Hurricane? Not so much.

Our newscasters had been incessantly warning us all week about the upcoming Hurricane Irene, which was to reach our area on Saturday. Not to diminish the effects that it did have on the Carolina coast, but a hurricane/tropical storm in Raleigh? You mean those pleasant, wonderful-feeling wind gusts we had? Ryan and I spent a chunk of our time on Saturday sitting on our back porch enjoying the breeziness and cooler temperatures. The few spouts of rain we had just made the weather even more enjoyable, and then on Sunday, we woke up to blue skies, tons of sunshine, and heat. Instead of our anticipated all-indoor weekend, we ended up going to the pool and cooling off with Aiden's outdoor sprinkler globe. Yes, it was raining all over the world!

And as you can tell from the photo below, Ryan had an even better time deflating it. Or maybe that's just him passed out from heat exhaustion.

Cookies & Cream Cheesecakes (Nom)

This weekend Aiden and I made these personal-sized cookies and cream cheesecakes. Are you a fan of oreos? Of cheesecake? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then you'll be in heaven. You begin making these by putting a full oreo into the bottom of each muffin tin liner (a pretty darn good starting point if you ask me). Here's our finished product! I've included the recipe below (courtesy of Martha Stewart), which makes a total of 30 cheesecakes. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 42 Oreo cookies, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 pounds cream cheese (32 oz), room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275° F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Place 1 whole Oreo cookie in the bottom of each lined muffin cup.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.  Gradually add the sugar, and beat until combined.  Beat in the vanilla.
3. Drizzle in eggs, a little at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add in sour cream and salt, beat to combine.  Using a large spatula, fold in the chopped Oreo cookies.
4. Divide batter evenly among the cookie-filled muffin cups, fill each cup almost to the top.  Bake, rotating muffin tins halfway through, until the filling is set, about 22 to 28 minutes.  Transfer the muffins tins to a wire rack to cool completely.  Refrigerate (in the muffin tins) at least 4 hours (or overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

We ended up only making half the recipe, which was more than plenty for the three of us. I actually hand-mixed everything, which turned out just fine. One day I'll have one of those beautiful (bright red) Kitchenaid stand mixers, but not just yet (hint hint, Ryan). (You can buy it here.) :)

An Italian Quickie

A meal, that is. Ryan and I whipped up this make-dinner-with-what-you-got dish in about 20 minutes last night. And it was delicious! We had a box of penne pasta, a jar of Bertolli Vodka Sauce, turkey bacon, and some vegetables. First Ryan started cooking the turkey bacon to get it somewhat crispy. Then, while the pasta was cooking, we sauteed chopped onion (about a cup), a teaspoon of minced garlic, and a couple handfuls of mushrooms with the bacon until the veggies were tender. We then added the vodka sauce and a big handful of sun-dried tomatoes, and let that sit on medium until it started to bubble. Then we simmered it on low until it was warmed through and the pasta was ready to serve. We topped it off with a little (okay, big) sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a piece of bagette... and voila!

A glass of red wine to accompany it didn't hurt. :)

Fall Clothes ::Sigh::

I want an outfit like this for fall.
(from The Daybook blog) 

Jackets, pants, boots, oh my! I love the crisp autumn air, the fall events, the food, the clothes, and just everything about this season. Here are some other outfits/pieces that will inspire me in my much anticipated fall shopping spree this year:

Tomato Tomäto

Aiden got one of those 99 cent mini-tomato plants in his stocking last Christmas (all it said was, "Tomato," not the type, not anything). So the next day, we fixed up the little 3-inch pot and sat it outside. Sure enough, a few tiny stalks began emerging after a couple weeks. That's about as far as these mini-plants normally go before flopping over and going in the trash. But not this time: It kept growing... and growing... and growing. Now, almost eight months later, our first tomatoes emerged and have now turned red! I'm looking forward to me and Aiden splitting this for a midday snack soon. : )