Outer Darkness Delight

Warning. I am not a food photographer. The fact is, this cake doesn't have to look good, it just tastes good.

New York cheesecake sandwiched between two layers of flourless chocolate torte smothered in a cream cheese chocolate ganache frosting.

This thing is way beyond decadent. It's worse than sinful. It's awful close to dangerous.

The cake took three days to make. The time is more of a factor of the lack of multiple spring form cake pans than anything else, but even if we could cook it all on the same day, it would take most of a day to build.

As good as this thing is, I still have a few ideas to make it better. Next time I make it I will increase the ganache so that I have enough to make a well on top to hold a pool of mixed berries.
And then on top of that I'll balance a great big dollop of fresh whipped cream. Oh yeah.

We took this beast to the ward Pig Roast and dessert bake-off. Our cake was the first to be devoured. People with eyes bigger than their gastronomic capacity took huge hunks of cake but were only able to consume small portions at their table. Walking around I saw alot of partially eaten cake on tables being shared by everybody at the table. This cake should serve 36 people. I would be surprised if 12 people got a slice of this cake.

Unfortunately, we did not receive the adulation that should have accompanied such a feat of baking prowess. The missionaries judged a clearly inferior banana pudding, cookies, and the Bishop's pound cake to take the prizes. But we are not sure if the judges actually had an opportunity to taste our entry, it was gone so fast. The winning entries were still being thrust into the hands of the people that left the dinner before cleaning their table area. I think as a punishment.

Wildlife
A small glimpse at some of the fauna found in our neighborhood.

This little bugger was nearly 4ft long all stretched out. He has been around the house for a while. Last year he lived in a hole in the bricks in the bathroom window sill. He would sun himself right outside the window and Alayna would watch him. This year he got big, ventured out into the yard and took up residence under the shed. He has been seen all over the yard and startled Stacy and Alayna on the front walk. He also found a friend about his same size and I saw them get into a fight. There is at least one more snake living under the shed. It is actively being stalked each weekend.
This turtle was found on the road just down the street from the house while Stacy and Alayna were on there morning constitutional. A neighbor moved the turtle to the grass to protect it from oncoming traffic. Alayna was a little intimidated by the turtle and wouldn't have her picture taken with it.

The turtle survived.

It Had to Happen

We purchased a toilet paper stand for Alayna to give her a little more independence in the bathroom and to give us a break from participating in every visit.

Alayna thought the new stand was too much fun. Not only did she completely unravel the roll, she kept on going and started rolling the paper back up in reverse. It was kind of cute the first time.
The second time was definately not cute. I got an angry "Do you know what your daughter just did" phone call at work.

The third time was the charm. No more toilet paper independence.

Easter 2007

Alayna had a busy easter this year. The ward had an activity that involved making an easter bunny goody bag, dyeing eggs, and an egg hunt in the baseball field.
Of course Alayna had too much fun. She held her own against the bigger kids and came back with a full basket.
The day before Easter, Alayna was invited to a birthday party for a friend that also included an egg hunt. Again, she did very well picking the brightly colored eggs out of the wild Florida bush.
But she had to be kept on task during the egg hunt. She was much more interested in digging in the sandbox. She dug a hole next to the dump truck and kept going until the dump truck was completely hidden with sand and she was digging in moist sand. Very persistant.
Mom set up a small egg hunt at our house on Easter Sunday. Alayna found some more eggs filled with candies that Dad decided wouldn't be safe for her to eat.

She also discovered chalk eggs and the joy of drawing on the driveway.

Automo Bile

I saw this at the dollar store. I love imports. I used it as an example in my international business class that I am finishing up this week.