The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.

-Johannes Sebastian Bach-

The perfect afternoon snack!

So what do you make yourself after you get back from your sweaty afternoon workout? A smoothie of course!!! What could be more refreshing?!?! This smoothie recipe I came up with about a week ago has all the right ingredients to make sure you are fueling your muscles after winding down from your workout. After trying this recipe you will not want to go back to your original smoothie because this one is so much more creamy then any other you could imagine, the secret ingredient.......cottage cheese, that's right you read me right, cottage cheese! For me cottage cheese is something that is not on my favorite "foods" list but I was needing to eat it because of the extra protein content, after eating it plain a few times I had this brilliant idea, why not put it in a smoothie just like you would yogurt? There both dairy products right, so why not? After pouring it into my cup I a little hesitantly gave it a try, to my surprise it was so creamy, it almost tasted like a frosty and no I'm not joking! Just make sure to blend it well so you don't get those cottage type chunks:-) Enjoy!



Blackberry Peach Smoothie
Serves:1

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2-3/4 cup frozen blackberries
1/2 frozen peach
1/2-3/4 cup water
Put all ingredients into blender and blend on high till very smooth, about 1 minute.

Yeah, coffee wins!

Thank you all for voting on the poll last week, Hannah and I are so glad that there are other coffee lovers out there!

The final results were:

Coffee drinkers-12

None coffee drinkers-5

Sometimes coffee drinkers:-)...8!

Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake

This recipe and picture have been sitting in our draft box for about a month, finally I have found the time to post it! This recipe does take some time to make so make sure you give your self about 1hour, though it is time consuming it is REALLY worth it. I think Hannah and I have mentioned before that we do not really get why people like cheese cake, we both agreed it is just to cheesy......if that make sense:-) But this cheese cake changed our option by a mile, I think that we do really like cheese cake just more gourmet cheese cake. So if you are one of those cheese cake haters, give this one a try and I'm sure it will change your opinion on the subject too!

Brown-Sugar Apple Cheesecake

From Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

For the crust

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the apples

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 3 large apples, peeled, cored, and cut into eights
• 2 Tbsp light brown sugar

For the filling

• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 6 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp apple cider
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

To make the crust, first butter the bottom and sides of a 10″ spring form pan.

Break up the graham crackers and put them in your food processor, pulsing until you have 2 cups worth of fine crumbs. Stir in the ginger.

Melt the butter and pour it over the graham cracker crumbs, stirring until the mixture is moist and crumbly. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and up the sides, as far as it will go. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the oven has been preheated, remove the pan from the freezer and wrap the bottom in aluminum foil. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Cool on a rack while you make the filling and cook the apples.

To cook the apples, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in the apple slices and cook until golden brown. Sprinkle the apples with the brown sugar and cook a few minutes longer.Put a pot of water on to boil and get a roasting pan large enough to hold the spring form pan ready. To make the filling, beat the cream cheese on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, for about 4 minutes. Add the sugars and beat an additional 2 minutes.

Beat in the cider, vanilla, and cinnamon. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the eggs one at a time. Then, beat in the sour cream and heavy cream until well-combined.

To assemble, pour about a third of the batter into the crust.

Spoon the apples on top of the poured batter.Cover with the remaining batter.Place the spring form pan on the roasting pan, and then pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the spring form pan.Bake the cheesecake for 45 minutes, and then cover the cheesecake with a foil tent to prevent excessive browning. Bake an additional 45 minutes to an hour. If the center still isn't quite set when you remove it from the oven, that’s okay. Transfer the cheesecake to a cooling rack, and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 6 ours; overnight is best. When ready to serve, run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the crust. Then, open the latch on the pan and remove the sides.Serve plain, or with a dollop of whipped cream.

New Poll!

Waffles Win!

A few weeks back I posted a poll asking people to choose there favorite between Waffles or Pancakes. It seems that there are lot more Waffle lovers out there, the final score came in at 12 for waffles and 6 for pancakes!

No lettuce for lunch? Oh, what to do!?!

As 12pm. was swiftly on its way today, I scurried into the kitchen to make lunch for Esther and I, and for my siblings as well.
After making a good old Texas meal of Quesadilla's for our ever hungry and appreciative brother's and sister, I scrounged around in the fridge for a few minutes trying to see what I could find to make Esther and I something to eat.
What, no lettuce? How could that be! I was thinking a salad sounded really good especially since the high was 75 degrees today:-) ( I just love Texas!)
Anway, since I was obviously not going to get my salad, I decided to get a bit creative with our delectible fridge ingredients; tuna, red peppers, and zucchini..........what an interesting combination.

I was really excited though, as I thought I could make something really good and different with these ingredients. Plus, I was really needing a break from practicing my harp anyway, and having to create a new and exotic lunch was just the perfect "harp practice" intermission!

I sliced the zucchini with a vegetable peeler, and then sprinkled it with a bit of chopped red pepper for flavor and color. What to do with the tuna? I love asian food, so I mixed it with a bit of soy sauce and tahini. After that was all done, I topped the zucchini with the tuna mixture.
After a drizzle or two of flax oil, it was set!
Now for a side, that was easy. We had some hummus that Esther made a few days ago so I put that on the side with a few slices of red pepper. A little more color was needed, and there was also an empty spot on the plate that looked lonely;-) So a few orange slices and 3 blackberries would do the trick of filling in that bare spot.......and tada, presto, we have lunch! Of course I told Esther she had to let me take a picture of it before she could devour it:-)