week. This morning Curt is out grocery shopping, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to write another blog post!

July 9th Curt and I went hiking with our friends Stephen and Kristen Ryland! We'd been wanting to go hiking for a while. We'd also been trying to find a time to hike with the Rylands for a while! So, when July 9th looked like it would work, we left the place to hike up to Stephen and Kristen. 

Stephen and Kristen Ryland by the 2nd of Triple Falls falls

Curt and I near triple falls

They took us up to DuPont State forest in North Carolina. We were able to see three different waterfalls; Hooker Falls, Triple Falls and High Falls.

We arrived at the park mid-morning. It might have been around 9:00 or 9:30-ish. The timing was perfect. There weren't many people at the forest yet. The trails didn't feel crowded at all. Another plus was the amount of rain the area had had the past week. The waterfalls were pretty full!

We first hiked to Hooker Falls. Stephen and Curt climbed all over it. Kristen and I kept a safe distance.

Then we crossed the road, and hiked to Triple falls. It was gorgeous! We had a short snack there of grapes and granola bars. Finally, we headed over to High Falls. 

Curt and I at the lookout above Hooker Falls

A view of the three falls of Triple Falls

Triple Falls was very full of water!

Curt and Stephen near the top of Triple Falls- Scary!

Whereas Triple falls and Hooker falls were what would immediately come to my mind as a waterfall, High Falls was a bit different. It had a more traditional waterfall side, but on the far side of the river was more of a water slide down the rocks. Last time Stephen and Kristen had been there with friends they had gone across the river, slid down the rocks and swum in the water hole at the bottom. 

A view of high falls

This show the waterfall side of High falls. Pretty impressive!

So, Curt and Stephen set out across the river. The water was going fairly fast, and at one point Curt lost his footing and was swept down stream for a few feet, but he caught himself, and made it over.

He and Stephen came back and helped Kristen and I across. We swam in the water hole for a little, nibbled some more snacks, and by that time the park was beginning to get pretty busy. So, we headed back across the river to where we had left our backpacks. Stephen, Kristen and I went the way we had come. But Curt had different ideas. He swam out into the current and let himself be carried around the rocks and down to where we were! I have never been so scared for him in my life! He made it. He's a strong swimmer, and really, it sounds like he wasn't in any real danger at all, but still! He looked so small compared to where that water was tumbling down the falls! I was afraid he'd get stuck in a current or something!

We headed home, and on the way we drove past the Carl Sandburg house. We stopped by, and walked around the outside. It brought back memories of one of the best classes I took in College. In Performance of Narrative and Drama we took one day and went to visit the Carl Sandburg house. We had spent the day touring the house, seeing his goats, and exploring the bamboo grove next to the house.

Visiting with Curt, Stephen and Kristen we saw tons of fish in the lake and a copperhead sunning itself down below the lake's dam!

picture from Junior year of college. This was taken at the Carl Sandburg home

It was an awesome day! 

Christy's Birthday

So, it looks like I've lost all the pictures from my birthday. My poor phone froze for about 45 minutes, and then said it had a damaged SD card, and now, there appears to be no pictures on the phone.
So, you'll have to just imagine my cake.
It looked something like this...

Note: I just grabbed this from a google images search 'cause it it looked similar. Curt did not make this cake.

Actually the cake he made was a lot prettier than this, and I had cool pictures of the cake, and then the cake decorated with blueberries and mint leaves. I also had pictures of the cake sliced so you could see the yummy blueberry filling he put in between each layer. When technology malfunctions it can be so depressing.

Curt and I took the day off on my birthday. We spent the day doing a few projects around the house, and getting ready for Mom and Dad Doucette, Nathan and PJ to come to dinner that evening.

We had these delicious shish-ka-bobs on the grill. I had pictures of these... but they were on my phone too. We had beef and shrimp for meats, orange and green peppers, onions, peaches, lemons and squash to put on the shish-ka-bobs.

I pulled out the lazy susan that had not fit correctly on our square table, and it looked lovely in the middle of our new table. I also used the lazy susan dishes. If my brother is able to recover the pictures I'll post them.

While getting one more set of shish-ka-bob skewers at Bilo, Curt bought me a dozen red roses! They are just starting to open.

These two pictures made it because Curt wanted me to download and email them to him that day.
At least you can see two pictures from my birthday.

They match our red kitchen just perfectly! And provided a lovely centerpiece. The vase fit right in the middle of the lazy susan!

The fellowship with family was great! I opened Birthday cards, and Curt gave me a lovely red teapot. I had been wanting a teapot that could heat water on the stove and would whistle when the water was hot. All winter we have tea at breakfast. It helps us brave the cold weather to the library door. The teapot is just perfect!

Really, my birthday started the day before. I really wish I had the pictures I took. When Curt and I came out to go to lunch, three of the library Graduate Assistants had decorated my car! They had written all over it "Happy Birthday Christy!" "RT AS & ET", "It's a Birthday" "Have a Party"! They also had hung streamers from the bumper, and inside the car! It was much better than celebrating my birthday by hiding all the chairs in the library. (That's what they did last year.) The only hidden thing this year was my mouse, and Curt helped me find that pretty quickly. 

Well, I will find out Monday if anything can be saved from my poor phone card. My brother is an IT whiz and he has promised to look into fixing my missing picture problem. We'll see if I'll be able to share any more!

A Gallon of Blueberries!

Today Curt and I got off of work a little after 3, headed home, and he mixed up some pizza dough to rise. Then we headed over to our good friends, the Gibbles.

The Gibbles have their very own Blueberry farm. Fresh organic blueberries are fun to pick, and even better to eat!
This past weekend Curt and I had stopped with some friends at a roadside stand, picked up some South Carolina peaches, and looked longingly at a little pint of fresh blueberries that was way overpriced. Thankfully, at the Gibbles if you pick your own blueberries, you can buy a gallon for 15 dollars. That will make a lot of pancakes... and cobbler... and blueberry cheesecake (which is what Curt plans to use them for).

Please excuse my unruly hair- it doesn't like humidity!

We had been planning all week to spend our Friday picking blueberries, but watching the weather this week, I was concerned. It looked like rain all week. Even this morning only showed one hour when it wasn't raining. But, as the day went on, the temperature dropped- to a mere 63 degrees in South Carolina!!! (That's a whole lot better than the 103 it was on Monday!) and the rain stopped! The weather was just perfect!!!

Then there were the blueberry bushes. The bushes were loaded, branches straining under the weight of bunches and bunches of blueberries!!! It only took us about 45 minutes to pick a whole gallon!
So, all that to say, if you're in South Carolina Upstate- check out the Gibbles' Blueberry Hill! It's well worth the work of picking! (Oh, and they sell the blueberries already picked too, if you don't have time to pick yourself).

Kitchen Catches: Salad Bowls

Earlier this summer my loving husband woke me up and had me out of the house by 7:00 am to go garage sale-ing. Getting me up early on Saturday is not an easy feet. We're up by 6:30 every week day and I treasure my sleep-in day. We went to 12 garage sales by noon and found many sales, all thanks to my dear husband wakening me early on Saturday. I'll try to remember that next time he gets me up at an ungodly hour.
One of the best catches of the day was my salad bowls!

A lady was selling a set of 3 small salad bowls and a big salad bowl for $1.50, and a 2nd set of 4 wooden salad bowls for $1. The seemed to be in pretty sad condition.


Thankfully, having been researching wood finishes for our dining room table project, I knew something could be done to fix the bowls!
I grabbed both sets and boldly asked the lady "both sets for a dollar?" knowing that much haggling was about to ensue.
"Sure."
What?! Had my ear deceived me?! 
Seven beautiful bowls were mine!
I took them home, and took out our olive oil. I poured the oil into the bowl and onto some paper towels. I then proceeded to liberally apply olive oil all over each bowl... here's how it turned out!

Good as new!

Furnishing: Our New Table

So, I think I can honestly say this post chronicles our biggest house project thus far... except perhaps the Christmas decorating.

God graciously allowed Curt and I to find an apartment with a low rental rate, fully furnished. Ever since we have been gradually accruing furniture to fit our own tastes. One item I kept my eyes open for was a dining room table.

The table that came with the apartment... and our first Sunday dinner.

I watched Craigslist, University Yardsale, and kind of kept my eyes open while passing yard sales. Then, I joined Freecycle. Freecycle is a yahoo group where people list  their trash, and other people list items they are looking for like canning jars, leftover paint, etc.

I had been watching the emails Freecycle sent out, and happened to be on just as someone listed a round wooden table.
I emailed back right away- and wonder of wonders! I was the first person to email! The lady gave me her address, and we set up a date for us to pick up the table!

We drove about 45 minutes to pick up the table... did I mention it was free? The lady was just getting rid of it? So, we paid gas money... but a free wooden table!
After looking over the table we could see that it needed to be refinished. There were some places where it was pretty badly warped by water damage, but it was so beautiful!

Here are  a picture from stripping the finish...

We used this less toxic finish stripper that smelled slightly orangy. You applied, then waited about ten minutes, and then went to town with a little scraper tool. Let me just say it was a mess! The scraping took far longer than I expected and was a lot harder than I expected.

Curt borrowed an electric sander from his dad, and we bought graduated levels of sandpaper to make the wood smooth. Several of the warped places were so warped that we ended up going down into the particle board... but it turned out that the spots were small enough that they just looked like knot hole once we finished them.

Fairly close to the beginning... and it's not looking so good.

My bad spray paint job. Curt came and rescued me from the dripping paint.

one of the clawfoot legs freshly painted

The base after several layers of spray paint.

The base of the table had clawfeet. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with those. We spray painted the base a cream color. It looked better than I had imagined!

Red Mahogany Stain

Next I researched staining and varnishing for the table top. I decided on a Red Mahogany. When I first applied it I thought it would be a bit too dark!  Then I realized you wipe the stain off after a few minutes. Here's what that ended up looking like...

Much better colorwise

Don't the colors go well together?

Finally, we decided on a polyurethane finish. Polyurethane withstands water better than the other finish types. Since this is an often used kitchen/dining area table, withstanding water was exactly what we were looking for.
We did one coat of varnish a day for 3 days.

Careful, careful sealing

After one coat

Now the 2nd coat is dry!

 Finally, we took the table home and reassembled!

Curt hard at work

The first leg attached!

EEEeee! It's all together! Doesn't it look beautiful?

Lovely!

A better look at the base

 And here is the finished product complete with our first meal!

 All done!