Life in the Cheese Drawer

another blog post from michael ruhlman for you to peruse at your leisure. he discusses the numerous diet restrictions people are following these days and quotes a woman who is holding a fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant where pasta and bread reign. she’s worried about her in-laws’ fad restrictions putting a damper on the party. (note: she’s not talking about someone with celiac’s – she’s talking about those on the ketosis or paleo diets.)
as someone who tries (TRIES!!) to restrict my corn syrup consumption, i can sort of undertsand where these people are coming from, but there comes a point where you have to make the decision between your personal-choice food diet or the people you’re with. birthday parties, holidays, weddings, showers, etc: i don’t care about HFCS at that point. sure, i’ll take a glass of water over a can of coke, but i have that option. if someone shoves a barbecue-sauce-laden meatball in my face, i will eat it.
there is a time and place for everything, and making your non-health-related dietary stand at your sister’s baby shower is neither the time nor place.

pinterest fascinates me. too much! i could get lost for hours. mostly for the food – i think it’s where i found the cake pops, and i lust after some of the macaron combinations i’ve found on there. my cousin claire posted a photo of a grilled cheese-bacon-guacamole. NOMG! had to try.
prep – threw bacon in the oven, made the guacamole*, put the cast iron on the stove to warm (along with the butter), and sliced the cheese.

time to prep the bread! the bacon was putzy, so i started in. must butter both  sides of the pieces of bread! notice the liberal amounts of both cheese and guac. MMM.

the bacon finally got done and i slapped that stuff together. into the pan!
yeah, that’s right. cast iron. no messing around here. i have issues with my cast iron because i always have the heat too high. the bread was nice and toasty, but the cheese was not quite all the way melty. 🙁 could have also had to do with not using shredded, which melts easier. by the time i’d realized i had shredded, i’d already sliced and placed them in my butter-full bread.

NOMG. still good. i ate it with a fork.
*what, you want my guac recipe? ok. 3 avocados – get out the goop and mash up. throw in  a couple teaspoons of salt and a couple dashes of lemon/lime juice. a chunk of cilantro – chop it and throw it in. i use a lot. you don’t have to use a lot if you don’t want to. a little onion- as much as you want. chop it good. you don’t want a huge chunk of onion on your chip. jalapeño – if you like it hot, use a lot. if you’re like me, you’ll use a half a smallish pepper. MIX. EAT. 

to preface:
i frequent goodwill and savers quite a bit. lately i’ve been searching for clothes a lot (why buy new if i’m going to continue to lose weight? i’ll wait til i plateau), browse the frame section, and always peruse the books.
i’ve wanted a “joy of cooking” for some time now, and i always check the cookbook section hoping i’ll get lucky. one time i found (and purchased) one crica 1970s, which was interesting, but i really wanted a more recent one.
well, i found one. 1997, baby! a lot of low-fat stuff in it, but i just use full fat instead. (really; fat is not that bad for a person.) and today i put it to use!
to the content:
last time i made a legitimate cheesecake, i was probably 15. my dad had just purchased a springform pan, so i busted out the cookbook and whipped up a cheesecake for easter. it wasn’t that great. it was dry, and it was cracked. but really, can’t go wrong with sugary cream cheese.
so, tonight i made a raspberry cheesecake cooked in a water bath. i’m hoping that it doesn’t crack and that the water bath helps with the dryness. and like my mom (the non-cook) says, you can’t go wrong with “joy of cooking”.
i’m hoping it holds up.

using green tomatoes before they froze.