Secret Subject Swap: What Did I Ever Do To You?

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This month 14 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: Besides your children or family, what's the one thing that sends you into a total panic with the thought of being without? What happens if it gets lost? Is it replaceable?
It was submitted by: Southern Belle Charm.

My mind. I know this answer is very cliche and overused as a joke, but I'm really semi not kidding. There were times, while raising children, that I used it myself. No question kids can make you doubt your sanity, your strategies, your patience, your . . . pretty much everything. There were whole years, like when they were 2 and 3 and all of those long, long, long (did I say long?) teenage years when I pretty much thought I was losing my mind. Or I'd like to.

But most of you know I lost my dad in December. And although he died in December, the person he was started fading long before that. When I returned from his funeral, I posted to my FB page that Alzheimer's had won another battle but would not win the war.

Suddenly these "losing my mind" jokes had lost a lot of their humor.

And as I age, I worry. Maybe more than most because of dad's disease. I love to watch Jeopardy, shout out the answers at the TV. Now, at least a few times during the show I know the answer but cannot grab the word out of my brain.

Or I'll make a recipe and go to write it up and just know I've forgotten an ingredient.

Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

Is it possible that I'm just tired, distracted, trying to do too much at once? Of course. But I also acknowledge that without kids around, without having to think through and plan and strategize and out think and outmaneuver every minute of the day, I may just be getting lazy, intellectually speaking.

When you're in a situation where you aren't challenged pretty much every waking (and some sleeping) minutes of the day, you have to be more cognizant of taking deliberate steps to maintain your brain health. And I do. 

*I do sudoko. I love it. The challenge of doing these kinds of puzzles, finding harder and harder ones, is one of my favorite brain exercises.

*I watch Jeopardy, and play along. Although my kids often question my sanity when I yell the answers at the TV (well, there's irony), I do think it's intellectually stimulating.

*I often play Scrabble. Facebook has made this so much easier because I can play online. There is a bit of a cheat because there's a word validation slot that sometimes helps me find words, but if I don't know them, I always look them up.

*I develop new recipes. Not only is dinner a necessity, but developing my own recipes requires both thought and research.

*Read, read, read. Reading promotes thinking. Since I love to read, this one's a no-brainer (so to speak).

*Write. It would be possible to describe my voice via this blog as skitzophrenic. I like to think of my writing as eclectic. Potato, potaaaato. Either way, I make attempts and humor, serious discussion, poetry, and fiction. I feel like the further I stray from my comfort zone, the more I vary my style, the more I use my brain.

*Discourse. This is also facilitated by social media. I'm exposed to more opinions and vibrant conversations with the ability to reach so many more people online. And this being an election year, discussions are non-stop. I'm also lucky enough to have College Boy here. He loves political discussion and has a unique and well thought out point of view.

And although I don't have little children around, I do have older ones and let me tell you, they're no picnic. They continue to challenge my thought process and, yes, my sanity. One is semi-living with me and treating me to experiences like lighting my car on fire. The other one is in college 500 miles away while doing fun stuff like breaking his leg and dropping his brand new phone in the toilet.

Mind, don't desert me now. I mean, what did I ever do to you?
 
And as for the rest of this prompt, the question of whether or not it's replaceable? Possibly. But just in case, if you happen to see it, can you send it back home?

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup and check them all out. See you there:

 Southern Belle Charm
Not That Sarah Michelle
The Lieber Family Blog 
Spatulas on Parade 
The Angrivated Mom
The Bergham Chronicles 
The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver 
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy 
Someone Else's Genius 
My Brain on Kids 
Confessions of a part time working mom 
Never Ever Give Up Hope 
Climaxed 

Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe 

 
Ingredients:
1  1/2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Cocoa Krispies or Cocoa Pebbles
9 fun sized Snickers Crisper bars

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 pan.
*Cut the mini candy bars into quarters.
*In a microwave safe bowl, heat the butter or margarine and peanut butter for 30 seconds. Mix. Continue to heat and mix at 10 second intervals just until smooth, other than the chunks of peanuts if using crunchy. Mix in the sugars.
*Whisk in the eggs, then the flour, baking powder ans salt. Last, carefully mix in the cereal and candy pieces.
*Pour into the prepared baking pan, making sure that the candy pieces are dispersed throughout the pan.
*Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until the center is completely set. Remove from oven. Cool before cutting.

Double Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

Today’s post is April’s submission to our monthly theme posts.

 

If you aren't a regular visitor here, this is how it works; we are a group of bloggers participating in a monthly project. Every month one of us picks a theme and each of us post a recipe based on that month’s theme. All the recipes will be featured on my Facebook wall.

December was The 12 Cakes of December
January was Dippin' Through January
February was Love and Food
March was Celebrating Green and Welcoming Spring
April is Chocolate.
Today it’s my turn. I made a Double Chocolate Cheesecake Pie. If it sounds like a dessert that’s having an identity crisis, it probably is.

 

The bottom features a dark chocolate crust and dark chocolate cheesecake. I used dark chocolate because it’s a little less sweet than the other options.

The topping is sweeter, it’s a whipped cookies-and-cream layer more reminiscent of a pie.

 

I then decorated, chilled completely, and served. My chocolate lovers were pleased.

 

As always, if you make one of my recipes, please feel free to take a picture of it and post it on my Facebook wall or my Google + page. And watch for my posts featuring the rest of the chocolate recipes on the dates below:

4/7 The Rowdy Baker's Chocolaty Croissant Puffs
4/8 my Double Chocolate Cheesecake Pie 
4/10  Tampa Cake Girl's Iced Mocha Latte Chocolate Cake
4/11  Cooking with a SAHM's Raspberry Candied Bacon Dark Chocolate Brownies
4/12 Hun. . . What's for Dinner? 's Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ladybugs
4/13  Crumbs in My Mustachio

Double Chocolate Cheesecake Pie 

                                        ©BakingInATornado.com 

 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
24 Keebler Fudge Stripes Dark Chocolate cookies, finely crushed
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
¾ cup dark chocolate chips, melted and cooled for a couple of minutes
2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
4 Hershey’s Cookies ‘n Cream candy bars, melted and cooled for a couple of minutes
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 TBSP Powdered sugar
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 325ºF.
*Mix together the cookie crumbs and butter.  Press onto bottom and about a half inch up the sides of 9-inch springform pan.
*Beat the cream cheese with the sour cream and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and eggs, then the melted dark chocolate.
*Spread this filling onto the crust and bake until the center is almost completely set, approximately 35 minutes.
*Remove from oven, allow to cool on the counter for 45 minutes. Put into refrigerator until cold, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
*Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
*Remove 3/4 cup of the cream and reserve to use for decorating.
*Fold the slightly cooled melted candy into the remaining heavy cream. Spread evenly over the cooled pie.
*Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, approximately 2 hours.
*Remove the springform pan sides and decorate when ready to serve.