Cheesecake

I've wanted to bake a cheesecake since Vanessa brought a homemade one to work. Last night, I decided to give it a try using the recipe that she used. The result? It really puffed up during baking, then cracked, and it was really jiggly so I baked it a little longer thinking it would firm up, but didn't. Then it fell after cooling. It looked pretty bad:


Disappointed, I tossed it in the fridge and went to bed. This morning I discovered that it had firmed up! It tasted pretty good despite the appearance. So maaaayyybbbee it wasn't a complete disaster. I did some research online and read about baking with water baths and that's what I did with my second attempt (also lowering the temp a bit).



Look at how different it looks! It's chillin in the fridge right now. Hope it's good.

Update:

Smallest slice ever! Topped with blueberry sauce. Not bad at all!

Man, I'm so lazy with blogging and photography. I gotta get on it! Yesterday, Nigel asked me to make him some chocolate covered strawberries. Here they are drying in my Hello Kitty fruity pudding container.


The chocolate on one of the strawberries wasn't smooth so I decided to cover it in M&Ms. I wouldn't eat something like this myself soooooooooooooo.....I gave it to Andy because I knew he'd eat anything.


Here's the bday breakfast bento I made for Vanessa last week. The pic was taken with my phone:

Starting from the top: carrots, tiny bottle of syrup, Hello Kitty waffle (which I made with my new HK waffle iron :D), empty cup which I filled with frozen blueberries, smoked salmon rice balls, tamagoyaki filled with spinach, chocolate covered strawberries, and a peeled cutie.

Hello from Charleston, SC

Just a quick picture update. They're mostly food pics because we haven't really gone anywhere. We usually meet up around 12:00pm to grab some lunch. Then it's off to work from 3pm-11pm. After that Vanessa, Andy, and I usually hit the gym at 11:45pm for at least an hour.

Sunday, February 22

So here is the plane heading to Atlanta with the 8 of us (me, Vanessa, Andy, Adam, Kelvin, Pal, Justin, and John). Notice anything, Chu?

We had a little time to spare at the airport so most of us ate at Popeye's.

After a second flight, we arrived in Charleston around midnight. Yes, I made everyone get in the picture:
My home for 4 weeks:




Monday, February 23

Shuan Xi (aka Shuang Eleven). Kung Pao Chicken


Seafood Delight. Jezz, it is not THAT much (-_-)
Tuesday, February 24
FiberOne Cereal
Mcalister's Deli. Mcalister's Club Sandwich. This place got NOTHING on Sunrise Deli.
Pot Roast Spud
Wednesday, February 25
Jestine's Kitchen
Look how tiny the bottle is!
Collard greens and okra gumbo
Meatloaf Sandwich with fried okra
Fried Chicken


Ice Cream
Coca Cola Cake

Buffalo Wild Wings. Buffalo Ranch Chicken Wrap

So I found out on Tuesday that work is sending me to Charleston, South Carolina tomorrow for work for 4 whole weeks. I'm pretty excited about it because I've never traveled for work and I get to go somewhere for free. At the same time it's for work and everyone's been telling me that I'd want to go home by the first week. We'll see about that. What I'm afraid of is gaining a lot of weight. Of course I'd want to eat all that southern soul food while I'm there. There's a gym at the hotel so hopefully I can get myself to go everyday. This morning I weighed in at 124.6 lbs and 21.8% body fat. Let's see what it is when I get back!

Hello Kitty and Cathy Cookies

Decided to take another shot at making Hello Kitty cookies. The first couple attempts the faces were deformed beyond recognition because of the rising dough... failure. Today, I used this recipe and they look great. I liked the taste of the deformed ones better though. Aah! Taste or aesthetics? I want them both, damnit!

I've been feeling like crap since yesterday morning. Waking up and going straight to hip hop with no food = bad for Michelle :( . It didn't help that I stayed up late last night watching tv, but Tool Academy came on... then Rock of Love Bus... and I do love my reality shows.

Random Photography:

Marc's Car. This was my first attempt at rolling shots. I was in Joe's car hanging out the window. Many shots....mostly blurry (o_0). Kind of hard when the wind was hitting my face and making my eyes tear up. Fun day though, good experience.

See, there I am checking my settings. Photo taken by Randy.

First Post!

I had thought about doing a food blog similar to Fred's, but it would be such a hassle to take a picture of every single thing that I eat during the day considering how much I snack. This is just going to be a general blog of my daily life which will include foodie pics that I feel are worth posting.

This morning I did 2 hours of cardio hip hop, leaving me with a face as red as a tomato and a headache that still hasn't gone away yet. I drink a lot of water so it's not because of dehydration. Could I have over exercised?

Here are Hello Kitty shaped pancakes that I made for our breakfast potluck at work. Made using this Hello Kitty pan.










A batch of lemon glazed poppy seed muffins that I made just cuz. Nope, not from scratch because I'm not that cool yet.










Onigiri with smoked salmon filling that I made for the company potluck. I got the idea from Adventures in Bentomaking. Yeah, they weren't cleanly made, but don't you think it gives them character? =) I purchased the nori face punchers while I was in Japan.



I often make spam musubis for people at work. I think spam is ok. Not ew, not spectacular, but the people at work sure are crazy about it.









Throwing in this picture of skittles because it looks artsy fartsy (^_^).