RECIPE: Pork and Apples with Stuffing (super simple!!)

I'm sure this "recipe" originates somewhere, but it's so simple that it's not even really a recipe. My sister told my mom how to make it, and then she told me. My mom first made this back in 2010 when I broke my jaw. My jaw was wired shut for six weeks, and because I was high on pain killers unable to really cook (nor did I want to, because I couldn't even eat!), we got meals from lots of family and friends.

I can't even describe how grateful I am for that--my kids were five and seven years old at the time, and I wasn't able to do much for a month or so. When I stop and think of things I am grateful for, the month of November 2010 contains about 75% of those thoughts!

Anyway, my mom made this dinner for my family (while I drank yet another fruit/Ensure smoothie). Jerry couldn't stop raving about it--as one naturally does when his wife can't even take a single bite to taste it--and when I finally broke out of the wires and was able to eat solid food, I made it myself. It's SO easy and simple, and it's delicious! 

(There is pork underneath the apples and stuffing, I promise! Hahaha, I just tend to load up on more of the "sides" and less of the meat in meals.)

There are only four ingredients (or five, in my case)...

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Ingredients:

6 boneless pork chops (I used several smaller ones--you just want enough to put in a single layer in a 9x13 dish)
1 can of apple pie filling
1 box of pork-flavored stuffing (like Stove Top)
6 Tbsp. of butter
1 large apple (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Open the can of pie filling and spread across the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. I wanted some more apples, so I peeled and sliced a large apple and spread that across the pie filling. Arrange the (raw) pork chops on the pie filling (I used thin pork chops--if you use thick cut ones, you'll want to bake longer).

Place the butter in a large bowl and throw it in the microwave for about one minute, checking after 30 seconds or so until it's melted. Once the butter is melted, add the stuffing mix and stir it together (do not add water or anything else). 

Spread the stuffing mix evenly over the pork chops. Cover with foil and bake for about 35-40 minutes, until pork chops are cooked through (use a meat thermometer to check). Remove the foil and bake for about 3-4 more minutes to crisp the stuffing a little.

Continue Reading...

A Few Weekend "Staycation" Photos

Jerry was up north in Petoskey, Michigan very early Friday through Sunday evening, so I had a long weekend without him. I had all these plans of being super productive--deep cleaning, making a couple of nightstands for our bedroom, etc--but I honestly didn't get anything done.

Other than walking Joey each morning, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I spent the weekend watching Lifetime movies, playing Best Fiends, getting take-out on Saturday night, and only doing the bare minimum of housework. I did a load of laundry and a load of dishes. I also finished up the shelves for Jerry's sister by putting contact paper on them.

I really wanted to work on nightstands, but the thought of going to Lowe's and picking out huge sheets of plywood was totally unappealing. It's hard to do that by myself (I'm picky about the wood, so I usually end up getting one that's 4-5 heavy sheets down; also, I have to have an employee cut it down so I can fit it in the car). Instead, I went out to the garage and stared at my current leftover materials, hoping to think of something to make out of scraps. I ended up just putting the contact paper on the shelves, and that was it!

Even though I feel a little guilty not having gotten anything "major" done, I guess I can consider it my own little staycation while Jerry was up north doing a "guys weekend" of off-roading and football.

When he got home yesterday, I nearly died when I saw what he brought home with him... he found this log up north. It looks like the perfect mannequin for a pair of boxer briefs! I posted it on Instagram, and a few people suggested that we put the underwear on it and then change them out for each season/holiday. I love that idea! It's perfect for the man cave in the garage.

Just a few other photos from the weekend...

I love walking past a particular house every morning, because occasionally they change their skeleton display for Halloween. Here are the three scenes I've seen so far (I wish the pictures were better--it's much easier to see in person!)

Skeleton raking up bones while skeleton-dog is chewing a bone, and "dad" skeleton is mowing the grass. I just make the assumption that they are a male-female couple in these scenes, but I could be wrong--kind of hard to tell with skeletons, unless you're a forensics expert ;) I picture the dog to be a hyper little Jack Russell Terrier-mutt. 

Skeleton couple and skeleton-dog sitting around the fire pit roasting marshmallows. 

Sitting next to the canal with fishing poles and their skeleton-dog. It's hard to make out in this photo, but notice the little skeleton-mermaids on the end of the fishing lines! Hahaha. 

I'm hoping they'll do at least one more scene before Halloween. The best part about walking this time of year is seeing all of the fun Halloween decorations!

This is just a photo of Joey while we walked along the shoreline of the Lake Erie. There is a small park here, so I let him off leash to walk along the shore for a few minutes. Other than when we see his dog-friends, this is his favorite part of our morning walks.

My brother-in-law, Shawn, sent me this photo and told me I should make one for my cats. It's so awesome! I love the idea and I just may actually do it. It looks very simple to make. Not much fun to have to clean under the bed (removing mattress to vacuum) but I can see the kittens loving it! (I don't know the origin of this photo, so if you know, I'd be happy to credit the person that made this awesome bed!)

Finally, I thought this was funny enough to take a screen shot today. I was replying to someone who'd posted about running in the rain for my Cookies Fall Mileage Challenge, and look at the suggested words on my iPhone. Sploot?! So random.

I had no idea what "sploot" was until recently when I posted a photo on Instagram of Duck lying on the floor and people told me it's a "thing" and it's called a sploot. It's hilarious to watch him lie down... while he's walking, he just stops moving his back legs while continuing to walk forward with his front legs, until he finally just plops down to this position. 

Joey likes to lie like that too, and I really hope I can get a photo of the two of them side-by-side one day ;)

Continue Reading...

Something I Like About Myself (a writing prompt)

(I spent way too much time trying to figure out what sort of photo I could use to represent this post. I finally settled on this one of me holding a gosling that I rescued from Phoebe! It's an old photo--from 2011.)

As I've written about before, my friend John posts a "Question of the Day" on Facebook every day. Whether I write a reply or not, the questions always make me pause for a moment to think about my answer.

Today's question was "The answer can be about something physical, something you can do, or a habit you have. And it can be serious or silly, important or shallow. But tell us, what is something you like about yourself?"

This question really hit me hard. I remember going to a new therapist during a particularly bad episode of depression, and at the very first session, she asked me to tell her something I liked about myself. 

I racked my brain as quickly as I could, feeling completely stupid as the seconds ticked on and I couldn't come up with ANYTHING positive to say. I could feel my face turning hot and my eyes welling with tears. After what felt like an eternity, I told her that I just don't know. And I cried. And I felt ridiculous that I couldn't answer such a simple question--I couldn't even make something up on the spot! I didn't want to be a blubbering cliché in the first 10 minutes I spent with the therapist.

A lot has changed since then--I believe that episode happened in 2007-ish--but I still have a hard time being "nice" to myself. I'm extremely self-critical, even though I try not to be. Even at this moment, while I think about the answer to the question, I find myself arguing against any answer I come up with! 

Since the question is "something" I like about myself and not what I like "best" about myself, I feel like it's a little easier.

Something I like about myself is that I am very sympathetic and empathetic to others. I always do/say things with the best intentions. I truly care about others' feelings and I want everybody to be happy.

This is extremely ironic because I wrote a blog post in January called "What is one thing I would change about myself?" and the answer was the same--I'm empathetic. I'm a so-called "empath", which can be very positive and also very negative. For this post, I'll focus on the positive!

When friends, family, or even total strangers share something that is bothering them, I really, truly CARE. I don't just pretend to care or have the feeling like, "everybody goes through stuff, you'll be fine". When I ask what I can do to help, I really mean it--I want to do something, anything, to help them feel better.

I try to read between the lines when people aren't very kind or when they are rude in some way. If I get a mean comment on my blog or if someone snaps at me when I don't feel like I've done anything wrong, I try to think about where it came from--perhaps they just had a bad day and were taking it out on me, or perhaps I said something that they were already insecure about. I try to feel sympathetic even to people who aren't very nice to me by giving them the benefit of the doubt.

When I compliment someone, it's always sincere. I would rather not say anything at all than give an insincere compliment.

Nothing makes me happier than doing something kind and unexpected for someone else. I very rarely share about the things I've done for people because I feel like that takes away from the experience. I don't do these things for recognition, but rather because I hope that it makes them happy.

People have done kind things for me in times where I needed it most (and yes, I'm talking about some of you who are reading this!) and I think about those things frequently. If I can do that for someone else, then I'm thrilled :)

Okay, so that's the deep answer to the question of what I like about myself. To end on a light note, something trivial that I like about myself?

I'm very photogenic!

People have told me my entire life that I photograph very well. That doesn't mean that I love all the photos of me, but that I can almost always make my smile look natural and somehow show my best side. My parents and siblings have always been very photogenic as well.

Well, I wouldn't say I'm *always* photogenic...

I also think I'm a little funny ;)   (Here is the story behind the above photo, if you're new here!)

Continue Reading...

Guilty Pleasures

Today feels like a good day for a writing prompt--something light-hearted. I have a list of blog post ideas that I keep on my computer when I'm really struggling to write something (I've written daily for nearly 10 months now!), but even with the ideas, I can't remember if I've written about them before. My memory is so bad!

Anyway, today I thought a list of my guilty pleasures sounded fun :)

Lifetime movies - I've always been a sucker for the cheesy drama/romance/thrillers that Lifetime TV offers. Before we could pull up movies on a whim, I used to look forward to Monday nights when a new Lifetime movie was released. I'd go in my bedroom to watch the movie and Jerry would stay in the living room enjoying his biggest guilty pleasure--Monday Night Raw wrestling.

90's music - I just can't seem to keep up with the times when it comes to music. I'll forever be stuck in the 90's! I also listen to the same music over and over again, adding only a couple of songs a year (usually when watching a 90's movie and I hear a song that makes me nostalgic). Jerry has so much music he could listen to it 24/7 until the day he dies and never hear the same song twice. I have probably about 300 songs, but I only ever listen to less than 25 of them.

Sugar cereal - When I am in the mood for cereal, I never choose the healthy stuff, or even anything that sounds "grown up". I go for Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Crispies, Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs, Golden Grahams... the good stuff ;) I especially like to combine different ones in the same bowl. This bowl has a combination of Frosted Flakes and Cap'n Crunch:

Teen books/TV/movies - I'm a sucker for teen drama, teen romance, and especially teen thriller/horror genres. Twilight, One Tree Hill, the Scream series... all that kind of stuff!

Listening to the Beautiful/Anonymous podcast by Chris Gethard while I fall asleep - His voice is so soothing for some reason! If I had something interesting to talk about with him, I'd love to try to get a phone call on the podcast one day. (Each hour+ episode is a phone call with an anonymous person who calls into the show and chats with Chris.)

Water bottles - It is SO HARD to resist buying a new water bottle whenever I see them at the store. I have several great ones! So I have no idea why I want more. They just look so novel and pretty and fun. This is one that I bought when I started 75 Hard, although I already had it in a couple of other colors. I love these Nalgene bottles with the wide mouth (Amazon affiliate link) because I can chug down a whole quart of water really quickly.

Notebooks and lists - I jot down notes ALL THE TIME, but I don't have any rhyme or reason to my notebooks. I just have the simple Mead 70-page cheap spiral notebooks strewn all over the house with notes, diagrams (of wood-working ideas or other projects), lists, and numbers.

I don't have any order to it--I just grab a notebook and flip open to an empty page. Someday, I should go through them all and pull out things that could be useful (like lists of blog post ideas!). I never write "neatly" in them, either--always chicken scratch!

And there you have it... some of my favorite guilty pleasures. Feel free to share yours!

Continue Reading...

Getting In Touch With Old Friends

When I wrote my blog post recently about what I imagined it might be like to be a celebrity, I mentioned some celebrities I'd met here or there over the years. Almost as an afterthought, I wrote of my friendship with Adam Grant in high school. I wasn't sure if anyone reading my post would know who he is, so I was surprised when some people commented about being fans of his.

Adam and I became close friends in high school after meeting in an AOL chatroom. My memory these days is terrible, but for some reason, I can remember so many random things from when we would hang out back then. We lost touch sometime after I went to visit him at Harvard during his freshman year. He had moved to Boston, and I was still in Michigan, and back then, it was harder to keep in touch with people.

Here is a photo from that Boston trip. I'm cringing at my "1999-2002" look--hair dyed reddish, cut very short, dark lipstick, and a choker necklace.

We'd emailed once or twice after I had Noah, but then lost touch again. I tried emailing him every couple of years with no reply. I knew NOTHING of his career until one day a few years ago when I saw a tweet on my Twitter feed by "Adam M Grant" that someone I was following had retweeted. I was confused for a second, because I didn't really understand what I was seeing--the photo looked an awful lot like the Adam Grant I'd been friends with, and then I clicked over to his profile and was blown away.

Apparently, in the time we'd lost touch, he became hugely successful--becoming a professor at Wharton, writing all sorts of best selling books, giving TED talks, recording podcasts--and I had no idea. I was super impressed (although I honestly was not surprised, because he was always very smart and determined).

I wrote him an email (yet again), but didn't receive a response. I thought maybe it was because I'd sent it to his old email address and since we were officially "grown-ups" now, he may have a new one (you know, considering we were in our 30's, haha). I tried Facebook to no avail. 

I tried again a couple more times, but I knew he probably received a shit-ton of email and I wasn't sure if he was even seeing mine. I even had this pit in my stomach that maybe I'd said or did something to offend him back in the day, causing him to not talk to me. I used to tease him (good-naturedly, at least in my mind!) about being a "Harvard nerd".

SO, in getting to the point of this post, I'm so glad that I wrote about him on my blog--because he emailed me! I had tweeted him the link to my blog post, hoping that seeing the photo of him in Boston would at least catch his attention, and behold the power of social media--he sent me an email that sounded just like the same old Adam I remember. Very kind, funny, and a little nerdy ;)

I was so happy to finally hear from him. He told me if I'd used MY old email address (which was also my old, very juvenile AOL username, haha) that he'd have noticed my emails much sooner.

I don't know if we'll stay in touch from here (I'd like to) but regardless, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. Not that I felt I did something wrong or that I harped on it all these years, but it was always in the back of my mind that our friendship just seemed to disappear without explanation. I wanted to know why, and when he didn't reply to my email attempts, I questioned myself about whether I did something wrong.

Sometimes I really hate technology and social media because it has the potential to bring out the worst in people, but I love when good things happen because of it--like my blog readers sending Mark get well cards in the months before he passed away, my parents finding their stolen bikes via a Facebook post, and now getting in touch with a friend I thought I'd never hear from again!

Continue Reading...

Looking for New Projects

Thanks so much for the suggestions on my last post! I'm going to start adding them to my library queue and hopefully I'll find some that capture my attention. Today, I just continued with a book I'd listened to on a walk earlier this week--'Dear Wife' by Kimberly Belle. (Amazon affiliate link)

I'm not sure why I stopped listening to it after that walk, because today I found it to be really good! I even had that feeling at the end of my walk that makes me want to continue walking just to keep listening. So far, it reminds me very much of 'Gone Girl' and I loved that book. The narration is great, too.

I feel like I am writing WAY too much about books lately! My life has been pretty mundane, though, after a short bout of total chaos. Books are pretty much the most entertaining part of my day lately. Hahaha! I wake up and then go for my walk within about 30 minutes (I've even been walking in the dark lately, just because I hate sitting around waiting for the sun to rise).

My walks are about 85 minutes, so I get a lot of listening time in. And that means I'm going through the books quickly. Other than Noah's desk and Laura's shelves, I haven't been working on any projects--and I want to!

Jerry and I REALLY need new nightstands, and I decided that tomorrow after my walk, I'll go to Lowe's and get the materials to make them. Even though lumber is expensive right now, I really want something fun to work on. When I was feeling super overwhelmed, Jerry told me I should just buy some nightstands, but the affordable ones are made with such cheap materials. I can make them with much better materials for (slightly) cheaper. 

I'm not going to be using someone's building plans to make these--I just sketched out what I want and I calculated all the measurements--so I hope that they turn out okay! I'm going to try to document it well so that if they do turn out, I can make a tutorial.

Speaking of Lowe's, today I was paying some bills online and I noticed that on our main credit card (the one I pay bills with and then pay off in full each month) we have a ton of "points" that I hadn't seen before. When I noticed them today, I saw that we could exchange them for gift cards... 1,000 points is worth $10. One of the gift cards available was for Lowe's, and I had 9,300 points to redeem! So, the nightstands should be fairly cheap after using the gift card. I love when things like that happen :)

Something else I've been wanting to do lately is sew something! I was gifted a bunch of cute fabric earlier this year, and I bought a serger that I've used it a few times, but I haven't really made much use out of either (I think I was tired of sewing after making a trillion masks). 

I really want to make something fun now, though. I asked the kids if I could make their Halloween costumes but they didn't want me to :(  I miss when they were little! I remember spending so much time working on these costumes in 2009:

My mom always used to sew Halloween costumes for me, so I wanted to do it for my kids. Unfortunately, they only let me do it a couple of times through the years because they were particular about what costumes they wanted to wear.

I don't think there is going to be trick-or-treating this year because of COVID (yes, my kids are at the age that most people would probably consider too old to trick-or-treat anyway, but I love seeing teens doing it--it's harmless fun before they have to start being an adult!). I told the kids I'd put together a clue hunt/scavenger hunt with candy if they want to invite some friends over in lieu of trick-or-treating. 

Now that I really want to focus on losing weight, I'd like to pick up a long-term project that I can work on. When I'm having fun doing something DIY, the time flies by and I don't even think about eating!

Continue Reading...

Scary Movie Marathon Fail

Jerry and I just got done watching The Roast of Donald Trump from way back in 2011. The weather felt so nice outside that we opened up the garage doors and sat in the "man cave" to watch. We'd watched it back in the day, but it was so much funnier now! ;)

Jerry and I had planned on having a scary movie marathon today (we've actually only watched one so far, hahaha! We started at noon and it's now 8:00 PM). He's going up north tomorrow, and he was off work today, so we decided to have a lazy day and watch horror movies.

We started with the 2019 'Child's Play' (I'd actually never seen the original one, and never had interest in it, but we watched the new one to kind of poke fun at it). Then we decided to go out to the garage to watch another, but when we got out there, I ended up putting a coat of paint on the shelves I made for his sister and that's when Jerry turned on 'The Roast of Donald Trump' for us to watch.

Joey came out there with us and curled up on the couch. He looked so sweet!

The shelves for Laura are finished and Jerry will be able to drop them off to her on his way up north tomorrow. I really like how they turned out!

Finally...

Help! I need a good audiobook. The last week or so has been so hard for me to get motivated to go out the door for my morning walks because I just can't seem to get into a good audiobook.

I've been loving the thriller/suspense genre for walking, and I had just finished two books by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen: 'You Are Not Alone' and 'An Anonymous Girl'. 

Neither of those ended up being oh-my-god-you-MUST-read-this-NOW books, but they started out with something exciting and then they were fast-paced throughout the book and held my interest throughout. That's what I need! I want to listen to a book that moves quickly so that I can get engrossed within my first walk.

Over the last week or so since I finished those, I've tried to listen to several other books: 

'Chasing Fireflies' by Charles Martin
'Confessions on the 7:45' by Lisa Unger
'Face of Death' by Stella Gold
'Stranger in the Lake' by Kimberly Belle
'Dear Wife' by Kimberly Belle
'The House We Grew Up In' by Lisa Jewell

I actually did finish another book after the Greer books--I listened to 'Three Days Missing' by Kimberly Belle (which is why I tried the others by Belle). 'Three Days Missing' was just okay. It started out with some excitement, but then it kind of fell flat for me and I had a hard time even wanting to finish it.

So, I'm looking for recommendations! The problem is, the narration can make or break an audiobook for me. I might LOVE a particular book if I'm reading it, but listening to it with the wrong narrator can make me not even want to give it a try.

That's how it is with my current listening, 'The House We Grew Up In' by Lisa Jewell. I tried another of her books a while ago--'Then She Was Gone'--but I didn't like the narration of that one, either, so I only made it about three minutes into the book. Those are books that I'd probably enjoy if I read them instead of listened to the audiobook version. 

My audiobooks are my lifeline when it comes to doing my morning walks. It's what I look forward to! So I really need to find a good thriller with a great narrator.

Now, Jerry and I are going to watch another scary movie now, although I'm not sure what one... this decision usually takes longer than the movie itself! (I can't really call this a movie marathon if we only watch two--that's just sad! hahaha)

Continue Reading...

Walk Streak: Day 100!

I'm just going to do a short recap of exercise this week. I had no idea that it's already 9:45 PM! Here is my "progress photo" for the end of four weeks of my Cookies Fall Hard Challenge.

I'm wearing heavier clothes now, because of the colder weather, so it's harder to see any difference. I may pick a more form-fitting outfit to wear every Tuesday morning in order to see any changes better.

The weather was pretty rainy for a few days this week, which made me tempted to skip my morning walk; but Joey is SO used to going that I just didn't have the heart. Also, I'm on a long walking streak... 

Today marks 100 days of walking a minimum of 80 minutes per day! The first 75 days, I walked 45+ minutes twice a day; and ever since then, I have walked in the mornings for 5+ miles (taking roughly 85 minutes, give or take). A few times, I've walked even farther--my longest being nearly 8.5 miles.

Even when I was running regularly, I never had a run streak like this. I didn't really believe in run streaks (because of fear of injury). Even now, if I was running, I would definitely take rest days. But with walking, I don't feel I need rest days. I just walk very easy sometimes when I feel I need to.

A couple of days ago, I was out for my morning walk and as I approached the last half mile or so, I just had this spontaneous feeling of wanting to run. So, I started running. It felt a little awkward, considering I had Joey on a leash and I hadn't run in a very long time so my legs felt rusty. However, I felt MUCH better than I expected to.

When I got home, I saw that my pace was about two minutes per mile slower than I'd thought, hahaha. It was 11:45-ish. I could have sworn I was running at about a 10:00 pace, considering it was only half a mile.

Yesterday, it was raining for my entire walk. When I looked outside in the morning, I was so mad that it wasn't just sprinkling, but raining. I was already freezing and the thought of walking in the cold rain sounded miserable. But Joey was more than ready. I just decided to go and get it over with. 

(You might be wondering why I don't just go later in the day... I feel like I have to do it in the morning or I won't do it at all. Besides, the forecast predicted rain all day anyway.)

After a mile and a half or so, I started walking faster--knowing that the faster I went, the sooner I'd be done and out of the rain. Then it occurred to me to try running for a mile. So, when my watched beeped that I hit two miles, I started running and I ran until I hit mile three, and then walked again. Call me crazy, but I actually decided to run my fifth mile as well! I don't know what came over me.

I think I did it partly to see if I could, but partly because it just sounded good to me. It's so weird! I still prefer walking for sure, but if I ever get the urge to run a little, I'll go for it. I felt really happy with myself when I was done.

My pace was slow--12:15-ish for each of the miles I ran--but just the fact that I was able to run them (and still feel good!) was a big deal. I think that all of the walking definitely helped me.

I'm super excited to have hit 100 days--I wasn't aiming for it, but now that I have this streak going, I just don't want to stop :)

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Last year, while I was grocery shopping, I "happened to be" walking past the ice cream aisle and I saw a seasonal flavor of Ben & Jerry's: Pumpkin Cheesecake. Jerry loves cheesecake and pumpkin pie, so I thought it sounded like something he'd like. I bought two pints (because I wanted to try it too, of course!)

IT WAS DELICIOUS. HEAVENLY. I can't even describe it! We loved it so much we went back to the store to get more, and it was sold out--in a single day. We were super bummed, and this year, we've been looking forward to it again. We had a lot of trouble finding some, but eventually found it at Target. It was just as good as I remember. I bought two pints, and then I vowed I'm not buying any more this season.

However, that's what made these little babies pop into my head. Mini Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bites! I made them for a Winers get together several years ago. They are perfectly bite-sized for party food, and they taste like pumpkin pie and cheesecake swirled together. I topped each with a tiny squirt of Reddi-wip. 

It makes a HUGE batch--72-ish mini's. You could also make this into one big cheesecake in a spring form pan, or single-serve with regular size muffin pans. (You would have to adjust the baking time.) I used a mini-muffin pan for these and some autumn-themed mini muffin cups.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bites

4 (8-oz) packages light cream cheese, at room temperature

4 eggs

1 cup white sugar, divided

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp cinnamon (plus some for garnish)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

cooking spray

Reddi-wip for topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a mini muffin tray with the muffin liners, and spray each one with a tiny amount of cooking spray.  Put 1/2 teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs in each liner, and pat down with the back of a spoon or your finger--you don't have to press hard, just press enough to flatten it out. 

In a food processor, combine the cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs one by one and process until smooth. Remove 1-1/4 cups of the batter, and then add the rest of the sugar (1/4 cup) to that, mixing well. In the remaining batter, add the pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg and combine until smooth.

To fill the cups: 

Alternate layers in each cup--a tiny bit of pumpkin batter, then the white batter, then one more of the pumpkin, then one more white. This should fill them almost to the top. Using a toothpick, swirl the white batter into the pumpkin batter just enough for it to swirl the colors together--don't mix it.

Put the baking sheet with the cups full of batter into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 12-13 minutes--they will still be soft. As soon as you take them out, use a butter knife to remove them (with the papers still on) from the pan and let them cool. (The tops will sink down a little.)  Refrigerate at least 2-3 hours (until cold) before serving. Using the aerosol can of Reddi-wip, put a tiny dollop on top to fill in the little well that forms. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

These can be frozen--I froze my leftovers and ate one a couple days later, and it was still heavenly, if not more so than the first day! Makes 72 bite-size cheesecakes.

Continue Reading...

Would You Want to Be a Celebrity? (a writing prompt)

 Jerry and I had a very interesting discussion about celebritydom today. I can't remember exactly what sparked the conversation, but it turned into about 90 minutes of talking about what it would be like to be a celebrity, why they are so "special", what exactly constitutes a celebrity, etc. And would we want to be one?

I want to preface this by stating very loudly that I, in NO way shape or form, consider myself a "celebrity". However, I could relate to a lot of what we talked about because I've been called a "celebrity" numerous times by blog readers who don't actually know me. In emails, in person, in social media comments, etc. 

I promise that I am not trying to throw myself into the ranks of "actual" celebrities. But like I said, I can relate to some of the things that I imagine celebrities go through.

I've never been a big "celebrity geek" in the sense that I see them as these mythical beings that I'd love to meet and get autographs/selfies, etc. I tend to think of them as ordinary people who have very public jobs, and therefore, they get recognized. It's very hard for me to see them as anything other than ordinary people. What makes them more special than Joe Schmoe next door?

Sometimes I laugh when I get an email from someone who begins by saying something about my being a celebrity, because I'm usually home on a Saturday night in my pajamas with my laptop and a cat on my lap. And honestly, I think that "real" celebrities have a lot of those moments, too. I think that people imagine that they have these super busy, glamorous lifestyles where they are always doing something super fun.

Which brings me to my next point. I would NEVER want to be a "real" celebrity because once you are well-known, you can no longer have an ordinary life. I can't imagine going outside my home and having paparazzi take photos of me all the way to the grocery store where I simply want to buy some groceries and go home. It would be so stressful not being able to go anywhere without being recognized--the movies, the mall, a sporting event, your child's school play, a friend's wedding, etc.

When I think of celebrities, I think of actors and musicians, mainly--pop culture icons. I think of them as people who wanted to do something they truly enjoy and they happen to be good at it. And when you choose that profession, you get a whole lot of baggage with it, even if you don't want that. 

I LOVE when I am out somewhere and the occasional person recognizes me from my blog and they stop to say hello and introduce themselves. It's so fun to meet new people that way, and it's happened all over the country--so crazy to me! But it's very few and far between. I just can't imagine being a celebrity in the sense that EVERYBODY recognizes you and swarms you, drawing even more attention.

Celebrities are scrutinized for everything they do--from what they name their babies to where they go on vacation to what kind of diet they eat. And their bodies! Their bodies seem to be under microscopes--who gained weight and why, who lost weight and how, who is looking anorexic, and who is looking like they've binged their way up 100 pounds.

I feel scrutinized by my body already, because of the topic of my blog and how my blog came to be, and it's hard. Most people are so nice! But to be a "real" celebrity? They get so much more feedback via the media that I wouldn't be able to take it.

I imagine that celebrities have a ton of pressure to live up to certain expectations, too. Having to be careful about what they say and how they act in public. Also, the issue of who to trust--meeting new people would be scary, because what if that person decides to post photos or talk about your conversations publicly? It would be very hard to trust anyone at all who hasn't been in your life for a long time.

Anyway, I think the answer to the 'Would you want to be a celebrity?" is obvious from this post... NO, I would not. I feel like it would be too much pressure, stress, not enough privacy, fulfilling expectations from others, and living up to certain standards. I also think it would be lonely. Sure, you may have other celebrity friends around (and friends/family from years back), but making new friends would be difficult.

That said, here are some celebrities I've met. I am including these people as "celebrities" because they are well known in their niche. If you aren't a runner, for example, you may not know who Shalane Flanagan is. But if you are, it's a pretty big deal!

Kerry Sanders - Kerry is a news report from NBC who interviewed me in Key West for a segment on the Today Show. He was very nice and made me feel comfortable talking on camera.

Dr. Oz - I met him in 2009 at a small women's health convention. I saw him walking alone to leave, and I went up and introduced myself. I really loved watching him on Oprah. He was so kind! And then I met him again in 2011 when I was a guest on his show. He'd changed so much and didn't interact with the guests at all during commercial breaks. He didn't seem interested in the show. It was sad, really. I was invited on the show a second time, but I declined after he show turned into the "Lose 20 pounds in 10 days without diet or exercise!" type.

Ted Gibson - Ted was a hairstylist for What Not to Wear (the TV show) and he's the one who styled my hair for The Dr. Oz Show. He was SO sweet and I simply adored him.

Frank Thomas - I was a HUGE White Sox fan way back in my early teens, and Frank Thomas was my favorite player. I met him and got his autograph before a baseball game. (I have no photo of this)

Justin Verlander - Another baseball player. He played for the Tigers, and my brother Nathan and I raised the most money for his charity several years ago (thanks to all of YOU!). We were given tickets to a suite to watch a game, and Justin came in momentarily to meet us (and several other people). He seemed like he was there simply out of obligation, which was disappointing--I'd hoped he'd thank us for raising so much money. (Again, no photo--Justin requested no photos)

Bart Yasso - I was really excited about meeting Bart! He's known as the "Chief of Running" among runners, and has run in just about every race you can imagine. I even got to roast marshmallows with him at the Runner's World headquarters. I'd been invited to a blogger's event there. I've actually met him a couple of times. He is SO kind and funny, and he pretends like he remembers me ;)

Shalane Flanagan - Shalane is an elite runner who was the first American woman to win the NYC marathon. I met her at the Runner's World event and she was super nice. She's very soft spoken. She said her favorite post-race meal is a huge juicy burger and a beer.

The Hardy Boys - I had no idea who these guys were (they're professional wrestlers) when I met them at the Detroit airport, but I was a junior in high school going on a class trip to Washington DC. The boys from my class started getting SO excited and taking pictures with them. Even though I didn't know who they were, I joined in for a photo. 

Jordan Knight - From New Kids on the Block. This story is funny and embarrassing at the same time. In roughly 2008(?) I went to Michigan City, Indiana with my mom, sister, and my mom's friend. We were at a casino, and a band was going to start playing on a small stage. We sat down for a moment, and then I saw someone in my peripheral vision to my left.

I turned and not even three inches from my face was some random guy. He smiled and tilted his head in a goofy way. I gave him a weird look, then turned around to look the girls with a "What a creep!" look on my face. Audrey, Jeanie's friend, started laughing and asked me if I knew who that was. I told her no, and she explained it was Jordan Knight from NKOTB. Hahaha! He continued to walk and went up on the stage to perform with the band. (No photo for this, unfortunately)

Adam Grant - I have to include him, even though it's so hard to think of him as a celebrity in my mind, and here is why. No idea if any of you know who he is, but he's a multiple NY Times bestselling author for self-help/inspirational books (I haven't read any) and a podcaster. Interestingly, he was also one of my very best friends from the time I was 15 until about 19. I met him online (in an AOL chatroom... remember those?!) and he lived in West Bloomfield, MI--about an hour away from where I lived. 

After chatting online and on the phone for some time, my mom let me meet him in person, and we became close friends after that. We were JUST friends, but he was the first boy to actually buy me flowers--a dozen yellow roses--simply because I'd never gotten flowers before. Sweet, right? He was super smart and had his sights set on Harvard (which he was accepted into, of course). We used to drive back and forth to see each other pretty frequently until he moved to Boston to go to Harvard (he graduated high school in '99, and I graduated in '00). 

My friend Stacie and I even flew out to Boston when Adam was a freshman and we stayed in his dorm room for a few days to visit. Looking back, I think it's pretty cool--I stayed in a Harvard dorm room! I didn't think it was a big deal at the time. (By the way, he could do the coolest card trick I've ever seen to this day--it was called the 654 Club. He was very interested in magic, and we even saw David Copperfield at the Fox Theater in Detroit together.)

We emailed a bit until roughly 2005 or 2006, and then lost touch. A few years ago, I saw his face pop up on my Twitter feed, which I thought was odd because I wasn't following him. It turned out that someone I followed retweeted him--so I checked out his profile and learned that he's pretty famous. I tried getting in touch with him again, but he hasn't responded to any of my attempts. He was a really good friend, so I'm bummed that we can't catch up, but judging by his bio, he's insanely busy. And has no time for a little old non-celebrity like me ;) 

For the life of me, I can't find a photo of Adam and me right now, but here is a picture I took of him and Stacie in Boston:

So, while I don't really think of Adam as a celebrity, I think it's like that for most celebrities--I think that they are ordinary people who just happen to do a job that makes them stand out from the rest. Whether they love or hate the fame, I guess it comes with the territory! 

And here's a question for YOU... would you want to be a well-known celebrity? Are there any celebrities you're dying to meet? :)

Continue Reading...