We’ve known each other 10 years, but spent only 10 days planning our wedding. We got married at home on a Wednesday because that is when the judge was available. Another 10 days later, we celebrated the birthday of a friend in Coronado and met a fellow blogger in San Diego (covered nicely by Janis in Taking A Few Leaps.)
Then we got home and everything changed.
It’s been 4 weeks since we’ve been out to a restaurant. This is a big deal for us. We love going out, are grateful we can afford it and live in a city with quality options. My long history as a “food assembler” (first covered in Eggs Trapped in a Berndes Pan) was going to be tested.
Our first few weeks of marriage have included meal planning, grocery shopping, sorting through the fridge/ pantry, and trying new recipes. In cleaning out the garage fridge I found this ice left over from Hurricane Harvey. Back then I was more concerned about keeping what I had cold, not having more to heat up.
Out it went, because we needed room to hoard, I mean stock, some frozen meals. We found some good veggies, appetizers and pizza at Trader Joe’s to eat on our “busy” days.
These weeks also included a milestone birthday for my husband and I wanted to make him something memorable. I remembered a recipe shared by Janis (actually prepared by her husband) and decided to give it a try.
The recipe was well documented with personal notes, but I still screwed it up. I didn’t use parchment paper, because – what is that for anyway (asks the novice)? I couldn’t find one ingredient, so had to substitute, and accidentally left out another. The glazed oranges would not cooperate. The cheesecake came out with earthquake style cracks. I tried to fill them in with extra glaze. Can you tell? The result was the most “memorable” and delicious cheese cake ever!
To see what the cheese cake should have looked like, check out New Year New Age.
In addition to the frozen foods and home made cheese cake, we’ve thankfully been able to find lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, lean fish and meat. Ironically, married life and the pandemic “stay at home order” has resulted in healthier eating and a bit of weight loss for us. How are you benefitting from recent changes in daily life?
ARTISTIC PENSION 
Congratulations!!
LikeLike
Thanks and good to hear from you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m cracking up at your title — well done!
My wife is an intense foodie. Though I consider myself perfectly adept in the kitchen, I know I’ll never be, nor do I aspire to be, in her league at all. So I had to laugh at your mention of parchment paper. I once heated up a meal in the microwave, and I thought I was using the wax paper roll I always use for the purpose. WRONG. I mistakenly used the parchment paper, and if looks could kill… Your cheesecake still looks delicious to me! – Marty
LikeLike
Thanks Marty! I love the title development phase of writing. Sometimes I come up a title first, then retrofit the essay. This just seemed so natural given the current times. Glad it resonated with you.
So, if you guys have parchment paper, do you also have cheesecloth? Haha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I suppose we do, but it’s probably hidden from me. I could mistaken it for a dust cloth. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love your title! What a way to start married life 🙂 Fortunately, cheesecake is delicious whether it has cracks or not. I’m so happy that you tried the recipe (but I’m also curious what you substituted and what you forgot). I’ll let Paul know that he is still the king of caramelized orange cheesecakes (for now, at least).
LikeLike
He sure is the king! Mark smiled when I told him Paul had the recipe up on a spreadsheet!! So, when I first went to get the ingredients there were NO oranges to be found, let alone Valencia oranges. I used one from my sister-in-law’s orange tree of unknown type and the pulp didn’t hold up. I also forgot to put the flour in!!
LikeLike
This cheesecake looks DELISH!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy (belated) Mileston Birthday to your husband. I think that your cheesecake looks great. I’m still waiting for (Janis’) Paul to make me one! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! That would be a REAL treat to have someone else make this cheesecake!
LikeLike
Congratulations! This sounds like the perfect wedding!
That cheesecake looks divine!
LikeLike
Thank you! It was the right way to go rather than have everything get cancelled. Drama free.
LikeLike