Turning Twenty-Three

So turning 23 really doesn't feel any different than turning 22, except I have now gotten to the age where I kind of dread birthdays.  I think I was kind of excited about getting older up until a certain point, and now I'm just feel like I'm losing time or something.  Which is ridiculous.  Because in most people's eyes I'm probably still a child.  I digress.  It was a good birthday, regardless of age, and it was a great opportunity to make some delicious food and have some family over to eat it.  My mother has always been a pro at creating beautiful dinners, so I think I get my interest in creating ridiculous food from her.  When I told her I wanted to make a cake, she was like, "Don't you just want to relax and let somebody else take care of it?  I mean, it's your birthday...", and my response was something like this: "Heck no, I'm making a cheesecake!".   Relaxing on my b-day just ain't my style, I guess.

Having never made a cheesecake before, I started making this cheesecake and finally had it in the oven by midnight the night before.  Unbeknownst to me (probably because I don't actually read recipes before I start them, and prefer to plunge in blindly head-first) there was a 3 hour cooking and cooling process ahead of me.  I really should learn from these kind of incidents, but alas I must find some sort of weird thrill out of doing this stuff.  And anyways, it was kind of worth it to make a cheesecake!  Here's some pics of the finished product:

It was a White Chocolate Cheesecake from the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Cookbook, which I love.  I have about four cookbooks from that series and they are all full of mouth-watering recipes.

My mom also made a really good appetizer to dip crackers in:

It was so delicious! Just goat cheese and thyme and olive oil, heated up in the oven so its all warm and delicious!

So that's about all I have on my birthday and delicious food for today, au revoir!

- L