Blogdaughter Tammi of Tammi's World wants to know:

Just what in the HELL is he surfing for on the net that he found Foot Thongs?

Well, it could be that I was looking for a good "hemp jewelry" link for my recent Graffiti Currency post, noticed the barefoot sandals on this page, and naturally thought about Tammi, since she's forever goin' on and on about barefoot this & barefoot that.

Or maybe I was just doing my normal Googling for toe porn, thongs, and bondage, and just clicked a bad link.

You guys can just go ahead & wonder.

Posted by: Harvey at 11:01 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Bloggranddaughter Army Wife of ArmyWifeToddlerMom turns... um... I think it's 21... today.

In celebration, blogdaughter Tammi of Tammi's World is celebrating with a "bring a dish"... um... ok, "bring a recipe"... link fest.

In the 4+ years I've been blogging, I've only posted one recipe, so I'll bring that one out of the dank recesses of my archives, since it's pretty darn tasty:

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Besides being a real recipe, there's actual entertainment value in the preparation section, so don't just skip over this)

Several months ago, Goldie of Drama Queen posted about this yummy looking cheesecake, so I asked her for the recipe. She gave it to me, I printed it out, and it sat on my desk for months. Mostly because the measurements were metric, and some of the ingredients were Australian, and I was too lazy to translate. But after a little Googling, I was able to convert everything.

I made it a few weeks back, and it was fantastic, so I thought I'd share my version of it:

12 oz chocolate graham crackers
5 1/2 oz butter (melted)
5 Tablespoons caramel ice cream topping.
2 oz. milk chocolate, chopped finely
3 teaspoons unflavored gelatine
1/4 cup water
3 8oz packets cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup "superfine" sugar
3 full-sized Milky Way bars, chopped

1. For the crust, crush the graham crackers. You can use a blender or food processor. I stuffed them in a Ziploc baggie & smashed them with a rolling pin. Except I didn't have a rolliing pin, so I used a half-empty bottle of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, which worked fine. Add butter, mix together until just combined, then press the mess evenly over the base & sides of springform cheesecake pan. Refrigerate or freeze for half an hour or until firm. I stuffed it in the freezer, where it got rock hard. Which is a good thing, since it made it easier to pour the filling in.

2. Melt the 2 oz of chocolate and add 2 Tablespoons of cream. Realize that the cream you bought 3 weeks ago is now cheese. Throw away and dash to the store for more cream. Re-melt the chocolate & add cream.

3. Heat the water and sprinkle the gelatine over it. Stir until dissolved. Be disgusted by the fact that the mixture smells like a dead horse.

4. Beat the cheese & sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat remaining cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Realize that you wouldn't recognize a "soft peak" if it jumped up and bit you in the ass. Keep beating the cream anyway, praying that you don't accidentally make butter in the process. Stir slightly warm gelatine mixture into the the cheese mixture with the Milky Way bars. Fold in cream. Worry that maybe "folding" isn't really another term for "mixing" and push down the rising panic as you pray that you haven't completely screwed this thing up.

5. Pour half the cheese mixture into the springform pan. Wonder if you're anywhere near "half" since you just eyeballed it. Drizzle half the caramel & chocolate sauces. Realize that the chocolate hardened again during all that mixing. Microwave in nervous, 10-second increments until runny enough to pour. Worry some more about how important this "half" thing is. Pull skewer back and forth to create a marbled effect. Realize that you don't have a skewer. Use a knife instead, and notice that it doesn't look "marbled" so much as "messy". Thank God that you're not doing this for a cooking class, so you won't be graded on appearance. Repeat process with remaining cheese mixture and sauces. Cover, refrigerate for about 3 hours, or until set. Try not to trip over the dog on your way to the fridge. Serves 8. Or in my case, 1 husband, and 1 sneaky, nibbling mouse of a wife - for several days.

Substitution notes:

Oreo cookies might make an acceptable base, as would plain graham crackers.

I used Milky Ways because I *love* Milky Ways, and I didn't want crunchy things disturbing the creamy texture. Realistically, since there's no baking involved, you can use just about any candy bar that can be cut into pieces. Mars, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Kit Kat, M&Ms (which you probably wouldn't have to cut, especially if you used the minis), etc, depending on personal preference.

You can make your own caramel sauce using 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons of cream and 2/3 oz of butter.

Chef's note: Except for the cream debacle and the fact that the chocolate kept hardening on me, this recipe was quite easy to make. The toughest part was probably getting the pan EVENLY coated with the crumbs. Turns out not to be all that critically important anyway. The only change I'd make next time is that I might cut the candy bars into larger pieces.

That and figuring out what the hell a soft peak looks like.

(click to enlarge)

Posted by: Harvey at 06:23 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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