Other Writing Gems

Hey friends!! So, I have been working on my blog lately, in case you didn't notice, I completely changed the layout and and trying to make this looks super snazzy and stuff.

Any way, I had about 5 blogs and have condensed them down to 3 total. This one, obviously, is for me and my writing and is more focused on Soozee Carmichael and all that goes into being me.

The second is one that I started three years ago and never really kept up on. It's a fictitious character named Raleigh Christensen. She lives in Provo, UT and has some crazy adventures. Also, she just met the most amazing guy named Hollander. It's pretty funny. My mom laughed when I let her read my most recent post. It's pretty great. The link for that blog is:

confessionsofahappyvalleygirl.blogspot.com

And the third blog is a new one that a friend suggest I start about six months ago. I finally feel that I have time and am really dedicated to making it great. If we're friends on FaceBook then you know that whenever it is the birthday of a famous person I like or admire, I post about how I will be baking something awesome to celebrate while watching/reading/listening to whatever they do for a living. So, my friend suggested that I start a blog for this and see if we can get a following for it, which would be awesome. My first post will go live on Monday, June 13th when we celebrate Chris Evan's birthday. It's going to be great fun and I highly recommend just checking it out after I start posting. That blog can be found at:

starstruckbaking.blogspot.com

This also means that I have taken down the blog I started as my fake British assistant, Emmalee Fairfax, which is unfortunate, but I also hadn't posted anything in 3 years, so I'm pretty sure no one will even notice....

Let me know what y'all think of my writing. Go check out my other blogs and just have some fun!!

SUMMERTIME!!!!!!!!! (this is kind of long, but you'd kill me if I shortened it, I promise!)

So, I'm just going to throw a bunch of info at you and you're going to work through it and have fun with it, k? K. So, I moved!!!! YAY!!!!! I moved to the great city Northward. Okay, not the GREAT city, I just moved to Provo-ish area. Student housing. AWESOME! I have great room mates and I live 5 minutes from work (woot woot!!). It's a lot of fun. Pictures to come shortly.

     Now for the part you've all been waiting for. I met a boy. DON'T FREAK OUT. NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET. And, I'm not counting on anything happening. I think he'll be a good friend. And that's all that I'm hoping for. Even if he could potentially be the man of my dreams. Because, seriously, he could be. But I don't know if he is or not. So, here's the run down on him. I went to a party at Liam's house. I didn't really think much of it because his parties are huge and I was really only there because he's one of my best friends and I didn't want him to know that I don't absolutely love his parties. Because they're fun, but there's SO MANY people there. So many. And I don't do well with crowds of people. Any way, I wen to the party and Liam had mentioned earlier that he was having a DJ come and it was going to be SUPER AWESOME. This did not help my wanting to go because that meant dancing, and I don't dance. It's not that I can't dance, its that I don't. 

     So, the night of the party comes around and I made cupcakes for it, because I always make treats for Liam's parties, because you never know who might be there. I showed up at the party and one of my friends was leaving with her boyfriend that I don't approve of (not that my opinion matters), and Liam was happy to see me, as always, and Ale was there, and a ton of other people from the ward. I was talking to people when Liam is like "Hey look, my friend is here!" and at that moment, this guy walks back with his speakers and DJ type stuff. I didn't think much of him, and then he turned around. I didn't get a good look at his face, but when I saw him-like actually saw him there-my initial thought was 'hmmm, maybe you should talk to him'. But I ignored it for a while.

     And then I found a moment to talk to him. I don't have a nickname for him yet, maybe we'll just call him DJ because he was the DJ, yeah, that works. SO, DJ is a writer. We talked writing for a while, and he didn't think my ideas for stories were crazy, which was awesome. He has a bachelor's degree in English, and is going to law school now. He works at the temple with Liam, another awesome thing about him. And he is kind of cute. And he inspired me. In the 10 minutes we talked he was asking me about Changing Tyde and was like "so it's kind of like a fairy tale" and it hit me like a brick wall that Changing Tyde very much is like a fairy tale. I love it! New life for a story I've been stuck on for forever! YAY!!! And he was telling me about some of the stories he's been working on, and they sound really cool. 

     Then, the party continued on, and I didn't really get the chance to talk to DJ again, but it was fun. AND THEN, Ale did a not very nice thing. She tricked me and I ended up dancing with this guy that I really don't get along with. It was creepy, and weird. AND, Ale recorded it on her phone. and won't delete it. AND, NO, you can't see it. 

    So, a few of my friends were like "you should ask for DJ's number!!!" and I was like "no." and they kept trying to convince me to do it, but I didn't and when I left DJ noticed and said "oh, are you leaving?" (mind you, it's about 1 AM at this point) and I tell him yes, and he says something like "Well it was really great to meet you." And there's a weird lingering high five and then I walked away. And my thought was 'if I'm supposed to see him again, it'll happen...somehow'. And that is the end of the story......

Here: watch this video! It's kind of funny!!!

And this one too!!!

okay, alright, I'll tell you more of the story, because of course it doesn't end there!! :) 

So, there I was, all alone and moved in to my new place. I went to church and met some nice people. They are all a bit younger than me, but that's okay, I'm used to it. Most single people are younger than me these days. I talked to Ale about DJ and she had mentioned that lots of people thought the DJ and I were a match made in heaven and, apparently, one of my friends didn't go talk/flirt with him because she thought that he was perfect for me. OH, and my room mate kept text Liam asking when he was going to stop by with DJ. It was all a bit much. He didn't ask for my number, I didn't ask for his, there was no indication (that I am aware of) that DJ was at all interested in seeing me again, or even remembering that he met me. 

That Friday night I ended up hanging out with Liam and explained that I thought DJ was cute, and he seems like an incredible guy, but taht I was not expecting Liam to set me up with him or anything. I really just wanted to get to know DJ better and become friends because we are both writers, and i could use some writer friends these days. Liam agreed and said that he wanted DJ and I to get to know each other better especially because we are both such awesome people (his words, not mine, though I'm not disagreeing). 

Jump forward to the next Friday morning. I get a text from Liam asking what I am doing on Saturday night. I tell him that I'm not doing anything, to which he informs me that I am going to a party at DJ's apartment with him. I tell him okay and that is that. 

Come Saturday, I am a little bit nervous and slightly anxious, mostly because I'm afraid that DJ is going to be like "who is this weird girl with Liam?" But he wasn't like that at all. And I looked cute. Like Tango approved outfit and hair cute. And when we walked in DJ was like "Hey! It's my friend Liam!!!" and I thought he had forgotten me, but no! "And hey! It's Soozee too! Awesome! Glad you could make it!" I may have smiled kind of a lot. He remembered who I was. Props to him. And the party was fun. We watched Emperor's New Groove and it was fun.

K, so you know when you meet someone and you think they're cute, but it's also kind of dark when you meet them, and then you don't see them for a few weeks and then you see them and they're not as cute as you remembered them being? yeah, I was worried about that happening, but it totally didn't. DJ was actually cuter than I remembered. And, he's a hug-er. He gives hugs. I don't know why I am always becoming friends with guys that love to hug, not that I mind. I mean, I know I have that whole "don't like to be touched" thing, but that's really for people that I don't know or don't like. If I think you're cute, then I don't mind if you hug me. I digress, moving on. DJ is cute. And his movie night was fun. And, when we were talking to him after I found myself asking if he wanted to come to a pizza night at my apartment the next week. And he said yes. And then asked if I had his number so I could text him the details. I told him I didn't, so he asked if I had a phone and I gave it to him and he put his number in my phone. It was pretty great. And as we walked away, Liam also seemed happy about how things had progressed with DJ. 

Lets move forward to Wednesday night. Liam was there, and Ale, and DJ was super late. BUT, he came. And I think he gets a little bit cuter every time I see him. I had made chicken alfredo pizza and mini chocolate tarts. Neither of which lasted very long. DJ agreed that I make amazing pizza, which I was actually worried about because we had previously had a discussion about amazing pizza and he said that the pizza in Italy (where he served his mission) was the best he'd ever had. So, when he said my pizza was amazing, I was really happy. And then someone suggested that we go see the new Star Trek movie. I said I didn't really have the money to go, but DJ (without skipping a beat) offered to pay for me, and we all went. Ale, and one of my room mates that came said that they felt like DJ and I were on a date and they just happened to be there too. I didn't really get that vibe, but it was fun. I was able to talk to DJ for a minute. He grew up in northern Utah, his favorite color of all time is green, and his favorite cookie is Snickerdoodles. I mentioned that I happen to make really great Snickerdoodles, which he said he did not doubt because I am an amazing cook. TA-DA! I'm amazing. So, the movie was good. My flip flop flipped off my foot and landed behind the seat in front of me shortly after the movie started which sucked, but had no bearing on the quality of the movie. I like Benedict Cumberbatch who plays Kahn, so that was awesome. I thought the story was well developed and the actors did a good job. Also, the one liners were pretty great. All in all, if you liked the first one, you'll probably like the second one as well. 

So, I didn't think I'd get to talk to DJ again. We had tennative plans for later that week that moved to next week, and new I'm not exactly sure when we're going to get together again, but it's all good. 

And then last night happened. I met up with Ale and my friend who has the boyfriend I don't approve of and it was alright. To be honest, I had more fun when it was just me and Ale talking. And hopefully said friend with boyfriend doesn't read my blog. If she does, then we will be having a conversation soon about how I really feel and how I hide my true feelings. I'm a horrible person,  I know. Any way, I had asked Liam what he was doing in case he wanted to come hang out with us. he didn't get back to me until he was off work which, by that point, everyone had gone home. So, I asked if he was doing anything because I didn't feel like going home yet. He mentioned he was at DJ's apartment and that I should come by. So, I did. 

Did you know that DJ plays the violin? He plays quite well, in fact. And the guitar. And he can sing. AND, he's smart. And, he gets cuter every time I see him. AND, I kind of asked what he was doing this weekend and if he doesn't end up going to Montana, we're probably going to do something at some point. 

BUT, I don't expect things to go anywhere with DJ. I think he's adorable, but, now that I've posted this here, I've jinxed myself and it will all fall to apart. Which, lets be honest, it would have done all on its own. Not that I don't want anything to happen, I'm just trying to be realistic and not get my hopes up. Because the odds of him wanting to date me are not usually in my favor. And don't get upset with me. I know I'm a wonderfully fantastic person, and there should be a line at my door if guys actually saw how amazing I am. But they don't always see it, and that really is okay. A line at my door would be terribly inconvenient for everyone. And then I'd feel obligated to be nice to them, and cook for them, since they are waiting at my door and all, and it just wouldn't be fun. SO, I'm happy with where I am, and more importantly with WHO I am. DJ is a friend, and I love being friends with him. It's so much fun. He's such a nice guy. And I love that I get to know him a little bit better every time we hang out. It's fantastic! And this post is REALLY long and if you're still here CONGRATS!!!! I should make you cookies or something! How about Snickerdoodles?? ha ha ha!!!

     

A new 10

Actually, it's a return to a previous 7 that has become a new 10. Do you remember this post??

 If not, there was a refresher for ya. So, I hadn't watched Chuck or Tangled for a long time, and my sister in law invited me over to watch a Hallmark hall of fame movie last weekend starring Alexis Bledel and Zachary Levi. And as we watched I remembered how much I really love Zachary Levi. 

    So, when I was finally done with finals this week Ale came by to bring me a post finals treat. I asked if she wanted to watch something, she said sure, I asked if we could watch Chuck because I haven't watched it in like a year or so and she said she'd try an episode. 

     One thing you have to understand is that Ale and I don't actually like a lot of the same TV Shows. There are a few we both like, but none that we both love. Until now. I got her hooked on Chuck (and who wouldn't be, really?) and Zachary Levi plays Chuck. And I love him. Just a little bit. He's my new 10. Except, he was already close to a 10, but now he's my 10. And do you know why? #1: He's attractive. #2: He's my favorite Disney prince *smolder*.

 and #3: He's a nerd. Not just on the show, but in real life. Zachary Levi is a nerd. YAY!! This is awesome because I have recently realized that I am in fact a nerd. Which takes him from the 7 I ranked him at last year, up to being my 10. That's right, move over Sam Worthington, Christian Bale, David Tennant, Josh Dallas, Adam Levine, Matt Smith, and all the other 10s. 

 Speaking of attractive guys, Ale convinced me to sign up for online dating. Let's talk more about awkward than attractive. Too bad there aren't any Zachary Levi-esq guys on there (at least not that I have seen). I have talked to a few guys, but nothing that is incredibly striking and awesome. I figure there is no harm in trying new things though, right? Liam has decided that he needs to meet any guys that want to meet me. I love how much my friends care about me. It's really awesome.  I don't know if anything will come of it, but hopefully it'll be fun.
   
     So, this semester is over. Thank goodness for that. This was a rough one and I'm glad it's over. Time to have a fantastic summer. I am going to be moving soon. A good friend of mine wants me to be room mates with her, which I think will be a good thing. I told Ale she's going to have to come hang out with me like all the time. And I'll be working on LIGHTS and Changing Tyde and I'll also be quilting and baking and loving my life!!!!

What would life be without some CRAZY RANDOMNESS?!?!?!?!

I was on good 'ol Facebook the other day and ended up talking to a friend I haven't seen or heard from in nearly 2 years. I made his birthday cake then, and I'm pretty sure I called him Soldier Boy on here, which is such an apt description of him. So, I ended up talking to SB for a little while and he invited me to his birthday party and I suggested that I come by the day after his birthday and bring him some cupcakes (because I was already making cupcakes. I didn't make them just for him...I'm not THAT nice...) and he said that would be great. SO, yesterday after I got off work I stopped by his place and we ended up talking for about an hour or so. It was really good to catch up with him. I had a crush on him when he lived closer, but I'm very happy to say that none of those feelings are there anymore. He's just a good friend. That thinks my cooking and baking skills are AMAZING. We were walking around outside and whenever we ran into someone he knew (which was like every two minutes) he would introduce me somewhat to the effect of: "Hey, this is Soozee, she's amazing." OR, "Hey, this is Soozee, she's cooks better than anyone ever. And she's awesome". It made me laugh, but there are a lot of attractive guys over by where he lives, so maybe we will have to be friends and I can meet all of his friends.
     On an entirely different note, I told George that for his birthday present I would make him anything (within reason) for his birthday. He chose burgers. I wanted to make the best burger he'd ever had in his life, because that's just how I roll. So, yesterday, I made burgers with Monteray Jack cheese INSIDE the burger. MIND BLOWING, I know. They were crazy good. AND, I am pretty sure I succeeded in making the best burger he'd ever had in his life. Except I forgot bacon. That would have made it more awesome. But that's okay. They were still HUGE and DELICIOUS. Yep, my mouth started watering at the thought of them again...oh man, they were good. 
    Its' the weekend. I love weekends. I think I will bake for a family party I'm going to tonight (which will be AWESOME!!!) and also have Christian Bale Movie Weekend: Part Deux. That will be FANTASTIC. I'm so excited. And so should you be as well.

Batman and other stuff

This was George's birthday cake. It says "I'm Batman!"

He's BATMAN!!! and awesome.

I love Batman. Have ever since I was a kid. I thought the movies got a little cheesy, the one liners got ridiculous and the guys that played Batman weren't that attractive. Bless their hearts. And then Christopher Nolan started the Dark Knight trilogy. And Christian Bale starred as the Dark Knight. Given my previous post was ridiculous, this one will dip slightly into ridiculous in that Christian Bale is totally my current 10. I spent most of last weekend watching Christian Bale movies. I own 14, and have watched pretty much all of them in the last four days. I went and saw The Dark Knight Rises with Tango last Friday and loved it. I thought it was amazing. But, I love Batman, and I love Christian Bale, so it wasn't too hard to think I might.

My friend rated him at a 4...a 4!!!! That is ridiculous!

    On an entirely unrelated note, I sat down and talked with my best friend from high school a couple weeks ago. She has a little girl that is almost 2, which is the same age as a few of my nieces and nephews. She's so cute and it was especially great to talk to my friend again. Since she got married we don't talk as often, but when we do talk its as if no time has passed at all. To me, that is a sign of a true friend. A person with whom time doesn't affect your friendship. We talked for about an hour and got all caught up with each others lives. It was good times.

mmmmmmmmm.....

    I woke up the other day and had this epiphany...Snickers cupcakes. I have my caramel cream cheese frosting recipe, which is AWESOME. and then I added peanuts and a chocolate drizzle. They actually taste like snickers!!! I made them last week after going to one of the many cupcake shops. Tango said mine were better than the one from the cupcake shop. I feel that this is promising as I want to one day open a bakery. However, you will not being seeing a snickers cupcake in my bakery, or peanut butter bars, or peanut butter cookies, or anything with nuts. Why, you may ask? Because there are several close members of my family that have severe nut allergies. My goal is to open a nut free bakery. AND, I have decided that I should just plan on one of my future children being severely allergic to nuts. It runs pretty predominately in my family, and we didn't realize. So, give me some time and you will see a nut free bakery somewhere. I also made these cupcakes last night and a couple of friends came over to watch a movie (we watched Batman Begins and tonight I'm watching The Dark Knight in preperation to go see The Dark Knight Rises again tomorrow). One of these friends is a guy...lets call him Liam, because I think he kind of looks a little like Liam Hemsworth...only shorter. Any way, it was Liam's birthday last week and so we put a candle in a cupcake and sang him Happy Birthday and told him to make a wish. He actually paused for a full minute before blowing out the candle. I like that he took the wish making serious. It was kind of cool. The downside of having a slight crush on Liam is that he's about 4 years younger than me and although I don't really have an issue with the age difference, I know that he does. Frowny face. He's a great friend, though.

 

The sparkles make it seem more dreamy.

    I also made an Andes Mint cupcake that I am calling The Andes. It is delicioso! I made a mint fudge which I put on top of the cupcake and then did a thinner layer of vanilla frosting over that. I dyed the vanilla frosting green, which mentally people assume its mint and makes ties all the flavors together. Man, I love baking. I love trying new ideas. Its HEAVENLY!!!!

    The other day my Mom was playing the piano. If you don't know my mom, then you don't know that she is an AMAZING pianist and organist. I grew up listening to her play hymns as well as many other songs. There are a few that I am very fond of and I asked her to play for me. After she finished I asked if she would let me record her playing the piano so that when I don't live close to her I will still have that small piece of home. To me, her piano playing is home. It brings such joy to my heart and peace to my soul. I love it.

DEMOLITION DERBY Cake

     I have this friend...and for some reason one of my nieces calls him Turbo. She's never heard anything about him, or met him, she helped me put the cars on top of his cake and she keeps calling him Turbo.  I think its pretty funny, so we're just going to call him that.

   Any way, it was Turbo's birthday last Thursday and jokingly told me about a month ago that his birthday was coming up if I wanted to make a cake...I think he's kind of cute, and he's a really great guy, so I told him I'd make him a cake. He was kind of surprised. So, we talked later about it and decided that I would make him an ice cream cake with a car theme to it. I just went to a demolition derby, so I took that and made it my theme.
    I love how the flames turned out on this cake. It is one of my favorites, and Turbo thought it was super awesome. He already knows I'm a good cook, and tells people on a fairly regular basis. It kind of makes me smile a little bit.
   I don't know if he was more excited about the cake, or the cars on top (which I left for him because he really wanted to play with them).
    I am so glad that my first ever ice cream cake turned out so well! It was a really delicious cake and I had so much fun making it!

Castle Cake

Just before summer ended, a good friend of mine had a birthday and I told her I'd make her a cake, as I do for some of my really good friends. She LOVES pink, and castles and is a school teacher and I laugh with her a lot, so we decided to go with a pink castle cake for her birthday. I had just made one of these for my niece's birthday and had a few ideas of how I wanted to change it, so here is the finished product:

As you can see, there is grass and a moat and a bridge....this is not all frosting, because that would be a LOT of frosting, I used 2 cake mixes and filled the castle cake pan that I borrowed from my Sister-in-law (who is AWESOME! Thanks for letting me use it!) and then I took what was left and poured it into a 9x13 pan and baked that as well. When everything was cooled, I got to work frosting it. The windows are made of pink starburst candies as well as the flags. The candles had different colored flames, though I am not terribly impressed with them...I liked the star topped candles best, and they fit in best with the scene any way.

My friend LOVED her cake, and I had so much fun making it! I also made these cute little cupcakes for another friends birthday and had sooo much fun figuring out how best to make the design and the everything for it to work out so well!

And as I am posting this on the first weekend in September, I thought I'd add this to Beck's LOOK WHAT I MADE!!! Share the love link party!!!! Enjoy!!!

Its Fancy, Its Nancy, IT'S FANCY NANCY!!!!

For her birthday last year, a good friend of mine requested a Hello Kitty cake. It turned out fabulous and I was soooo freaking proud of that cake! Man, it was beautiful. So, this year when I asked her what she wanted, she had to think about it. How do you top THAT cake? I mean really. It was a work of art. And then, she said two words that first sent me scrambling, but I recovered and came up with something BRILLIANT! Those two words were: FANCY NANCY. I had heard of the books, though never read through any of them. Sad, I know, but I have since remedied that. My friend said that the first one was her favorite, so I took that as my main inspiration and then went from there. Here is the end result:

Beautiful, no? I think so! I am so proud of how this cake turned out! Its a 6" cake of funfetti goodness that I decorated entirely in pink. I googled Fancy Nancy pictures, printed them out, lamenated them and then put them on toothpicks so they would stand up on the cake. GENIUS! Thank you to my sister and sister in law for their help! I don't know what I would do without my good friends that are constantly inspiring me!



And, since it is the first Friday of July, I am linking this post in with Becky's link party!!! Heck yes, so much fun!!

Oh hello again

Sorry its been so long since I last posted! I have been crazy busy! I found out that I got all Bs in my classes!!! Some people may be a little disappointed in all Bs...I am not one of them. I rejoiced thoroughly! Just ask my sister in law, and my sister. They both got calls to share in my rejoicing!
    The next three weekends are going to be busy for me because I have a birthday cake each of the next three weekends. This weekend is Digger's birthday. He turns the big 3-0. He's an old man, I know. But very attractive for his age. Any way, I told him back in January I'd make his birthday cake if he wanted me to and so I am. I am making my delicious chocolate covered strawberry goodness cake. For a reminder of which one that is, you can look at it here. Yeah, its going to be amazing, except this time its all me, Emily moved away and its up to me to re create this amazing cake...but I'm pretty sure I can do it. And, it will turn out amazingly.
     Next up in the cakes will be an Incredible Hulk cake...I'm still deciding what I want to do with that one, and then the third cake is either going to be X-Men or Captain America themed. yeah, I have my work cut out of me. But, I'm still excited for them!! YAY!!!
     In other news, I am listening to a ridiculously large amount of Maroon 5 these days. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their new CD Hands All Over. Yes, the title is kind of....um...interesting? But the CD is AMAZING. I LOVE it. Also, I read the book Beastly on Friday. Yeah, I read the whole book that afternoon. Really quick read, and it was a pretty good story. I kind of want to see the movie now.
     Speaking of movies, I went and saw Fast Five last weekend with my brother and BFF Fort. It was really good, if you like the Fast and the Furious movies. This one had more plot, I felt, and was really good.
     Any way, there is your update on my life. I made Lemon Tarts yesterday because I now have church at 8:30AM in Provo. I get home around noon and have the entire day to do whatever I want!!! It has truly become a day of rest and I love it!! HOORAY!!!

Vanilla Mouse Cheesecake

I have made this cheesecake twice now, with HUGE results both times. The first time I was commissioned by my coworkers at the evening job. I made it, but told them I had to take a bigger slice of it to give to a particular boy, who in fact loved it. He told me that he shared the piece I gave him (because it really was a huge piece) with his friend that he lives with, and his friends wife. Apparently, his friend's wife is a really good cook, and according to Digger, she said it was the best cheesecake she's ever tasted. And he said that about it as well...so, I keep getting rave reviews on it. You should try it out too!!! Here you go:

Philadelphia vanilla mousse cheesecake

40 Nilla wafers, crushed
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
4 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar, divided
1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp. vanilla, divided
3 eggs
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip
**heat oven to 325. Mix wafer crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Beat 3 pkgs of cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon vanilla will mixer till well blended. add eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed after each one till blended. pour over crust. Bake 50 to 55 min or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake and cool in pan, completely. Beat remaining cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl till well blended. whisk in cool whip and spread over cheesecake. refrigerate for 4 hours. remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake.

Something new, maybe a little bit different, but mostly good!

So, I bake and cook a lot, and generally that is an understatement. I LOVE cooking, it is sooooo relaxing for me! So, I am going to start throwing in some of the recipes I try as I find them. The first is called a Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake, and I really wish I remember what blog I got this from, I am sooo sorry, I will be better in the future! Any way, here is the recipe:

Decadent Brownie Swirl Cheesecake Recipe

• 16 Servings
• Prep: 30 min. Bake: 1-1/2 hours + chilling

Ingredients

• 1 package fudge brownie mix (13-inch x 9-inch pan size)
• 
  FILLING:
• 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Fresh raspberries and chocolate curls, optional

Directions

• Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for chewy fudge brownies. Set aside 2/3 cup brownie batter; spread remaining batter into a greased 9-in. springform pan.
• Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Bake at 350° for 25-28 minutes (brownies will barely test done). Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla on low speed just until combined. Stir 1/3 cup into reserved brownie batter; set aside. Spoon half the cheesecake batter into crust; dollop with half of reserved chocolate cheesecake batter. Repeat layers. Cut through batter with a knife to swirl the chocolate cheesecake batter.
• Place in a larger baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 325° for 1-1/2 hours or until surface is no longer shiny and center is almost set.
• Remove pan from water bath and foil. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan. Garnish with raspberries and chocolate curls if desired. Yield: 16 servings.

K, here are the things that I did not like about this recipe. I cooked the brownies until they were almost done, and I used a 9 in. pan, but when I took this cheesecake to a meeting I had, the brownie part was completely dough-y. I was SO disappointed. They cooked for over 2 hours, there is no reason those brownies should have been goo. It was a meeting of the RS Presidency and the EQ Presidency and all the guys said it was delicious and totally awesome (including Digger), but I was still disapointed. Next time (because I liked the taste, just not the gooeyness of it) I will try it in a 10in pan and I am going to cook the brownies longer in the pan before I add the cheesecake part to the top of it. The taste was good (where the brownie was not goo) it is SUPER rich, but I think with the modifications, a completely AWESOME cheesecake recipe!