What I've Been Up To: Hair, Feet, Pancakes, and Other Junk.

It's been a strange month or two since I posted. I got a new job as a caregiver (it's awesome). While I've been the happiest I've EVER been, it's left me very little time or energy to do the things I like to do, especially with the 50 hours weeks I've been pulling for almost the entirety of May. However, in that time, I've done a few things that I wanted to share with you all.

1. Hair!

My job is pretty fast paced, and the ponytail I've been wearing for the last 10 years just hasn't been able to keep up with me. My hair is a few feet long, and doesn't feel too great sticking to my neck while I'm spending most of my time in an overly-heated building to accommodate all my newly-acquired, but very old, friends. I found a couple things that keep my hair up without actually having to put any work into it.

 

This is an "Up Zing" by Scunci. It's beads strung on elastic, with two combs on each side. I braid my hair, then put it in an elongated bun, then put this over it. I look snazzy, and it's yet to fall out! I got the medium, though, and with all the hair I've got I think a large might work better, since after a couple weeks it started to kind of start pushing into the back of my head (Ouchie.)

 

I'm kinda dumb, and forgot what this thing is called, but it's basically a wire spiral. You put your hair in a bun, then spiral this thing onto it, so it makes a neat and twisty looking bun. I haven't worn this one to work yet, because it's not as sturdy as the Up Zing, however, it works well enough for days off during summer, to keep the hair off my neck while I'm doing things outside.

2. Feet!

I've always liked the idea of barefoot sandals, but I'm really not the 'barefoot type'. My Dad's Girlfriend, Tracy, is though- and with her birthday coming up on the 8th, I figured a few pairs of these would be the perfect, quick gift for her. They are, of course, a great warm weather project, too, since the materials for it are so light, and the project is really small. They look great, and I think after making these for her, I might just take a little time to make a pair for myself!

The first pair I made were the Barefoot Sandal by Lion Brand Yarn.

 

These are just a small mesh triangle with a small band that closes with a button behind the ankle. I think these are kind of cool, but not my favorite. I think they're kind of plain, and fastening a button behind your ankle sounds a lot easier than it actually is. If I made these again, I would instead make the strap about 4 feet longer so that they can be wrapped and tied multiple times around the ankle instead of buttoned. As far as barefoot sandals, and gifts, go- these took about an hour (maybe less), and are a perfect super quick last minute gift. They might also work with flats!

The second Pair I made were the Crocheted Barefoot Sandals, a Free Ravelry Download. 

 Despite how they look, these sandals are only 2 separate pieces, not 8 motifs. Working all as mostly one piece made them a lot easier than they look, and I think these might be my favorite. I love the color I chose, they remind me of cherry blossoms! I think these are prefect for spending a day in the backyard reading and gardening.

The last pair I made for Tracy were the Goddess Barefoot Sandals, from Gleeful Things.

I love finding small projects to make with thread, and I think this one turned out beautifully. These are another pair that I think could work nicely with a pair of flats. I love how Feminine they are, and the Indian influences on the motif make them very elegant. The size 10 thread makes them the lightest of all 3 pairs, and with only 6 rounds, they came together a lot faster than you would think.

3. Pancakes!

My favorite restaurant out here in Madison, WI is a place called Monty's Blue Plate Diner. I have completely run it into the ground. Every time someone asks me where I want to go, Monty's is ALWAYS my answer. The funniest part? I only order one thing when I go there: Zucchini Potato Pancakes. I have ordered them every time I've gone since 2010, and I have yet to get sick of them. They are one of my favorite foods in the world, and I usually finish my entire plate in a few minutes.

So, imagine my excitement, when I went to my local library the other day and found the Monty's Blue Plate Diner Cookbook. I'm genuinely surprised I didn't pee my pants when I found the recipe for these pancakes in there.

These pancakes are incredible. Savory, flavorful, indescribable. If you're looking for something different to make for breakfast, lunch or dinner, these went from sliced to served in under an hour, and were absolutely addictive. With a little bit of sour cream, you can't go wrong. My batter looked so strange when I was making it, but I absolutely could not stop eating them, they were so incredible. 

Green Pancakes! This isn't how they look at Monty's, but they managed to taste the same way.

I wish this picture was scratch-n-sniff, so you could understand how amazing they smell.

Got an hour, and about $7 for ingredients? Make your own:

Zucchini Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 4 medium zucchinis
• 2 large baking potatoes
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup flour
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Black pepper
• 3 TBS vegetable oil
• 8 oz. Sour cream
• 8 oz. Apple sauce

Instructions:

• In a food processor or with a hand grater, grate the zucchinis and potatoes. Mix these with the diced onion in a bowl.
• Make small handfuls and squeeze out the excess moisture. You may be surprised how much water is squeezed out.
• In a separate bowl, combine the vegetables with the eggs, flour, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
• Scoop 2- to 3-oz. portions of the pancake mix and flatten with a spatula. In a large non-stick frying pan heated with vegetable oil, fry over low to medium heat for 10 minutes. When one side is browned, flip the pancake and fry the other side. The edges should be golden crisp.
• Serve immediately with sour cream and applesauce.

Serves 4.

4. Other Junk!

With Father's Day coming up, I got my Dad's present bought and wrapped. I liked the way I did it, so I thought I'd share it here.

What I did:

- Red gift Bag (Walgreens: $3)

- Houndstooth Tissue Paper (Walgreens: $2)

- Moustache Duct Tape (Got this as a present, but I've seen it at Target, Wal Mart, Walgreens, etc.)

Very manly :)

What I bought him:

- 5 Samples of Berres Brothers Coffee (Highlander Grogg, Caramel Chocolate, French Vanilla, Red Velvet Birthday Cake and Hazelnut Creme). Berres Brothers is a local coffee company out here in Wisconsin, so I suggest you all move to Wisconsin and drink their coffee. Highlander Grogg has become a staple in my house (It's a caramel, butterscotch, hazelnut coffee that smells and tastes like heaven and rainbows).

- Earl Grey Vanilla Rhubarb Jam (My Dad mentioned once that he always sees Strawberry-Rhubarb things, never JUST rhubarb, so when I saw this at a Farmer's Market, I picked it up for him.)

4.5: Other Junk Part 2!

You guys know what's awesome? Sailor Moon. You know what else is awesome? Ebay? So what happens when you combine these two things?

...You can get 10 Sailor Moon CCG Booster packs for $10.

Anyone wanna play with me? :P

Orange-Nutella Layered Cheesecake

My Dad and I have birthdays that are exactly two weeks apart (his being March 20th, and mine being April 3rd). Since he lives about an hour away, we usually celebrate our birthdays together, and this year the deal was that he would pay for dinner if I supplied the cake.

He told me this about a week or two ago, and I spent some time looking through recipes on my bookshelf, my Pinterest, on baking blogs, and everything else you can think of. Everything seemed either too expensive, or just not quite right. I pretty much knew I wanted to make a cheesecake, but not much else.

After enough searching, I decided that I wasn't going to find the right thing.

My mind kept, for some reason, going back to a day in December when my boyfriend made us some hazelnut hot cocoa with orange peels boiled in, to make a delicious and rich orange-y, chocolate hazelnut goodness. Something about the combination of these things really stuck with me, so much so that I decided to make a cheesecake that would combine these flavors.

My 2nd inspiration for this cake was a cheesecake recipe on tablespoon.com. I used the recipe for their rainbow cheesecake a little over a year ago for my friend's birthday. I loves combining colors and making layers, and it seemed like orange and brown would go really well together (although, there was no dye in this cheesecake, so it's actually a brown and off-white, but a girl can dream.

I made this cheesecake, and it went over SPLENDIDLY.It's very rich and creamy, and the layers look beautiful stacked on top of each other. The orange compliments the subtle hazelnut flavor perfectly, and it's just right for a spring birthday.

Most of the credit for this cake comes from this recipe at Tablespoon.com, I pretty much just added the orange and nutella flavors. The guys over there really know what their doing, because this cheesecake is seriously gigantic and delicious.

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Filling

• 4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 large eggs
• 1 (13 oz.) container of Nutella
• 3 TBS orange juice concentrate (thawed)
• Zest from one orange

Directions

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Before you get started with the crust, make sure your 9 inch springform pan is water tight. I do this by carefully wrapping a few layers of foil on the outside of the pan, so water cannot get into the pan. Be careful not to rip the foil or water will get into your cake and ruin it!
   
   
2. Mix crushed crackers, 2 tablespoons sugar, the cinnamon and salt together in a bowl. Then mix in butter with your clean fingers, until crumbs are pea sized. 
   
   
3. Press all of the graham cracker mixture into the prepared springform pan. Press it down firmly in the pan.

4. Bake the crust for 10 minutes on a low oven rack. Remove from the oven, and cool completely before continuing. Turn oven temperature down to 325 degrees.

5. To make filling, cut cream cheese into pieces and add to a mixing bowl. Whip until smooth, maybe 4 minutes. Then add 1-1/3 cups sugar, and continue to beat until smooth again, another 4-5 minutes. Next, add vanilla, salt, sour cream and heavy cream; beat until smooth. Add in 1 egg at a time, beating briefly between each egg.
   

6. Once the mixture is well combined and very smooth, divide evenly into 2 bowls. In one bowl, add the orange zest and orange juice concentrate and mix well, set aside. In the 2^nd bowl, add the nutella and mix well.
   
7. Starting with whichever flavored batter, pour some directly into the center of the cooled crust, then a little more of the opposite flavor. Continue alternating batters by pouring them directly in the center, this will create layers so each slice has equal(ish) amounts of both flavors. Then, to make my design I just ran a butter knife across the top a few times to give it the 'spiderweb' effect
   
8. Place cheesecake into a baking dish on oven rack, and fill baking dish (or a deep frying pan!) with boiling water about 1 inch up the side of the springform pan.
   
9. Bake at 325 degrees in the water bath for 1 hour and 40 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes or until set but still jiggles slightly 2 inches from the edge. If cheesecake begins to brown on top, cover loosely with foil during last 5 minutes of baking.
   
10. Turn off the oven, open the oven door a crack, and let the cake cool in the oven for 1 hour. The slow cooling will help it not crack.
    
11. Loosely wrap the dish in foil so the foil isn't touching the top of the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
    
12. When ready to remove cake, run a clean narrow knife around the edge of the dish, remove the foil, unlock the spring, and carefully lift off the outer ring.
    

Enjoy!

Holiday Confections Part Two: Buckeyes

Buckeyes are a strange thing for me. I know it's rare to relate something BAD to something as delicious as a buckeye (It's peanut butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar...covered in chocolate...what's so bad about it, right?), but somehow, I managed to have that happen to me.

When I was younger, I had more step-family than family, and I was certainly not a favorite at family gatherings (or in my case, step-family gatherings). I had a step-grandma who lived in Ohio and when she came down, everyone seemed really happy to see her, but I absolutely hated her. She was mean to me, rude to me, put me down, and hurt me (emotionally and physically). And you know what she always made as a treat? You guessed it. Buckeyes.

They were good. Damn good, actually. Probably the only good thing about her, in all honesty. I ate these things year after year, finding some odd kind of relief to her visits in these little peanut buttery truffles, and it wasn't until this year that I realized that she was the only thing I related to these treats.

Here I am, trying to make something delicious and nice for my co-workers, and I find myself grinding my teeth, holding my hand mixer so tightly my knuckles are turning white, and an inexplicable lump is forming in my throat, and as desperate as I am to think of something, anything, else, she is all I can think of. I thought I had buried the hatchet long ago, but apparently deciding to make something beautiful and delicious was enough to open that can of worms again.

I felt annoyed once again, that even in absence (and in death), this woman is still getting the last laugh.

So, I decided to make these every year until the price of peanut butter is just too damn high for my budget.

These are so good you guys, SO good, and I refuse to think of her when I make, and subsequently eat, these. I want to think about my own Christmases, holidays and friends, and my own moments, in my own life, with my boyfriend and maybe someday my kids and grandkids (and hopefully said grandkids will not think of me the way that I think of her). I want this to be something I can make with a smile on my face, a flutter in my heart, and a twinkle in my eye as I salivate thinking about how impossibly good these are.

I know my photography has been lacking lately...but will return to somewhat normal soon!

So without further ado, here is the recipe to the most insanely, impossibly and beautifully delicious thing I have made in a long time. Something so amazing, that I am unearthing issues long dead so I can eat these and have absolutely perfect moments when I do (and I hope you will, too).

Buckeyes

Ingredients:

-1/4 Cup Cream Cheese (softened)
- 1 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
- 1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
- 1/4 Tsp. Salt
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 10 TBS. Unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
- 12 Oz. Dark chocolate (60 - 75%) coarsely chopped

How to do it:

For the filling:

1. Beat cream cheese and peanut butter until combined.
2. Add Graham cracker crumbs, beat 10 seconds.
3. Add sugar and butter. Mix on lowest speed until nothing in floating in the butter, then increase speed until ingredients are combined.

For the coating:

Melt chocolate in microwave according to package directions. Cool until tepid.

For assembling:

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Scoop out roughly 1 TBS of filling, and use hands to form into a ball.

The balls can sit close to each other, but make sure they don't touch.

3. Using a spoon, roll each ball in the chocolate until it is covered.

4. Refrigerate or freeze.

5. Indulge.

 

I'll be back soon with another recipe!

Holiday Confections Part One: Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Hey everyone! I know it's been a few weeks, but I haven't been absent for a lack of creating.

Quite the opposite, actually.

I've been making so many things for the last month, but since ALL of them are Christmas presents, I can't post them without ruining the surprise for my friends. So, after Christmas, prepare to be so sick of my posts that you wanna vomit, while simultaneously thinking I'm really impressive. It's okay, I won't judge.

Anyway, I'm here today with one of 5 recipes I'm making for Christmas day.

 

These brownies are really delicious. Rich, but not too heavy, and the apple cider vinegar really comes through in the brownies subtly enough for some interesting flavor, while still being plenty chocolate-y and covered in a thick layer of cream cheese. 

The recipe I'm providing is for enough brownies for a 9" x 13" pan, but if you half the ingredients, you can make it in an 8" x 8" pan, like brownies are generally made in (I just needed a lot of brownies!)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

Red Velvet Layer:

- 2 Sticks unsalted butter, melted

- 2 Cups sugar

- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

- 1/2 cup cocoa powder

- A pinch or two of salt

- 2 Tablespoons red food coloring

- 2 tsp. Apple cider vinegar

- 4 eggs

- 1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

Cream Cheese Layer:

- 16 oz. Cream cheese, softened

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9" x 13" pan.

Brownie Layer Instructions:

1. Add melted butter to large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring and vinegar, mixing after each addition.

2. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl, and stir into cocoa mixture.

3. Fold in flour until lightly combined.

4. Pour batter into prepared baking pan, saving 1/2 cup of batter for the top.

Cream Cheese Layer Instructions:

1. Blend together all ingedients in a bowl.

2. Spread cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Drizzle the remaining batter on top, and use a knife to drag through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes.

Drizzle batter back and forth like so

Drag knife through in opposite directions to make this pattern

Halloween Project #7: Ghost and Gravestone Cupcakes

I'm buckling down, really. But Gabe's homework requires Halloween crafts, and he asked for my help, and I can't just let him down, now can I? This week has been crazy, though. What started out as "Maybe I could get some photographs of things you've already made", turned into "You should bake a bunch of great things!". It's not that I didn't want to, but there was certainly quite a bit of work required for everything I did. Other projects will be posted this week when they're all put together properly.

Anyway! Our project for today is actually rather simple, and I didn't do anything homemade, but you can make your own frosting and cake if you should desire. With just a few ingredients you can have a haunted graveyard!

What you'll need:

- Cake! I used a chocolate box mix, but what you choose to use is not important to this project.
- Nutter Butter Sandwich cookies
- White Chocolate (24 oz should do the trick), divided into 2.
- Black food coloring (I used Icing Coloring for this one)
- Green food coloring
- Black Decorating Gel
- Hot cocoa powder (Optional)
- 16 oz. Can of white frosting, divided into 2.

1. Bake your cupcakes in white cupcake liners according to box/recipe instructions.

2. While your cupcakes are baking, melt half the white chocolate (be sure not to overheat it, or your chocolate will seize and will be ruined. Melt for 1 minute in microwave, then in 15 second increments until it is smooth. If a few chips remain unmelted, just stir until it is smooth). Cover a baking sheet in aluminum foil. Dip Nutter Butter cookies into white chocolate, and place on aluminum foil. Refrigerate or freeze.

3. Melt other half of white chocolate the same way, slowly add in your food coloring until your chocolate is gray. Once again, dip the Nutter Butters in on both sides, and laying down on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil. Refrigerate or freeze.

4. With your frosting divided in two separate bowls, dye one half green, and the other half black. To get a good BRIGHT green color, I added some yellow drops until it was less bluish green and more like grass.

5. After your ghosts and gravestones have hardened, remove from the fridge/freezer. Write "RIP" on the gravestones, and give the ghosts faces with the black decorating gel.

6. Frost your cupcakes, half in green, and the other half in black. Sprinkle hot cocoa powder over the green ones to be 'dirt'. If you'd like, you could make all of the frosting green, so as to make a 'haunted graveyard', but there are plans for haunted house cupcake liners in the near future so the ghost will have a place to haunt. It is entirely up to you, of course, as making cupcake liners will be a lot more work.

When you frost the grass, be sure to make the frosting very 'rough' so as to mimic grass, and keep the black very smooth so as to mimic a floor.

7. Using a spoon, dig a small sort of 'ditch' in the center of your cupcakes (this will prevent the cupcakes from cracking in half), then place the graves and ghosts in their appropriate cupcakes.

8. Indulge!

I didn't realize how fantastic this was going to be until I got to eat one of the gravestones that broke in half. Apparently Peanut butter + White chocolate is ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD. I was very pleased, and the fact that there is a moist chocolate cupcake to go along with it makes things even better.

Coming up this week I have stencils, my first cake -pops- and a haunted house to put that ghost inside. While I am rather tired, I can't wait to see how everything turns out!

How To Impress People Without Actually Being Impressive IV: Truffles!

There's something about the words 'white chocolate' that really impresses people. It's not like it's any different, or more expensive than other chocolates, but there's something about it that makes people think of fancy occasions and baked goods that you can only find in bakeries, made by people who went to college to get some kind of white chocolate degree.

Certainly these were not made in a kitchen, or photographed in a living room!

And then, you follow 'white chocolate' by the word 'truffles' and suddenly people are really waiting to hear you speak. Their ears perking up at the idea of gourmet truffles, and their brains working at full capacity trying to figure out what kind of rich and genius person you are.

The secret is: white chocolate is just like any other chocolate, and truffles are really, really easy to make.

What You'll need:

- 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 24 oz. chocolate chips (I used white chocolate, but any kind will do)
- 20 oz. Melting chocolate (I used vanilla flavored almond bark, but as long as it's chocolate, and you can melt it, it will work)
- Miniature cupcake liners (optional)
- Optional add ins (Liquor, nuts, etc....I omitted these things but simply added some sprinkles)

How To Do It:

1. In a sauce pan, bring your heavy whipping cream to a simmer.

2. Slowly whisk in chocolate chips. after chocolate is melted, now would be the time to add any add ins, if you want.
2a. White chocolate is slightly different than other chocolate in that it will not be as thick as, say, milk chocolate ganache right off the bat. If using white chocolate, put in fridge for about 60 - 90 minutes, stirring it with a fork or whisk occasionally.

3. Leave your ganache in the fridge for about 2 - 3 hours until it's cold and able to be molded.

4. Using either gloved/washed hands or a melon baller, roll your ganache into balls. Leave these in your fridge for at least 4 hours (overnight would be ideal).

5. Melt your chocolate, and using a spoon, roll each truffle in the chocolate. Place either directly on your miniature cupcake liners (if desired) or wax paper. If you are adding sprinkles, nuts, or whatever else as decoration, add it on while the chocolate is still a little warm.

6. Cool in refrigerator for 15 - 20 minutes to solidify the chocolate.

7. Truffles can be served cold, but are best at room temperature!

Although these are somewhat time consuming with refrigeration, they're a great dessert, and you're certain to impress everyone. Enjoy!

How to impress People Without Actually being Impressive Part II: Oreo Cheesecake Cake.

I know it's been a long hiatus, but with moving, and then trying to come up for air from all the drowning I've been doing for this year's Camp NaNoWriMo, I haven't had much time to focus on anything else. I'm still rather behind in my novel, but nonetheless, I look forward to making a victory post on September 1st.

So I'm not here regarding writing, I'm here regarding cheesecake! I know cheesecake intimidates a lot of people, but it's actually really easy. I think this is another one of those things that people assume is difficult because it's delicious. It's not as difficult as it is time consuming...it's actually rather difficult to mess up. What I've made today is my 2nd cheesecake ever, and my 2nd ever Double Decker cheesecake. It's an invention of my own inspired by a cheesecake I made for my Dad's birthday, but instead of red velvet, it's Oreo!

This cake cuts a lot of corners, which is why it's really impressive, but wonderful for beginners. Here's what you're going to need, and alternatives with be in Italics

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

- 32 Oreos processed into crumbs (Or About 2 cups of packed Oreo crumbs). Even more alternatively, if you don't have a food processor or Oreo crumbs at your disposal, double bagging them, and using a rolling pin and all of your patience will work, too (I should know, it's what I did).
- 5 1/3 TBS melted butter

For the Ganache:

 - 1 Cup (1/2 Pint) Heavy Whipping Cream
- 24 Oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

For the Cake:

- I used a Pillsbury Box Cake (I used 'Dark Chocolate'), but if you are opposed to this and looking to make a cake from scratch, I recommend this recipe.

For the Cheesecake:

- 3 8 Oz. Packages Cream Cheese (Room temperature)
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 TBS. All Purpose Flour
- 2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 3 Large Eggs.
- 10 Oreos, Diced

Topping (Optional)

-  7 Oreos (cut 6 in half, one whole one in the middle)
- Oreo Frosting (I found some pre-made in the grocery store, otherwise a buttercream frosting with Oreo bits in it will also work)
- Melted White Chocolate (Approximately 3 - 4 Oz.)
- Any remaining Ganache

So here's what we will be building:

It's got an Oreo Crumb crust, followed by a layer of ganache, with an Oreo cheesecake on top of that, a chocolate cake on top of THAT, the sides of said cake are frosted with Cookies N' Cream frosting, which is then covered with white chocolate, then drizzled with ganache, and for the final touch you will adorn it with Oreos.

If this is not what you want, turn back now. You are in Sweet Tooth territory.

How to Make It:

Cake:

1. Make your cake, either according to the package directions, or the directions of the AllRecipes link I have provided. If you are making a box cake, you will make two 9" cakes. Save the other cake, I will tech you how to make truffles with it this week :).
2. After your cake(s) have baked, let them cool completely, then put them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Crust and Ganache:

1. To make the crust, butter a 9" Springform pan and place on baking sheet. Combine the melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl.
2. Toss with a fork to moisten all crumbs. Press into a thin layer, covering the bottom and 3" up the sides of the springform.
3. In a sauce pan, heat the whipping cream to a simmer, then ad chocolate chips. Whisk until a smooth ganache has formed.
4. Pour 1 - 1.5 cups of the ganache over the bottom of the crust.
5. Freeze until the ganache is firm (About 30 minutes). Reserve the remaining ganache. Keep at Room temperature.

Cheesecake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Beat in the flour. Add in the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Dice up your 10 Oreos into small chunks and add them (I added the filling and everything)
4. Pour filling over cold ganache in the crust. Bake until the top is lightly brown, puffed and cracked at the edges (my original recipe said about an hour, it took mine an hour and a half).
5. Cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then transfer to refrigerator and let cool for about 3 - 4 hours.

Toppings, and putting it all together:

1. Take your cake out of the freezer and place it on a smooth surface (like a cutting borad, or I personally used a baking sheet) Frost the sides of the cake with your Cookies n' cream frosting. Using a spatula and all your natural graces, lift the cake and place on top of the cheesecake.
2. Melt your white chocolate, and spread over the top of your cake with a butter knife.
3. Heat up your ganache slightly and drizzle over the white chocolate layer. If you have a ton left, keep it at room temperature. you can use these for cake truffles (which i will write a tutorial for this week, as stated earlier).
4. Place in freezer for 15 - 20 minutes to let the white chocolate and ganache harden.
5. Make 12 gobs of cookies n' cream frosting along the edge of your cake, place 1/2 an oreo on each one.
6. Place one last gob of frosting in the center, and place an entire Oreo.
7. FEAST.

I would recommend taking this cake out of the fridge for about 15 - 20 minutes before cutting, otherwise it's very difficult to cut through all the layer gracefully (my first piece was more like a crumb cake..), but it's so good! Each bite has a different amount of everything in it and is like a different cake every time. my cheesecake came out a little under-sweet, but it compliments the over sweetness of everything above and below it. All in all, a very decadent treat. I hope you guys like this, because I know I did! ;)

I will be back sometime this week to show you how to make cake truffles (so don't waste your money on Starbucks cake pops!), and like I said, am looking forward to returning here on September 1st to tell you all that I finished my 3rd novel.