guess what i did tonight!

if you guessed "baked" then you're right on.  I guess its time for a brief update, for those of you who are not my mom and haven't been following my more recent adventures and have just heard ominous phrases like "big decision" and "new home" dropped in here and there for the past month.  About a month and a half ago the company I am serving my AmeriCorps assignment at went through some major lay-offs.  Among the casualties was my direct supervisor and while efforts were made to keep me feeling happy and productive without her, I was still given, and ultimately accepted the offer to change sites.  I have selected a new site located in South Lake Tahoe and will be moving there this very weekend I believe. SO as I am leaving and one of my current coworkers has a birthday coming up, but it will be right after I leave, I decided now is as good a time as any to make him his birthday cake.  He selected a cookies and cream cheesecake and I opted for individual style, for easier distribution and consumption at work.  And ta-da! we're back to baking...I got the recipe here, it makes exactly 30, even with ample tasting of the batter (inevitably leading to the most delicious tummyache ever!) and they are pretty neat little buggers with oreo's as their bottom crust (i.e. no smashing cookies and melting butter and pressing crumbs into the bottom of muffin cups, just dropping a cookie in there) so here is a small photo montage of the making of the cheesecakes:

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this one goes out to Luis!

Luis my Friend, I know its a bit late, but this cake was made with you in mind.  I miss you sir!  Hope your birthday was happy and wish you were here to share some cake and share some of your infinite knowledge about why Portugal is the most awesome place ever...someday I'll get there!  and when I do...you can bet your ass there will be cake!

Happy Birthday to: Arthur (6th), Elly (11th), Luis (12th), Becca Moore (14th), Me (14th), Hsiao-Han (15th), Celia (16th), Becky Fogarty (29th), and Meaghan Gallagher (31st)!

And of course lots of love, smiles, and happy thoughts to everyone, no matter when your birthday is!

And now for the photo of the day:

(click to enlarge if you'd like a better look)

Taken on a hike this morning in Coloma, CA, this is a fence post with a few dozen acorns tucked into it.  I learned that the Acorn Woodpecker stores their winter snacks in just about any wooden surface they can find, such as a fence post, or perhaps a little more irritatingly, the wooden siding on houses round these parts. 

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