Cheesecake Saturday–Cappuccino Cheesecake

Well, my hopes and dreams for a new creation were dashed with a busy week and a missing ingredient.  My perfectionism creeps in demanding a particular cocoa powder that cannot be found at the commissary.

So I will instead feature a delicious Cappuccino Cheesecake that was fantastic. Again this recipe comes from the Junior's book.

It went very easily and does not require much more than an original New York from last week.

(Grated chocolate curls on top with some coffee beans)

The change that pushed this one over the top, too rich to finish, OH MY! delicious was the crust.  I thought and fretted asking for input for that special thing.  A friend came to my rescue and after a trip to the store I found something to work.

I used these cookies, ground up, add melted butter, and 2 tablespoons of Amaretto.  10 minutes in the oven and an amazing crust appeared.

I attempted this one a second time but the cookies could not be found.  I did find a very delicious almond thin gourmet cookie and did not add amaretto (none to be found at home in TX).  It was delicious but not WOW which is what I usually aim for when baking.

(Please forgive my picture taking ability.  I am working on it.)

Now to the store for that cocoa.  It must be made!

FOTO FRIDAY–Scenes from an airplane

 

This is what 3 boys excited to see their cousins and grandparents after 18 months looks like at 6 am.

On every airplane they read the emergency procedures THOROUGHLY.  I think it was the dramatic pictures.

USO in DFW Airport.  Free food and no fear of kids running off, at least not too far.  Leather Chairs and the freedom to change the channel to Disney or Nick Jr., so amazing.

Second plane.

After a week of cousins, 2 more plane rides without DH, at 10:30 pm they all 3 insisted I take a picture of them in front of this new Jeep by baggage claim.  BOYS!

I NEED A PARENT

 

Well, maybe not a parent but someone to act like one.  Someone to ask “Did you finish that? You know it was due today.  You know you will be in trouble and hate yourself later.”

Norman Rockwell’s “Mother Spanking Her Child”

This is the lazy answer to my life long struggle with self-control.  We were supposed to learn this as children and I apparently wasn’t listening.  What my mom required of me came easily.  I could make A’s without studying and keep up appearances without any work.  No one caught me putting in less than half the effort I could have been.  They were happy with my mediocre.

Now that life is real and no one is taking up the slack this giant hole of weakness is apparent to me everyday.  Now that I am a parent and see what it will do to my children if I let them give me only half of their potential what good will come?  If they see me giving half and giving up after a small effort what will they learn?

I pray earnestly they will learn much more than I did.  I pray they will struggle less with self-control, at least with the everyday things like cleaning up their room.  Maybe my hopes are too high but when did lowering expectations make anyone a better person?

Today is new day.....

says Chicken Little and so do I. I love Mondays. It is a do-over on last week. It holds potential that your week can be great, life-changing, or productive. On Monday my entire to-do list is possible and nothing has messed it up yet.

So far today we are behind on school because we were behind from last week and I got a cold. Now I am catching up with house chores and the monkeys are restless. For some reason manners and common courtesy got left on the airplane. It takes a lot of extra time and energy to hand out punishments.

But I think we are all caught up on colds, sleep, and laundry. So my to-do list is entirely possible and my hope for Monday continues.

What is your favorite day of the week?