Adventures in the Kitchen

So…this morning I woke up in the mood to cook. I thought it would be a great rainy day to use my mixer and try something different…cheesecake and fish! So the girls and I went grocery shopping at Target. I love our Target, retail therapy and grocery shopping in one…AND a big plus, it is NEVER crowded. Unfortunately, that means I end up walking through clothes, linens, toys and electronics all before I ever even make it to the grocery side! Both girls ended up with a new Rapunzel doll and also Toy Story 3. I got myself a spring pan for my first ever attempt at cheesecake. Oh and we got Stella a new big toy and a bone since tomorrow is her 5th birthday! Finally we made it to the grocery section. I bought for my first time…Tilapia since I hear it doesn’t have a fishy taste (plus my fish taco recipe called for it. Major plus!) It didn’t even smell fishy when I was washing the filets. Are you supposed to wash them? I did. Anyways…Target shopping trip over after buying a ton of fresh veggies, fish, ground turkey for a Quiche recipe and all the fixings for my first ever cheesecake.
This cheesecake has a lot to live up to, Dad makes the best. Too bad he lost his recipe so I can’t make his. This recipe called for cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sour cream and then the basic sugar, vanilla, fresh lemon juice…yadda, yadda, yadda. Of course Layla was my helper. Always barefoot sitting on the counter. Is that a Texas thing?

The process of making the cheesecake was easy, other than the ricotta cheese not really getting completely smooth. But I decided that didn’t matter too much, it wasn’t too bad. After a lot of help from Layla and mixing…

the cheesecake batter tasted great…time to put in the oven.

I watched in rise and rise and rise in the hour and a half it was in the oven. I was so afraid it was going to spill out.

No one told me that it rises super big and then once you turn the oven off and leave the door open for the last 30 minutes it falls. (Thanks for the heads up Dad…not!). As far as I know…the cheesecake tastes great…to me it looks great. I’m just kicking myself in the butt for not starting it this morning. It now has to sit in the fridge for the next 12-24 hours. (Again, thanks Dad for that heads up.) I did pick just a bit off the side to taste test. I think it’s going to be a winner.

Now, the fish.

I made the marinade homemade…it called for olive oil, a whole lime’s juice, red onion, jalapeno, garlic, lots of cilantro, and ancho chilie powder.

I had to taste test that since I was afraid it would be too hot for the girls. Thank goodness it’s not…for the sake of my tongue during the taste test. Then Layla helped me blend it all until it smelled like nothing but onion and cilantro. ha ha. Next I washed the filets, again, don’t know if that was supposed to happen but this is my first time EVER cooking with fish! I then placed them in a tupperware bowl and poured the awesome smelling marinade all over them,

put the lid on and then went back to the recipe to see how long they had to sit in the fridge marinating…12 to 24 hours! WAIT WHAT! How did I just spend all day in the kitchen making two things that have to sit in the fridge for 24 hours!

What on earth are we going to do for dinner now? Thank goodness I have backup frozen dinners! Tomorrow, we will be eating GREAT… for Stella’s birthday. I hope she appreciates it. ha ha!