DIVA of Dessert

A diva could be described as a "distinguished female singer" usually found in the arenas of opera and jazz. At least, that is where I am most familiar with the term being used. It is also can mean "goddess, fine lady, or divine one." It's synonym is "prima donna" which actually would have been a more accurate title for this post but I am pretty fond of the word diva. An accurate definition of prima donna would also be that of a lead female singer (usually in opera) and also that of a "vain, temperamental, or conceited" person.


I lay all this out for you so that there would be full understanding when I say that cheesecake is a diva among desserts... yea, even a prima donna. It is a fine dessert that is quite delectable and some may even call it divine. Temperamental and high maintenance could also be tagged right on the tail of it, too. Especially by those who opt to make them at home.


There are so many things to consider when making a cheesecake. Did I stir it too much? Should I add some starch? What kind of water bath will be the most effective? Did the springform pan make the right seal? Will the pan leak? Or maybe I should use a regular cake pan (which many people do, I guess). Is it done? Maybe it's already TOO done! Is the oven too hot according to some? Is it cooking too fast? Is it cooling too fast?


All this in the attempt to get the "perfect" cheesecake. You know... the one with no cracks. Although, people do tell me it's the cracks that say it's homemade and as long as it tastes good it doesn't really matter. While some of that is true the cracks, as I read more, can tell you answers to those questions asked above... just not which question in particular. Cracks can mean that the oven was too hot, that it cooked to fast, there wasn't enough humidity in the oven, that it could be over baked, and that it cooled too fast. Sigh.

I rant over this because a couple of weeks ago Husband made a pumpkin cheesecake for a Men's Cake Bake at church which was really fun and quite hilarious at times. The above photo was the first attempt at the cake and it got honorable mention at the cake bake which was fun! (The FV is somewhat of an inside "joke" at our church. It was an attempt to keep some things light and poke fun at ourselves... It worked.) :) Well, there were some cracks but as most people know, frosting (of any sorts or topping for that matter) will cover a multitude of sins. HA! The cake was such a hit with one family (who loves pumpkin) they asked us to make it for a Halloween party that we would be going to at their house on the 31st. So, we made the cake and took some extra precautions and we came back with some of the same results. I think we will try a different water bath this next time around.

Either way, we get yummy cheesecake!

**The reason I am fond of the word "diva" is that I was in an accountability group called the DIVAS and there were five of us, one for each letter, and it was quite fun. If you want to know more you can ask...I think that we would have been under the "fine lady" definition. As it was a group created to edify and grow in the Lord. So, if any of you ladies are reading this... HI!!! :) Love you and miss you, too!!

Doing the Right Thing: An Update

A few days ago I mentioned a local grocery store in which I tried to rectify what I thought to be a significant accounting error. (About a $4 difference) We found out, indeed, that they did credit us the $15.66 instead of the original $11.56. Sigh.

Yesterday, the SAME store bestowed a free bag of ice upon us. An interesting story of telling the cashier I needed ice, we talked about how I was already buying my turkey for Thanksgiving, and then she told me the total for all of my purchases. I asked again if that included the ice. Friendly cashier then said, "No, but don't worry about it... just go grab a bag." I was a little bewildered... again. I asked, "Are you sure?" Because we could just run another transaction, right? But no, she insisted. I was tired and said, "Okay." I had to run back to the store later and grab a couple of things there and I thought to just pay for it then but it slipped my mind.

Maybe the next time....

Soup Day

Thursday's during the wonderful season of autumn will be "Soup Day." Well, with the exception of Thanksgiving, of course. I don't think a Turkey Chili or other soup variation would go over very well with family and guests. Ha!

(And, yes, I realize that this post is coming on a FRIDAY and not really on Soup Day)

Anyway, it has been my goal to try to find some new things to make along the soup genre of food as well as pull out some ol ' favorites. When I started this whole adventure (two weeks ago) we started off with chili which is a favorite around here. It's just yummy with its beef, two- or three- bean mixture, spices, and corn. Sometimes we will have it over Frito's which adds a really yummy crunch... but not always so good for us. I saw a friend have it over rice one time so we tried that. We liked it and will probably eat it that way again. However, we did miss the "crunch!"

Last week, I made a wonderfully delicious soup called Cadillo which I read was a Northern New Mexican meal. Maybe so. It represented some what of a stew to me but not quite a REAL stew. It had green chile in it and that was enough to get a two thumbs up from me and my husband. We made it with a beef base, ground beef, green chile, spices, and some potato. Yum.

This week was delectable! I decided to try something that I don't think I have done before. Sometimes I shy away from cream-type soups because I am always afraid of scorching the milk and having a disaster on my hands. My husband, being the encourager that he is, always says "Go ahead, try something new. If it all goes south we can go get some wings." So, knowing that, I went for it and I am so glad that I did!! On top of that I decided to get a little fancy and opted to make my own bread bowls. They were so good!! The soup was called Baked Potato Soup which was one of Cooking Light's all-time best recipes for soup. It requires, go figure, for the potatoes to be baked and then add things that would be on a baked potato like bacon bits, cheese, green onion or chives, and some sour cream. I found a wonderful recipe for a bread bowl. It was called Italian Herbed Bread. I modified it by adding some garlic powder to the already included Italian seasonings and then threw in some rosemary for sass. Then I adjusted the baking to my bread bowl needs. Wow. The house smelled great and our mouths rejoiced in the wonderment of such savory flavors. I think that this soup will be a yearly tradition. And I am sure that the bread will make appearances here and there with other meals. Maybe someday again as a soup bowl.


Next week, I think that I am going to try making my friend Amanda's new creation, Spicy Chicken Chickpea Soup. Intriguing, I know. Especially since one of the ingredients is peanut butter!

I look forward to Thursday's and my adventures in soup making. Fun times.


**It's becoming a fascination of taking photos of the culinary creations that come from the kitchen. I almost forgot to take a photo with the green onions but the top photo developed better, I thought... so, I had to add both.

What Happens When You Try To Do The Right Thing

Last Friday, I went to a local grocery store to pick up candy that could be placed on the tables of our Fall Festival on Saturday. Yes, the hopes of adding sugar to bouncing children seemed like a good idea at the time (HA!) and it might add some dimension to the tables. It turns out the tables didn't need any artificial sweeteners to make them look lovely so I stashed my treasure only to return them to said local store on Monday afternoon.

Upon my arrival at the "Guest Services" desk I was greeted by a friendly young woman who began to work on my transaction. She was a little perplexed at my returning such a large amount of candy, what with Halloween a couple of days away (at the time), but she started scanning and typing away. She handed me my receipt and said that $15.66 had been credited back to my credit card. I thought that the number seemed high as I had gone in on Friday with a number that I did not want to exceed and I was pretty sure this exceeded that number. So, as I walked away I pulled my cart over (I had other grocery business to attend to as well) and looked at the papers the young lady had given me. Sure enough! On Friday, I purchased $11.56 worth of candy and now the store just gave me a $15.66 credit instead! I turned my cart around and stood back in line. The young lady was working with someone else and her manager (I think) then calls me over and asks how she could help me. I explain the situation, she gets a slightly annoyed look on her face, and then tells me not to worry about it! WHAT?!?! She then says she will tell the girl about it and for me not to worry. As I try to tell her that I can wait to have it fixed she still tells me not to worry about the problem and to basically have a nice day. Flabbergasted is one word to describe what I was feeling at that very moment.

Now I wonder if it will be adjusted back to the $11.56 (I hope so!) or if it will be a $4.00 bonus for us?

It seems like people are surprised when you try to do the right thing, especially when the error is in your favor. As a people of God we are called to a higher standard and that means honesty in dealings with family, friends, and businesses. It seems like some people are so used to being "ripped-off" these days that they would rather not take the few extra steps to right the wrong. What is this world coming to?

"Wow, that's a lot of gourds."

This is what I hear from some random guy to his girlfriend as I stand in line at Costco. The woman in front of me then asks, "What do you do with all of those?"

"Well, we are having a fall festival and I have a lot of tables to decorate."

"Then do you throw them away?"

"I guess. I think some of the families will take them to decorate until Thanksgiving."

"They won't last until next year?"

"I don't think so."

She looks at me with a perplexed facial contortion. That is when Leon, the friendly Costco Cashier, chimes in and says that his were stored in his garage for a year and they were just fine when he brought them out this year! I think my jaw dropped a smidge. Through the desert heat they survived. I am amazed. However, I know that if one of them gets a bit smashed little buggies will descend quite rapidly from no where... there was evidence of that at the display in the back of the store.

Needless to say, I hope that 11 (8 of which were purchased today) bags of shellacked gourds will do the trick to decorate the 40 or so tables for Fall Festival this weekend. I know that we have some whole fruit coming, like apples, and we will use that in decorating if need be in the main ramada. Should be fun.

Modern Homemaker

It's true. I am a homemaker and I love what I do. It was quite an adjustment from life as I formerly knew it but it has to be one of the best things that I have done thus far in my short, yet incredibly full, life. A friend told me, "You are not a 'housewife' because you are not married to your home. You are a maker of your home... you are a home maker." Her statement made me smile. Now I have heard the term "Domestic Engineer" - which I just find really funny. Did you know you can actually major in that? It's just a gussied up word for what many of us actually knew as "Home Economics" --and I would say that is still a better term for it. However, the last time I had anything that was remotely related to Home Economics was back in the 8th grade. Everything now is on the job training. I am thankful that there is grace in the learning curve. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a homemaker... it's not mindless, unproductive, lazy, or anything else that "society" tends to stereotype it with. Although, I will admit that I used to be one who would apply said stereotypes... little did I know then.

With all that to say, I found myself laughing the other day and pondering the women that went before me in this wonderful estate... Why, you ask? I will tell you!

My Papa did a great job raising me on his own. He did teach me a lot but I am sure that no parent can teach EVERYTHING -- especially a Father (who has very different roles in a household) to a daughter (who will eventually have very different roles in the household someday). In my frustration of trying to fold a fitted sheet and having my linen closet look a little frumpy, I thought to myself, "Surely there has to be a way to do this!" So, like any other normal red-blooded American I Googled (!) "how to fold a fitted sheet." Lo and behold, site after site came up on how to fold a fitted sheet! Eureka! I was pumped as there were videos and photos (as I am such a visual person) and now my linen closet looks much happier. And I am proud of myself for learning something new. That's when my laughter set in! Google! Of all things! How did women before Internet ever find things... that's the point... they are the ones that figured it out and passed it on. Thanks to them for their hard work and ingenuity and I am thankful that I was ordained to live now in the computer age. I will say, there is still plenty of room for ingenuity!

I laughed yesterday, too, as I was writing an e-mail to my fun friend in Albuquerque and told her what I was up to for the day. As I was typing out that I "need to go pick up some water" I snickered because even with all of our technology we still haul water at some level. Thankfully, I don't need to go down to the river with a bucket. Rather, I drive to Costco and get some bottles or I head over to the grocery store front and put my larger bottles in a machine that is plugged into some source and it fills my bottle. Then I put them in a cart that easily transports the eight-pounds-per-gallon to my car and I drive it home in a contraption that runs on gas and not on grass.

I find life highly entertaining.

Caribbean Carnival (for your mouth!)

Now, I don't normally get really excited about a particular meal that I am about to make. I really like cooking but it's been awhile since I have been, " I am SO excited to see how this comes out!"

Well, this would be one of those times. I found a recipe that looked really yummy and would challenge me in how I put flavors together and even in the things that I would opt to eat. This was SO good!! The balance of tangy, spicy, sweet, and everything... just melded together quite nicely! On top of it all, it's a pretty healthy meal option. I think that it may become a fast favorite in our home. It was a little random that I had some of the more obscure ingredients on hand. I think that is what drew me to the recipe in the first place. The original recipe called for it to be served with pearl barley prepared in a vegetable broth. However, I did not have that on hand and we really love couscous (so good they had to name it twice!) so that is what we served along side this yummy dish. I found the recipe in a book called "Eating for Life." It has been a source for many a meal over the last several years and I just opted to get it back out a couple of weeks ago. We really have enjoyed the recipes from this book.

Well, I haven't quite figured out how to add a .PDF link to the website yet. So, if you would like the recipe you will have to e-mail me for it or leave a message here requesting it (you'll need to leave your e-mail not in the message itself but you'll see a place for it) and then I will send it off to you!

Happy eating... and joyful cooking to you all! :) (I am a nerd...)