Time flies when you're unemployed...

It is almost July...did you know that?  Why didn't anyone tell me?  Once again I haven't written anything in weeks, but this time I have a series of perfectly valid excuses for my lack of updates....for one, my brother got married again to his beautiful wife, Hsiao-Han, this time in VT (where our family is) because last time it was in Taiwan (where her family is) and then there was a small one in NC (where they met and live) so they owed us a wedding, since everyone else got one.
I was in the bridal party, and I had a blast welcoming my sister-in-law to the family once again.  It was a beautiful ceremony up at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe on a beautiful spring day with lots of friends and family and I don't think the day could have been more perfect!

Excuse number 2:  I PASSED THE FE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (And I was so excited when I got my little "You are now officially an engineer-in-training" certificate in the mail that I couldn't do anything but smile and jump up and down for days, and the jumping made typing difficult.)  I got myself a bottle of classy bubbly and toasted my new title (Shelby A. Perry, E.I.T.) with some good friends and had a "Shelabration!"  So hey, that's awesome....and makes me feel like I didn't just waste the last couple months of extensive studying....

Excuse number 3: I was unemployed.  I know typically that means that you have more time, but in my case it meant that I did more hiking than I have done in ages, volunteered a whole bunch with the Conservation Commission in Johnson, applied to the 2 or 3 jobs per week that I found interesting (I have the patience to be picky in my job hunt and I have decided that my happiness is worth it), and found new and interesting things to cook, bake, and create.  I put all that free time to good use until it wasn't all that free anymore, which is the way it should be.  Annnyyyywayyyy, all that being said, somewhere along the way all of that job applicating paid off, which brings me to excuse number 4:

I.  GOT.  A.  JOB.  About a week ago I got a call from one of the positions that I interviewed for and really really wanted, and guess what!?!?!  They wanted me too!  So now I'm hitting the road, actually in 3 days, for the mystical and exciting land of Wyoming!  That's right, I'm moving from the second least populated state in the country to the very least populated state in the country...raise your hand if you didn't see that coming...yeah...that's what I thought.  

Sooooooooooooooo as you can see my life has been quite busy lately, and is only going to get busier, as I pack up my life and move back into my Honda Civic for the 2000 mile trek out to Wyoming.  I am so incredibly excited (although I am quite sad to leave Johnson, which has grown on me lately) to start my new adventure!  Wish me luck and get excited!  As usual I have been baking up a storm, because packing is boring and I would rather feed my friends that pack my bags.  I have made a few repeats (these cookies and cream cheesecake cupcakes went over well with my friends here, I (of course) made truffles, and for my brother's stag party I repeated these Irish car bomb cake balls) and a few new ones, like a blueberry knotweed crumble for the conservation commission meeting and a (and this one is an original, wrote the recipe myself....) Maple Bacon Cheesecake that came out pretty okay if I do say so myself...the recipe is to follow.  Wish me luck on my new adventures, pictures from the road to come...  

Maple Bacon Cheesecake:

Crust:

about 4 cups graham cracker crumbs

bacon grease from half the bacon

a few tablespoons of butter (until you reach the right consistency)

Dash of maple syrup

about 2 pieces of maple bacon

Filling:

4 8oz packs plain cream cheese

1/2 c sour cream

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c grade B maple syrup

Topping:

4-5 pieces maple bacon, cooked crispy

1-2 tbsp brown sugar

Combine crust ingredients in food processor and press in bottom of greased 9 in spring for pan.  Beat filling ingredients together until smooth, pour over crust and bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove baked cake from oven and let cool/set 10 minutes on a wire rack, filling will settle down into the pan.  Chop topping ingredients together in food processor until small bacon bits are evenly coated with sugar, sprinkle over cheesecake after it has cooled for 10 minutes.  Let the cake with topping cool in the hot (but off) oven for 1 hour, transfer to a wire rack until it is room temp, then cool in fridge over night if possible, but at least 4 hours.  

I don't have a picture of it being enjoyed because it was so delicious I literally could not stop to take one.  Sorry, maybe I'll make it again so you can see the end result.

i've done it again, missed a bunch of days....but I did take a picture for every day and so i will post them all now.  

First...the cheesecake!  It came out great (in my opinion....) and it didn't look half bad either...

(this ones for wednesday)

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Next is for thursday, which was the CTC 25th anniversary party on commons beach, where I snapped this shot:

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next is today, sunsets and sand.

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Locals Season!

Today was our last day of BMI (water bug) sampling at work.  We were way up on the West shore of Lake Tahoe in a little creek that will be a project site next year collecting pre-project data.  When I dropped the meter into the water at 8:00 this morning the temperature read 8.4 degrees C.  Thats about 47 degrees F.  I know that doesn't sound that cold...but it felt pretty cold to me.  That temperature meter told me that for the next 2 hours I would be up to my elbow in 47 degree water, digging through rocks and algae and trying to collect little water bugs in my net.  Thats a long time, and let me tell you, it gets pretty cold.  So after our first 150 meter reach of frigid water and slightly disgruntled bugs, we took a break for "elevensies" (which is like lunch but at 11:00, and usually followed by an actual lunch) and to wait for the feeling to return to my fingers.  We were all chatting and the consultant we have been working with mentioned that this cool air (and water!) means that Autumn is really here and that it is what is affectionately referred to as the "locals season" here in Tahoe, when the weather turns cool, the hiking is great, and the tourists go home.  The Autumn-y-ness of today inspired me to make an Autumny dessert for the dinner we're having here tomorrow night.  Soooo I opted to make a peach spice cheesecake.  I sorta made up the recipe as I went along, starting with a peach and chardonnay reduction seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg  and some sugar (which I totally made up and don't know if it'll be good on the cheesecake, but it tasted good when it was cooking), then I made a plain cheesecake (about 16 oz of cream cheese, 2 eggs, a dash of vanilla, a cup of sugar, and a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon) and blended in a bit of the peaches to that.  Poured it into a graham cracker crust (butter, graham crackers, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg) and baked for 35 minutes then let it cool for 10 and then poured on the rest of the peaches.  Tomorrow I'll make some fresh whipped cream with the left over cream from the truffles.  I'll let you know how it goes...anyway here are some (not that good...) pictures.  When I get better at taking more appetizing pictures of food, then I'll become a REAL food blogger!

Cheeeeeesecake!

Homemade Peach Sauce!

Okay, that looks gross in this picture, but wait till you see it tomorrow, all cut into slices, it'll be great...i hope....

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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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Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake

So yesterday I mentioned some cheesecake, and here it is. Now you know me, I started with a recipe, but things got a little switched around along the way and I ended up making it my own.  Adapted from this recipe, mine is a little bit smaller with a little bit different topping, but i'm pretty sure it contains the same amount of delicious.  This was the easiest cheesecake I've ever made, and the quickest...so without further ado, here is the recipe, just in case anyone wants to give it a try.

For the Crust: Combine 6 tbsp of melter butter with one sleeve of crushed graham crackers and press the mixture into the bottom of an 8 inch spring form pan.  Bake for 5 minutes at 375 and then set aside.

For the Filling: Using an electric mixer, beat one and a half pounds of softened cream cheese until smooth, beat in the following one at a time: 2 eggs, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp of vanilla, and about 1 tbsp lemon zest, beat all together until smooth and fluffy, and then gently fold in one pint of fresh strawberries, cleaned and chopped into small pieces.  Pour onto crust and bake at 375 until the middle is just barely set (30-40 minutes).  Remove from oven, run a knife around the edge of the pan and cover and let cool.  When it is no longer hot to the touch, move it into the fridge and chill at least 3 hours, overnight if possible.  

For the Topping: Clean and quarter another pint of strawberries and put them in a saucepan.  Add about 1/4 cup of maple syrup, 2 tbsp sugar, and a splash of water (add a bit of corn starch if you have any, I didn't so my topping was a bit thin, but still good).  Reduce the sauce over low heat until desired thickness is reached, cool and pour over the cheesecake.  Let set for another few hours if possible, serve chilled.  Yummmm.

So there you have it, for today a photo and a recipe.  I know only like 6 people read this, but please let me know what you think if you try any of the recipes I post here, I love to get feedback.  

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