Cheesecake and Cookies and ...Cheese?!

Finally, yesterday, I was able to make Mom's belated birthday cheesecake!  Although, I really should've made it on Monday or Tuesday because I felt aweful yesterday. :-(  I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with me, but I still feel bad today.

We ate it today... By we, I mean my family members because part of that sickness thing is that everything is making me nauseous.  Which is unfortunate, because everyone really liked the cheesecake.  Although the texture was wrong (Dad blames the waterbath; I'm not sure why.) that taste was very right.  Except it needed chocolate chips, apparently.

Also yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies after taking some medication and a nap.  I felt well enough to make some thins for my AP Statistics class.  I would say that those cookies were a success.  They were huge, by the way.  But everyone (or almost everyone) loved them!  Yay!  After feeling so icky, I really wasn't up to baking (I know! How out of character for me!) but Enrique did volunteer me to make them and I couldn't let down my classmates...

...I did let down my dad though, because there weren't any leftovers for him.  I keep telling him that if he would just buy some more chocolate chips (dark chocolate) and granulated sugar (and I think we need unsalted butter too) then I would make a batch of cookies just for us.  I should probably add parchment paper to my shopping list...

And the last order of business today:  The Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge.  No, I didn't win the basil competition, but Mama Baker's basil mango yummy cupcake did.  However, the challenge for October is CHEESE.  Cheese?!  I have no idea what I'm going to make...  Cheese is so varied and different; there are a bajillion different varieties it seems like...  I will definitely be putting my thinking cap on for this month!

Mom's key lime pie and her new diamond/sapphire ring from Dad (and James' new mood ring).

Cheesecake!

Here's the picture of the cheesecake I made for Mother's Day.
Thanks for e-mail it to me, Papa!

The top is covered with Dream Whip and cherries arranged in a heart shaped. A little messy, but delicious!

Cheesecake Update

Thank you to everyone who helped me out with my cheesecake predicament. I decided to go ahead and buy the springform pans, mostly because Wal-Mart sold three of them for $10, and I felt that was a good investment ;-)

So I'm about to make some cherry cheesecake. I know I said strawberry, but Mom said she wanted cherries, and it *is* her day. I'm off to make some cherry cheesecake (and start helping my brother with a school project of his that involves cake!).

Sorry for the short post, but I will have more to say once I make the cake! And once again, thank you for your help, advice, and recipes! I really appreciate it!

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Okay, here's more of an update:

• The iPod is in the teacup. That is code for: the cheesecake is in the oven. Actually it's just an inside joke with my mom, but it makes a cute code ;)
• I used the springform pan.
• There will be cherries on top (tomorrow)
• It's 12:30am, and I'm kinda sleepy, but I'm hyped up too. I guess my busy afternoon caught up with me (I went to lunch with my friends after our A.P. exam, then we saw Speed Racer) because I've still got energy in me.
• My brother and I baked the Puerto Rico cake. Tomorrow we will begin the "make the cake look like a 3-D map of Puerto Rico" stage. I can't believe he waited until Friday to tell me that the project was due Tuesday! A little heads up would've been helpful...
• Alton Brown's recipe is definitely the way to go for cheesecake. At least, I think it is. I haven't actually tasted the dessert yet, so the jury is still out on taste. As far as ease of directions, AB wins hands down. (It's not a very fair contest if his recipe is the only one I've tried, though, is it?)
• Is that it? I think so. Until Sunday, at least, when I can post pictures of the cheesecake.

Ciao!