HanShotFirst Posted February 3 Posted February 3 23 hours ago, Gator Pam said: I decided to do the Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberries for the bake-off. I’m very glad I did a practice run; several of my experiments did not work out. Fresh out of the Instant Pot and topped with sweetened sour cream and zest. The first lesson learned was to not use parchment paper around the sides. I thought it would help the sides look smooth rather than blurry, but the sides actually came out pocked as I pulled the parchment away. Removed from the push pan and plated for the three day rest. After “aging” for three days and ready to be decorated. I’m really terrible at decorating. This was taken immediately after decorating. Lessons learned here is to use a narrower tip to pipe the lemon curd, define the shape of the heart more with the whole blueberries flooding with the pie filling, and to not use the candies Meyer lemons at all. Their texture does not compliment the cheesecake at all. The decorated cheesecake after being refrigerated for a couple of hours. I think I’ll also make the heart in the middle a touch larger, to emphasize the shape more. One last top view before slicing. An interior view and three slices. I tried to a blueberry pie filling swirl, but the filling all sank to the bottom and made the crust a bit soggy. I saw a technique where one takes half the batter and flavors it, fill the pan with alternating scoops of the batters, and then swirl it together. I was concerned that method would turn the entire cheesecake purple, but it has to work better than what I did. Now to decide if I want to experiment doing it that way on my entry cheesecake, or leave out the swirl completely. A close up of a slice. Lessons learned from this practice run: If trying to swirl, use the half and half method and hope for the best since I don’t have the funds to do a second practice run. Do not use parchment around the sides of the push pan for a cleaner edge. Enlarge the heart in the center. Do not use candied lemon slices for decorating. It still looks yummy! 2
HanShotFirst Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Happy February! We are experiencing our annual "false spring/summer" with record highs for this week before Mother Nature calms down and brings in the cold again next week. After being on medical leave late summer, then at the end of said medical leave I find out that my company eliminated their local operations where I was working, I finally found a job and start in a couple of weeks, just in time for me to come down with this nasty respiratory illness that over half the state is sick from. Yay me......... 1 1
wittenlover Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Happy February, y'all! Some might recall I got rear-ended right before Thanksgiving (can't remember who all I told at this point). Well, I decided to not go the insurance claim route for a number of reasons. Instead, I am using a trusted small business auto repair shop (owner's name was given to me by both my dad and my insurance agent - though they don't know one another, so had no way of knowing they were recommending the same person to me - ha!). Since my car was drivable with the damage, I had the flexibility to wait until he could accommodate the needed work in his schedule. Well, the time has finally arrived! My car is in his capable hands as of this past Saturday morning and he expects to have the work done before the weekend. Good stuff. I am excited to have Blue (as I call her) back in one piece and looking good again soon. In other news, I am counting down to the annual Vegas run, coming up here in about a month or so. We've got all of our travel arrangements booked and can't wait to get back out that way for our first race trip of the year. That also means it'll be cookie baking time again soon for my pit crew buddies. Good times. Typically when we go out that way, we take one day for a "field trip" that alternates between the south rim of the Grand Canyon and the greater LA area. This year would have been an LA year but, with the recent fires and resulting devastation, we're heading back to the canyon. We know we'll enjoy it and the last thing we want to do is be in anyone's way or end up in a bad spot ourselves by trekking anywhere near the fire ravaged areas there in CA. 3
Kanyon71 Posted February 3 Posted February 3 3 hours ago, wittenlover said: Happy February, y'all! Some might recall I got rear-ended right before Thanksgiving (can't remember who all I told at this point). Well, I decided to not go the insurance claim route for a number of reasons. Instead, I am using a trusted small business auto repair shop (owner's name was given to me by both my dad and my insurance agent - though they don't know one another, so had no way of knowing they were recommending the same person to me - ha!). Since my car was drivable with the damage, I had the flexibility to wait until he could accommodate the needed work in his schedule. Well, the time has finally arrived! My car is in his capable hands as of this past Saturday morning and he expects to have the work done before the weekend. Good stuff. I am excited to have Blue (as I call her) back in one piece and looking good again soon. In other news, I am counting down to the annual Vegas run, coming up here in about a month or so. We've got all of our travel arrangements booked and can't wait to get back out that way for our first race trip of the year. That also means it'll be cookie baking time again soon for my pit crew buddies. Good times. Typically when we go out that way, we take one day for a "field trip" that alternates between the south rim of the Grand Canyon and the greater LA area. This year would have been an LA year but, with the recent fires and resulting devastation, we're heading back to the canyon. We know we'll enjoy it and the last thing we want to do is be in anyone's way or end up in a bad spot ourselves by trekking anywhere near the fire ravaged areas there in CA. How long do you normally go for?
packratfamily Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Checking in early for February, the month of 20° nights and 60° afternoons Not complaining cuz I am around to enjoy it 1
stacya Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Happy February!! It's been a busy month since my last post here. My luger had.a training camp in Lake Placid for 2 weeks, culminating in the second USA Luge North American Continental Cup race, in which Kendall redeemed herself after missing a bronze in the first part of that race in Salt Lake City by 0.025 seconds. She won bronze in the Lake Placid race, besting the Canadian that beat her in Salt Lake City by a large margin. Next up is Kendall's final training camp of the season for 3 weeks in Salt Lake City, with Youth National Championships (for ages 12 to 17) taking place over the course of 2 days the second weekend of March, Jr. National Championships (ages 14 to 21), taking place on March 14th. Kendall has a very good chance of bringing home a medal in at least Youth Nationals, but will have stiff competition in Jr. Nationals, though barring anything unforeseen, she should still do very well. A few days before she heads to SLC, she will be flying to Wisconsin to spend the weekend with her bestie teammate, and they will fly on to SLC together for camp. I'm heading out to SLC in March to watch both races, and to fly back with Kendall. I'm excited to.be in Utah again, since it's been 3 years, though with all of these recent air travel events, and me already being a nervous flyer, I'm not thrilled about flying anytime soon, nor with sending my child flying on her own. With Kendall being a Team USA athlete, this one accident hits way too close to home, as we have likely seen some of these ice skaters during Empire State Winter Games of years past. Surreal. Anyway, here is a pic of Kendall with her "bronze" wooden medal, lol 2 4
bodotdot Posted February 4 Posted February 4 I saw my shadow, so at least six more months of posting on this thread. 1 5
wittenlover Posted February 4 Posted February 4 15 hours ago, Kanyon71 said: How long do you normally go for? We go out west for a week. Tuesday-Tuesday, usually.
mgreen Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Happy, happy February! Our weather can't seem to make up it's mind. One day 78°, one day 63°. Gonna catch pneumonia, lol. Started remodeling project on master bedroom (at least the contractor did.. ). Can't wait for that to be done! We made it to the playoffs, but not the superbowl - GO PACK GO! There's always next year! Still going over friend's house to watch the superbowl. Other than that...not much going on. See you next month. 1
HanShotFirst Posted February 4 Posted February 4 20 hours ago, stacya said: Happy February!! It's been a busy month since my last post here. My luger had.a training camp in Lake Placid for 2 weeks, culminating in the second USA Luge North American Continental Cup race, in which Kendall redeemed herself after missing a bronze in the first part of that race in Salt Lake City by 0.025 seconds. She won bronze in the Lake Placid race, besting the Canadian that beat her in Salt Lake City by a large margin. Next up is Kendall's final training camp of the season for 3 weeks in Salt Lake City, with Youth National Championships (for ages 12 to 17) taking place over the course of 2 days the second weekend of March, Jr. National Championships (ages 14 to 21), taking place on March 14th. Kendall has a very good chance of bringing home a medal in at least Youth Nationals, but will have stiff competition in Jr. Nationals, though barring anything unforeseen, she should still do very well. A few days before she heads to SLC, she will be flying to Wisconsin to spend the weekend with her bestie teammate, and they will fly on to SLC together for camp. I'm heading out to SLC in March to watch both races, and to fly back with Kendall. I'm excited to.be in Utah again, since it's been 3 years, though with all of these recent air travel events, and me already being a nervous flyer, I'm not thrilled about flying anytime soon, nor with sending my child flying on her own. With Kendall being a Team USA athlete, this one accident hits way too close to home, as we have likely seen some of these ice skaters during Empire State Winter Games of years past. Surreal. Anyway, here is a pic of Kendall with her "bronze" wooden medal, lol Congratulations to Kendall!! 1
Kanyon71 Posted February 5 Posted February 5 11 hours ago, wittenlover said: We go out west for a week. Tuesday-Tuesday, usually. Very cool. I need to do a Vegas trip sometime soon. 1
speeddiva Posted February 6 Posted February 6 Happy February! Finally got the outdoor Christmas decor unfrozen from the ground, just in time for back-to-back ice storms. 1
freesia39 Posted February 6 Posted February 6 On 2/4/2025 at 6:36 PM, Kanyon71 said: Very cool. I need to do a Vegas trip sometime soon. Do it. Plenty to do that does not involve gambling, and I actually enjoy going in the summer when it's 110 - the heat is dry and there's WAY less people. 1
wittenlover Posted February 6 Posted February 6 44 minutes ago, freesia39 said: Do it. Plenty to do that does not involve gambling, and I actually enjoy going in the summer when it's 110 - the heat is dry and there's WAY less people. Yes. SOOOOO many people don't realize just how much you can do in Vegas without it involving gambling (or drinking, as our group chooses not to partake of alcohol). There are so many interesting things to do, including some that we -still- haven't gotten around to (like the Neon Boneyard/Museum) that are truly worth the time if you enjoy those kinds of things. For an aquarium lover like me, Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef is a must visit every trip, for example.
stationchief Posted February 7 Posted February 7 One to rule the tree ... And one to tear it down ... Who will win??? Tune in next time! Same cat time, same cat channel! 1 1 4
Kanyon71 Posted February 8 Posted February 8 On 2/6/2025 at 10:42 AM, freesia39 said: Do it. Plenty to do that does not involve gambling, and I actually enjoy going in the summer when it's 110 - the heat is dry and there's WAY less people. Ya last couple of times I’ve been there was mid summer. Stupid hot out. Still had a lot of fun. On 2/6/2025 at 11:30 AM, wittenlover said: Yes. SOOOOO many people don't realize just how much you can do in Vegas without it involving gambling (or drinking, as our group chooses not to partake of alcohol). There are so many interesting things to do, including some that we -still- haven't gotten around to (like the Neon Boneyard/Museum) that are truly worth the time if you enjoy those kinds of things. For an aquarium lover like me, Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef is a must visit every trip, for example. We will gamble some but I enjoy a lot of the other things like shows and just getting out and seeing things. I’ve only been twice and it’s been a good amount of time since the last time I was there. 2
Gator Pam Posted February 9 Posted February 9 I just returned from the Galentines Day bake off competition where I entered the Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberries that had the lumpy batter. Long story short, I didn’t win my category, even though I had a 50/50 chance as there were only two entries. Read the captions on the photos for details, including what the head judge told me as to why I didn’t win. As a reminder, here’s the practice cheesecake I made last week. This is the entry cheesecake immediately after decorating it. I tried a different method of piping the lemon curd which worked even less well, so I won’t do that method again. However, I think increasing the size of the heart definitely helped to define its shape better than the smaller one. Because the piping was so terrible, I decided to dress up the sides by adding miniature candy hearts to the sides. I think it definitely looks pretty… FullSizeRender.MOV Here’s how I displayed the cheesecake at the competition. We had to display our cakes by 12:30 PM with the winners scheduled to be announced at 3:00 PM. I used the lid of the inexpensive Dollar Tree cake carrier to hold ice so the cheesecake could sit out without being refrigerated. My only competition in the cake category. Obviously a carrot cake by someone much better at decorating than I am. This carrot cake won my category. It definitely looks luscious! What the head judge told me “off the record” after the competition ended was that the flavor and texture of the cheesecake itself was spot on. There was no evidence of the lumpy batter (yay!). If I had left it at that, I would have edged out the carrot cake to win. However, while the judges appreciated the color and look of the candy hearts on the sides of the cheesecake, they said the candies did not soften at all and that the crunch detracted from the smoothness of the rest of the bite. For that choice, they awarded it to the carrot cake. I had fun preparing, entertaining, and attending this event, though. I appreciate everyone’s input on the flavor choice and decoratingg ideas. I think I’ll definitely enter again if it’s held again next year! 5
freesia39 Posted February 10 Posted February 10 I'm glad the judge gave you feedback - good things to mull over, and really the most important part - the cake was delicious. 2
rockpzazz Posted February 11 Posted February 11 Checking in for the month after a long night last night. While my team didn't win the big game, I not losing sleep over it (I can't sleep as it is, so it didn't add to my sleeplessness). Though one bright spot last night though was how well Tubi presented the football game. I have an issue with my TV that is a simple soldering fix, but until I learn how to do that, I tried out Tubi's coverage of the Super Bowl. This morning I read the had the shortest delay among all streamers including NFL's own service. I didn't suffer any dropouts the entire game, and was quite happy with that. I already liked Tubi, but they were outstanding yesterday. Now its time to prepare for a snowstorm that at least has decided it knows what its doing (unlike the last one) it just needs to get the snowfall total honed in a bit. I hope its not 5-8" but as long as I have food and shelter and power doesn't go out, I'm happy. Hope everyone has a great month. I just hope this storm doesn't linger too long so I can maybe get out on my birthday on Friday. 2
wittenlover Posted February 11 Posted February 11 1 hour ago, rockpzazz said: Checking in for the month after a long night last night. While my team didn't win the big game, I not losing sleep over it (I can't sleep as it is, so it didn't add to my sleeplessness). Though one bright spot last night though was how well Tubi presented the football game. I have an issue with my TV that is a simple soldering fix, but until I learn how to do that, I tried out Tubi's coverage of the Super Bowl. This morning I read the had the shortest delay among all streamers including NFL's own service. I didn't suffer any dropouts the entire game, and was quite happy with that. I already liked Tubi, but they were outstanding yesterday. Now its time to prepare for a snowstorm that at least has decided it knows what its doing (unlike the last one) it just needs to get the snowfall total honed in a bit. I hope its not 5-8" but as long as I have food and shelter and power doesn't go out, I'm happy. Hope everyone has a great month. I just hope this storm doesn't linger too long so I can maybe get out on my birthday on Friday. Happy early birthday! I have a dear friend who is also a Valentine's baby. Baking him his fave cookies and shipping them his way later this week. 1
bribri25 Posted February 12 Posted February 12 Happy February to all. Things are crazy busy for me, but all is well. Love seeing the delicious baked goods.
HomeinKS Posted February 13 Posted February 13 On 2/8/2025 at 11:27 PM, Gator Pam said: I just returned from the Galentines Day bake off competition where I entered the Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberries that had the lumpy batter. Long story short, I didn’t win my category, even though I had a 50/50 chance as there were only two entries. Read the captions on the photos for details, including what the head judge told me as to why I didn’t win. As a reminder, here’s the practice cheesecake I made last week. This is the entry cheesecake immediately after decorating it. I tried a different method of piping the lemon curd which worked even less well, so I won’t do that method again. However, I think increasing the size of the heart definitely helped to define its shape better than the smaller one. Because the piping was so terrible, I decided to dress up the sides by adding miniature candy hearts to the sides. I think it definitely looks pretty… FullSizeRender.MOV 20.54 MB · 0 downloads Here’s how I displayed the cheesecake at the competition. We had to display our cakes by 12:30 PM with the winners scheduled to be announced at 3:00 PM. I used the lid of the inexpensive Dollar Tree cake carrier to hold ice so the cheesecake could sit out without being refrigerated. My only competition in the cake category. Obviously a carrot cake by someone much better at decorating than I am. This carrot cake won my category. It definitely looks luscious! What the head judge told me “off the record” after the competition ended was that the flavor and texture of the cheesecake itself was spot on. There was no evidence of the lumpy batter (yay!). If I had left it at that, I would have edged out the carrot cake to win. However, while the judges appreciated the color and look of the candy hearts on the sides of the cheesecake, they said the candies did not soften at all and that the crunch detracted from the smoothness of the rest of the bite. For that choice, they awarded it to the carrot cake. I had fun preparing, entertaining, and attending this event, though. I appreciate everyone’s input on the flavor choice and decoratingg ideas. I think I’ll definitely enter again if it’s held again next year! I'm glad you got feedback and plan to try again, it looks delicious!!!
magickallight Posted February 14 Posted February 14 On 2/10/2025 at 6:02 PM, rockpzazz said: Checking in for the month after a long night last night. While my team didn't win the big game, I not losing sleep over it (I can't sleep as it is, so it didn't add to my sleeplessness). Though one bright spot last night though was how well Tubi presented the football game. I have an issue with my TV that is a simple soldering fix, but until I learn how to do that, I tried out Tubi's coverage of the Super Bowl. This morning I read the had the shortest delay among all streamers including NFL's own service. I didn't suffer any dropouts the entire game, and was quite happy with that. I already liked Tubi, but they were outstanding yesterday. Now its time to prepare for a snowstorm that at least has decided it knows what its doing (unlike the last one) it just needs to get the snowfall total honed in a bit. I hope its not 5-8" but as long as I have food and shelter and power doesn't go out, I'm happy. Hope everyone has a great month. I just hope this storm doesn't linger too long so I can maybe get out on my birthday on Friday. 1
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