Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes

I have the attention span of a five year old…after they have devoured all of their Halloween candy. It’s sad really because there are times when said short attention span gets the better of me. Just recently, while driving, I got distracted by my Blackberry and missed a turn. And by distracted, I mean I was busy taking a picture of me driving in my mother’s Miata…so I could post it on Facebook (disclaimer: I was at a stop light, so it wasn’t like I was barreling down the streets of Georgia with one hand on the wheel and the other on my Blackberry trying to strike a pose).

My attention span only gets shorter when a nifty new gadget or piece of gear is in my general vicinity (and by general vicinity I mean within a ten mile radius because I can sniff out new techie things like a police dog sniffing out cocaine at an airport in Miami circa 1983). So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that when I set out to make these mini key lime cheesecakes for our New Year’s Eve celebration, my new baby kept distracting me. Sure, this is the same camera model I had earlier in the year. But I just now got around to replacing the one that had to be sent back due to a defective flash. And this time I actually read the owner’s manual from cover to cover…and discovered you can control the camera from your LAPTOP!!! I don’t need no stinkin’ camera remote, I have my Macbook! Wait, where was I going with this post????

Dinner and a Movie

I must first apologize for the less than stellar quality of the photos in this post. The idea for it came well after cooking was underway and truth be told, I was freakin’ hungry. While this may seem to be an ordinary steak dinner, it is not. It is sooo much more and was sooo much tastier because someone else cooked it for me.

Pajama Party Menu…Or Things To Stuff in My Face as the Ball Drops

As I mentioned previously, instead of dealing with crowded restaurants or bars or annoying drunk people at parties (not that I ever enjoy dealing with annoying drunk people), I am staying in on New Year’s Eve for a grown up pajama party. The Boy is in charge of movies and I am in charge of food, so I’ve been pouring over cookbooks and food blogs trying to find fun and creative but simple foods to nosh on. I am also working on a signature cocktail that we will both love to ring in 2009. So far I’ve come up with these ideas:

• A mini rift on these lovely Philly Steve’steak sandwiches over at Cooking with Anne. To make them more portable, I was considering making them sliders using homemade buns and Monterey Jack cheese.
• Since I love, love, love onion rings, I couldn’t pass up putting these drool worthy onion strings on the menu (note to self, make sure to have PLENTY of breath mints on hand for that midnight kiss)
• This lovely spinach artichoke dip with (wait for it) homemade Wheat Thins (thanks again Pete Bakes!)
• Mini key lime cheesecake tarts OR mini apple pie tarts

Considering it’s just the two of us, I think that is plenty to bring in the New Year! Believe it or not, most of these things can be done ahead of time (both the wheat thins and buns for the sliders for instance) and the Boy proved to be fairly adept in the kitchen this weekend (more on that later), so I’m set! Now I just need to come up with a kick ass cocktail…any suggestions?

Banana Coconut Pecan Bread

There it was Christmas Eve and I was standing in my Mother’s kitchen mulling over what to do for Christmas morning breakfast. My mom really isn’t a baker, so ingredients were limited. But she just so happened to have some bananas, some pecans (from her CSA!!!) and some coconut all lying around. There was also buttermilk I had bought for the Red Velvet Cupcakes I was going to make for Christmas the next day. So I decided to whip together a banana bread with some coconut and pecans thrown in…now all I had to do was orient myself with Mom’s kitchen.

Gifts from Shaw Girl’s Kitchen

So you’re finishing up your Christmas shopping, happily checking everyone off of your list and then it hits you: what about my co-workers? Sure a lot of them can be complete and total idiots, but ’tis the season to be forgiving (and to ignore the fact that some of your co-workers – thankfully none of mine – have the charm of a poisonous snake) and what says “let bygones be bygones” like homemade treats? Also, they’re a heck of a lot cheaper than giving everyone gift cards….

This Is My Last Meal Wish…

Sent to me from the Boy:

http://foodproof.com/photos/full/bacon-cheese-roll-1290

And now I can’t concentrate…because my thoughts at work are now filled with this bacon and cheese goodness!  Why do I not have a full kitchen at work?

Carmelized Onion, Spinach and Mushroom Pizza with Garlic White Sauce

I really should be baking…

I really, really should be baking…

Damnit, why are you making a pizza? Did you not hear me? You should be BAKING!!!!

Why do I even bother fighting my foodie urges?

Beignets

There are probably a list of things I shouldn’t be allowed to do without adult supervision:

• Play with matches
• Go to the grocery store (I inevitably buy way more than originally intended)
• Okay, anything involving fire

After making these beignets, we should probably add deep frying to this list.

Beautiful Disasters…Or Why is This Soup Gray?

Sometimes I get a little too big for my britches. I concoct fanciful recipes in my head thinking they will come out fantastic and somehow catch the attention of Mark Bittman, who will beg me to be his apprentice. I usually have such thoughts while at my desk at work, which leads to furious scribbling of ingredients on post it notes. This is how this recipe started out…unfortunately, this is one time it should have stayed on a post it note.

I Ain’t No Challah Back Girl

Let’s just all be honest here. Half the reason I even made this bread was so I could title the post “I Ain’t No Challah Back Girl”. It’s a great pun, right? No? Did you just question my pun abilities? That’s soo not cool.