2 posts tagged “craziness”

I was reluctant to join another group and start yet another supposed-to-be-regular thing that would cause guilt because I'm sure to never be regular about it, but more and more people in my neighbourhood seem to be doing this, and I'm nothing if not a follower, so here I am.

Seriously, I think that 99% of the reason I'm doing this is to torture myself. 

I don't know the official term for my condition (nit-pickiness, anal-retentiveness, just plain insanity), but every time I see the title "Things on Tuesday," and like I said, I'm seeing it all the time now, I swear that my respiration and heart rate pick up a bit, my chest gets a little tight, and I can't stop a terrible part of my brain from silently screaming:

"Why??  Why oh why not 'Things on THURSDAY,' for the love of all that is orderly and predictable in the world?!?!  Or simply for the love of alliteration?!" 

(In the past I've done Menu Plan Monday, Wordless Wednesday, Thursday Thirteen, Friday's Feast and Five on Friday... yes, there's a nauseatingly obvious pattern, and it seems without it, I fall apart.)

Of course the rest of my brain realises that this is all quite ridiculous, but no matter how much I try to talk myself out of it, I can't stop this automatic response from occurring every. single. time.

So yes.  Rather than close my eyes to it, ignore it, and move on to more productive things, I must punish my illogical thinking by joining the group and forcing myself to participate in the hopes of reshaping this oddness about my character.

For my first attempt, I'll keep it short:

Things I loathe:

• Irrational thoughts over which I have no control.

Things I love:

• Self-flagellation
• Apparently, I love alliteration, although I didn't know it until the 'things on tuesday' group started.

Follow, if you will, the tale of an anal-retentive, pack-rattish neurotic, who started out with one simple package of cream cheese, and ended up on a months'-long epic journey filled with tears, frustration, and yes, ultimate success and redemption.

Back in December, I bought a block of LF cream cheese for a holiday baking recipe which I subsequently lost.  Christmas came and went, and I still had this block of cream cheese, which I knew we'd never use up on bagels. 

January brought a craving for cheesecake, so off I went, to buy two more packages of cream cheese, along with other ingredients for a cheesecake.  Then I remembered from a bit of online reading, and also from past experience how difficult it can be to make a really great cheesecake.  I was also unable to find my springform pan.  Which led to the conclusion: who wants cheesecake, anyway?

True enough (okay, not really), but suddenly I found myself with three blocks of cream cheese that we'd never use up on bagels. 

Considering

1. our somewhat alarming post-holiday cashflow shortage,
2. how little time, really, I should be devoting to baking, and
3. how very little my body needs more baked goods hanging around the house,

BUT, being me, I had to figure out a non-cheesecake, non-bagel way to get rid of them myself, despite all of the above considerations.

The first block was the most respectful toward my considerations, and went toward a Cheesecake Brownie recipe which didn't actually cost a whole lot of money or take a whole lot of time (and 2yo M helped, so there was no child-neglect necessary for the making of this recipe).  And frankly, it wasn't even all that good, so it didn't even do as much damage as it could have to my ever-expanding body, since I just wasn't too tempted to devour it all myself.

Oreo Truffles

The second block went toward a recipe for Oreo Truffles.  Actually, the recipe is titled "Easy Oreo Truffles," but I refuse to put the "easy" on there, because okay... easy, as in three ingredients and four steps, sure, but not easy, as in ridiculously time consuming, especially considering the outcome - ie. not good, and definitely not anything close to a truffle, if you ask me.

Cake 1

Then, I spotted a recipe over at my online friend, Les', cooking blog (and check out her reading blog, too, if you like books and interesting reviews) and immediately knew I had to make it.  The photo just looked so decadent and yummy.  I have to admit, it didn't really respect any of my considerations (the cost of 10 chocolate bars adds up, even if you cheat like me and only use 8!), although it did use a mix and prepared whipped topping, so I at least saved some prep time there.

Cake 2

But really, after biting into it, no, after taking a lick of the spoon I used to mix the icing, I didn't really care how long it took, how much it cost, or what sort of evils it contained.  It's sweet, really sweet, and I would try cutting back on the sugars (yes, two kinds of sugar) next time.  You only need a very small sliver to satisfy any sweet tooth, and yes, I know this personally.  But it's just so, so good.

Enough rambling, here's the recipe for anyone still awake:

Milk Chocolate Bar Cake

Cake 3

1 package Swiss chocolate cake mix
1 package cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat and it was fine)
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup sugar
10 milk chocolate bars with almonds (50g each)
1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Prepare cake mix according to package directions.  Pour into 3 greased and floured 8" round cake pans.
2. Bake at 325F for 20-30 mins or until wooden toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 mins.  Remove from pans, and cool completely on racks.
3. Beat cream cheese and both sugars at medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.
4. Finely chop 8 of the chocolate bars.  Fold, along with cream cheese mixture, into whipped topping.
5. Spread icing between layers and on top and sides of cake. 
   
6. Chop remaining 2 chocolate bars and sprinkle half over top of cake.  Press remaining along bottom edge of cake.
   

I skipped the last step, saving myself a couple of bucks on the last two chocolate bars.  I suppose it would have looked nicer with that topping, but taste-wise, there's really more than enough in the icing itself, so it's not necessary, or if you really want it, you could chop 6 bars into the icing and it would still be fine.

I also wanted to say that I'm the worst when it comes to frosting a cake, but the chopped chocolate in this icing makes it easy - there are lumpy brown things in the icing that are supposed to be there, and they camoflauged the crumbs from the cake, little holes I didn't fill in, etc.