Some like it hot!

Today was actually a good day!  I love Pandora!  Pandora radio is the best thing since cheesecake!  If you look at my play list and you don't know me...you will just shake your head and call me a weirdo.  If you do know me......then having 4 different Phineas and Ferb stations probably wouldn't surprise you.  I mean come on, that's GREAT music!  S.I.M.P..... I GOT SQUIRRELS IN MY PANTS.....Today's gonna be a great day....Gitchi Gitchi Goo .  I mean yeah...it is a cartoon...but its a GREAT CARTOON!!!

Okay, enough about Cartoons.  We got bigger fish to fry.  See, the thing of it is, I wanna talk about this cheesecake that I am making!  Hah!  I got your attention didn't i?  So yeah, cheesecake!  Its a new recipe.  Mrs. JellyMan is always looking for new stuff for me to make.  She is a Google Whiz!  I bet she could even find Jimmy Hoffa if she would just ask the all mighty search engine!  But she wont....we will keep thinking that he is buried at the Meadowland. 

SO yeah, we have a new recipe.  She wanted me to make it for something, so I figured I would make it for people at work.  They always seem to like my cooking, at least they say its better than the food in the cafeteria.  You know, you can only eat so many cups of plastic pudding in plastic cups.  ( it really looks like something that came out of the midget Pigmy's play kitchen ).

This Cheesecake blends alot of my favorite spices.  I love Cinnamon.  I could eat it all day long!  Cinnamon Sugar on white buttered toast.....Yeah that was the best thing at Grandma's house!!  Cayenne Pepper.  I love to use that in my rubs.  It brings such a nice mellow heat into things like Pork and Chicken!  So with the recipe that Mrs. JellyMan so kindly searched for, I decided to treat my co workers with some of my culinary delights.  Tomorrow we have big wigs coming, so I figured a big dose of sugar in the form of a JellyManKelly cheesecake would be appreciated.

The recipe called for a brownie crust.  Okay...so I get off work at 5:45....home made brownie crust just wont cut it this time.  So I went with the next best thing!

So, the crust as you may now know was made of brownies.  Make it per the box directions, add your Cinnamon, and Cayenne pepper, and pour into your spring form pan and bake!  Oh by the way, you may want to make 2.  Because the smell in your house will drive you NUTS!  I would have probably eaten some but we were having a talk with Midget Pygmy #2 about the theft of erasers from class...ummm yeah.  No fun!

So, your brownie crust has cooled off.  Put a kettle of hot water on, wrap your spring form pan in HEAVY DUTY foil ( if you buy the BIG LONG roll of heavy duty foil, it will cover the bottom of your pan very nicely, and keep ALL water out during the water bath.

Mix your cheesecake per the directions, and pour that bad boy mixture into the spring form pan with the huge brownie in it.  Place your foil wrapped spring form pan into your bigger pan filled with the boiling water, and plop into the oven.  Well...better not plop it in, then you can sue me, and I don't have deep pockets like MCD's.  You might get 27 cents and some pocket lint...and I have kids...so you really don't know what that pocket lint is made of!!

Bake it for 65 Minutes, and WHAM!!

MMMMM looks good, smells good, I think my co workers will eat it all up!  I love bringing food in for my co workers.  I think it makes up for all of the time I throw things at them, make fun of baldy, brandish sharpened plastic utensils...its like pay back.  They take what I give them, and they know they will be given treats!

I am sure glad my lovely wifey gave me this recipe so I can make it for people to brighten their day.  I must be a good cook, because there is never any left over to take home.  Funny how that happens.  

As the seasons change, my cooking does as well.  Especially my desert making.  Now that I have an oven that will cook over 350 degree's, you can expect alot of new and exciting dishes coming your way. 

Okay...time to come clean.  I am hoping Mrs. JellyMan will only read about half of this, and then get disgusted with me.  This recipe was supposed to be made for her birthday....all night I have been telling her that it was for work....yeah i know I am a stinker.  But.....if Mrs. JellyMan is still reading this then.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  And the below video is just for you, since you like to post it on every one's page!!

Click me PLEASE!!!

Oh Yeah...you may want to know how to make it.  We found it on ( Yeah I said we )
a block called BunsInMyOven, and you can find it by going to the below link.

Mexican Brownie Cheesecake

Big Yellow Bowl

Big Yellow Bowl.....In my mind it goes with the Big Yellow Bird.  The two go hand in hand with me. 

This particular Big Yellow Bowl has seen some stuff.  Traveled from Sacramento, to many a Family Reunion in Northern California....Burney, Grass Valley, this is what Grandma would package her extra special Potato Salad  in.  This was found in Grandma's Garage after she passed, due to the amount of dust, I don't think it has been used for years.  I think its only fitting to fill it back up with Potato Salad!  I don't have my Grandmothers recipe, but I found one, and doctored it up a bit.  I think its pretty good. 

Tomorrow is Mrs JellyMan's Grandfathers memorial.  I never truly got an accurate head count, so I am going to show up double fisting Potato Salad.  One with Egg, one without.

Looks good don't it?  =)

Ingredients

• 5 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1 cup chopped white onion ( or red for a different flavor )
• 1/2 cup green onion
• 1/2 cup sliced black olive
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• sea salt to taste
• 8 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• 3 dill pickles, chopped (optional)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and place in a serving bowl.
2. Stir the onion, salt and pepper into the potatoes while they are still hot. This allows the potatoes to absorb the flavor. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes.
3. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, celery, black olives and horseradish to the salad, and mix well. Gently stir in the eggs and dill pickles. Garnish with left over sliced eggs.  Finish off with a generous grinding of black pepper on top. Chill for about 30 minutes before serving.

I thought I would be slick and just double the whole thing.  You really have to have a pretty good sized pot to cook 10 cups of chopped potatoes!  So I did it in batches. 

I really like the horseradish.  It adds just a bit of zip! 

As you can never have enough food at a funeral, I also decided to whip up a couple of batches of Persimmon Cookies.  The recipe was Grandpa Archies sisters, so I figure I am good.

Been in the kitchen most of the day, so I have no complaints!  Any day spent in the kitchen is better than a day working in the office!  The sink, the floor, and the oven timer are calling my name, until next time!

Lost Treasures

Just a quick one tonight.  No cooking, no witty story's.  Just a thought running through my head.  You are probably asking yourselves about " Lost Treasure "?

Today Mrs. JellyMan lost her Grandfather ( No she didn't miss place him like she does most of her stuff.....sorry couldn't help it ), and the boys lost their Great Grandfather.  We all know our loved ones will pass on sooner or later, but it always seems like it is sooner than we want. 

When they go, we always think of things that we did with them, conversations we had with them, then somewhere down the road we then think of things we didn't talk about with them.  What this generation has seen, we will never see again.  Think about it.  How many of us have lived in a house heated by wood, had visits from the Ice Man, ( The guy who would deliver blocks of ice wrapped in burlap and sawdust ), one room school houses, World Wars.  We always ask about the cool stuff, the low hanging fruit.  I had many conversations like that with my Grandmother over the years, but now I can think of at least 101 questions that I should have asked....but didn't.  Ehh...I'll ask her next time I talk to her.  Well, there will come a time where there is no next time.  I lost 3 of my 4 grandparents before I found out that old people are cool.  Cool for many reasons, but cool manly because if you think about it, the amount of steps they have taken in their lifetime, what they have seen with their eyes, what they have heard with their ears, hugs and kisses they have given or received.

Its not too late.  Find an old person, ask them about their lives.  Write it down.  I have a bunch of stuff in my head, conversations long since past, but over time they dull, you forget, or stories run together.  I can 100% guarantee you that you will both walk away with a great feeling.  You with a feeling of WOW, that Guy/Girl saw some STUFF!  And them being glad that you could stop your fast paced life for a couple of minutes to talk to them, to give them the time of day.

Till Next Time!