Already Off to an Awesome Start.

Ever get the feeling that you are going to do something so awesome that you constantly think about it all the time, especially when you are not doing it so when you start you will create something that will just blow people away, but then you never get around to starting it? That seems to be what this is turning into.

I think I started this blog about a week or so ago, and everyday since my revelations about the mysteries of the inhabitants of Pluto I have been playing in my mind how great something I am going to write and post here is going to be, but then I go off and watch a movie, or move a fooz-ball table out of my kitchen, and never get around to it. I totally want to write about it all, and I just summarized all sorts of wonders that have filled my past week or so, but then erased it all because you deserve better than just a summary. You deserve the whole damn thing that will leave you in love with me, and not the cute boy meets girl type. I mean the "rent the house next to mine and watch me from the window with inappropriate drawings of me and you together tacked to your walls" in love with me.

So, starting tomorrow I will actually write and post things for you to be amazed by. I share this with you now so that when it comes time to read it all, you will have had time to prepare for it. I would hate for you to be blown away by an antidote I may share and shuffle away with an annurism. To get you through the next few painful hours until it is time to come back and read what I have to say, I have prepared the following three pictures for you to look at, as well as a recipe to pass the time:

Picture #1:

Picture #2:
Picture #3:

Recipe:

Cheesecake Brownies

One 9-inch (23cm) square pan

6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (130g) sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (70g) flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (80g) chocolate chips

8 ounces (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
5 tablespoons (75g) sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line a 9-inch (23cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).

3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the 2/3 cup (130g) sugar, then the eggs.

4. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

5. In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, the yolk, 5 tablespoons (75g) of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

6. Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.

7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan feels just set.

Let cool, then lift out the foil and peel it away. Cut the brownies into squares.

Storage: These will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days. They also freeze well, too.