Hey guys! I swear I didn’t forget about you. Creating a food blog is a challenge that I wasn’t quite ready for when I created this site and to be honest, I’m still not all that ready. Recently, my camera broke on me so I am forced to use my cell phone camera for food pictures. I asked Santa for a nice camera for Christmas but I don’t think I’ve been all that “good” this year. This is the last step before I am ready to re-start this blog again. Until then, I leave you with a few things I’ve done since I last updated this blog.

So today I took a stab at making a trifle. This is the first time I ever made, or tasted, a trifle. I’m pretty impressed that something so simplistic can be so delicious. It also helps that it looks pretty and makes people think that you spent HOURS preparing it, just for them.  Someday it would be nice to own one of those huge trifle bowls, but a glass storing bowl works just as good for now.

I love the fourth of July. All the Americana, fireworks and patriotism. I love how on that day I feel so lucky to live where I do. Not a lot of people know this, but I am very patriotic.  I love my country dearly. Now, I don’t always agree with what we do or the people we vote into office, but I still love her none the less. I love for what we stand for, for the principles we were formed from. There is a reason why the revolutionary war is my forte. To me nothing says “I love the United States of America!” than taking your favorite hobby and making it represent your nation. So, America, this trifle is for you!

Now on to matters that have NOTHING to do with the fourth of July, or trifles.

I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately. I’m still here guys, I promise. Honestly, sometimes I get a bit discouraged seeing all these awesome food blogs with these professional looking photos. I just keep trying to remind myself the facts. A lot of these bloggers have been blogging for years, own very expensive cameras, and make a career out of blogging. I have a full time job and do not plan to make a career out of blogging. It would be nice though, and a girl can dream. I have decided to change my blog from a step-by-step blog to just discussing my recipes and other recipes that I try. I can’t commit the amount of time I would need to make a good step by step recipe blog. Maybe in another life, where I didn’t have to work 40 hours a week! I promise there will be a lot more posts in the future…like..tomorrow!

Here is the strawberry cheesecake that I happened to make. Everyone needs a good cheesecake recipe. There’s something about cheesecake that just makes people feel better. Did you know that the women in the show, “The Golden Girls”, consumed over 100 cheesecakes during the show’s 7 year run? I wonder if their cheesecake tasted anything like mine. I have made my cheesecake many times for co-workers and friends and everyone agrees that it is one of the best cheesecakes they have ever had. I chose to share my really simple cheesecake recipe with you all. I like to add strawberry sauce to mine, but be creative…add whatever you like!

Here’s what you will need:

• 1 1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of butter or margarine, melted (be bad, use the butter..everything tastes better with butter!)
• 3 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• 3 eggs

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. Mmmm butter. I can feel like thighs getting bigger just by looking at this picture.

After you mix the crust, press it onto the bottom of an ungreased 9 inch springform pan. If you don’t have a springform pan, don’t fret. You can use a regular round 9 inch baking pan. The only thing a springform pan does is let you take the cheesecake (or whatever you are making) out of the pan with ease, without taking the chance of messing up the cheesecake. When you are done, refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

In a mixing bowl (or a stand mixer), beat the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.

Gradually beat in the condensed milk and then add the lemon juice. If you want to experiment, add a little lemon or orange zest. Yum yum!

After everything is mixed, add the eggs and beat the mix on low until it is just combined.

Pour the mixture into the pan. It looks sooooo creamy and good! Bake the cheesecake at 300° F for 45-50 minutes. 49 seemed to work just fine for me. You want the center to be almost set, which means it jiggles a little still.

Let it cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake from the sides. You don’t want the cake to cool to the edges of the pan or it will rip when you pull the pan off. Cool the cheesecake for an hour longer and refrigerate overnight while it is still in the pan. This cake needs to be stored in the fridge, so make room. As you can see, I added a strawberry sauce into mine.

How to make the strawberry sauce:

In a blender combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 (10oz) packages of frozen sweetened strawberries that have been thawed.  Process the strawberries and cornstarch until it is smooth. Pour the mixture into a sauce pan and bring to a boil, letting it boil for 2 minutes afterward. Let the sauce cool before mixing it into the cake.