Be True: Rebirth Poetry

As we do each month, our poetry group got together to discuss January's theme. There were suggestions, then voting and finally a choice. This month's theme is Rebirth.  

The poetry itself is challenge enough, but this month's theme left me blank. I opened this draft about 100 times trying to find a place to start just to close it once again a blank page. I think the main issue is that I tend to write humorous poems, and I just wasn't getting from funny to Rebirth. So I'm going out on a limb here today, posting a poem that you can't laugh at and pretend to be laughing not at me but with me.

Be True

Many times in a life,
transition promotes change.
Old you gives way to new you,
as circumstances rearrange. 

Early on we learn to say
that powerful word "no",
realization, mind of our own
And from there off we go . . .

First time mom trusts us alone
decisions must be made.
Have a party, gorge on snacks?
or study for that good grade?

Excitement of those college days
when freedom truly reigns.
But responsibility for ourselves,
brings both joy and pains.

Profession is the next big change,
housekeeping, shopping and bills,
Who we are is dictated by
the pride this time instills.

Marriage and then parenthood,
it's not all about me.
Nothing brings a rebirth more,
for any and all to see.

With each milestone in our lives,
we're becoming someone new. 
Through these steps, lesson learned:
to our own selves, be true.

The recipe I'm sharing today has nothing to do with rebirth, but it's easy and crunchy and chocolatey so there's that!

Potato Stix Snax

Before you go, click on these links to more poetry by some of my friends: 

Dawn of Cognitive Script shares Nine R's. 
Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Rebirth of Jules. 
Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Rebirth & Renewal.

Potato Stix Snax

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com


Printable Recipe

Ingredients (makes about 15):
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup Nutella
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 1/2 cups potato sticks

1 TBSP powdered sugar

Directions:
*Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
*Melt the dark chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Melt and stir at 20 second intervals until completely smooth. 
*Stir in the Nutella and peanut butter.
*Add the potato sticks to the bowl and gently stir with a soft spatula until the potato sticks are completely covered.
*Scoop by heaping tablespoons onto the parchment paper. Refrigerate until set, about 1/2 hour. Dust with powdered sugar.

White Chocolate Raspberry Refrigerator Cheesecake: Resolutions Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Each month a group  of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Resolutions.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

I made White Chocolate Raspberry Refrigerator Cheesecake. 

Say what now? 

White Chocolate Raspberry Refrigerator Cheesecake

Whenever I think of New Year's resolutions, I'm reminded of what my son once told me, back when he was in high school. He belonged to a local gym and he used to tell me that he hated going to the gym in the beginning of January. I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise that due to all of those New Year's resolutions, you could never find a parking space the first few weeks of the month. But by the end of the month he was back to parking at the door.

I don't have to worry about breaking resolutions since I don't make them. Oh, I always plan to eat healthier, exercise more, be more patient, not sweat the small things. I suppose I could say those are my resolutions, but this year, in view of this post, I gave it more thought. And I sort of came up with the opposite. Yes, I'll try to make healthier eating choices, but here's something else I'm going to do. I'm going to let it go on occasion too. Enjoy the treats and refuse to feel guilty. Because I show my love through the foods I serve, the thought I put into developing recipes I know my family will love, through seeing the looks on their faces when they try something for the first time that I've made with them in mind. 

And those moments have become few and far between as my grown children go their own way. So here is my resolution: when they are home, I resolve not only to make special treats for them, but to let go of the guilt when I have a slice too. Whenever we're together I'll make their favorites, and I'll enjoy every bite along with them. I'm going to cook healthier meals, and I'm going to cheat. And I intend to enjoy the hell out of those cheats.

My younger son went back to school 2 days ago. But while he was home, I made this new dessert. It was easy to make, as another resolution is to spend less time in the kitchen and more time engaging with the boys when they are here.

For this refrigerator cheesecake I chose vanilla wafers for my crust.

Not a lot of ingredients are needed. For the first layer, cream cheese, sugar, white chocolate chips and raspberry jam.

This recipe calls for a pint of raspberries. I buy raspberries in the summer when they're cheaper and freeze them for recipes like this one. If you can't find fresh raspberries and you haven't frozen any yourself, you can buy them frozen.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar, add the melted chocolate, then remove about 1/3 of the mixture and add the jam.

 

Spread that layer into the crust.

Prepare the top layer, fold in the fresh raspberries, add to the pan, garnish the top and refrigerate.

Resolve to enjoy during this new year. And a White Chocolate Raspberry Refrigerator Cheesecake is a good place to start.

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares New Year, Same Me. 

Tamara of Part-Time Working Hockey Mom shares Tips to Stick to your New Year's Resolutions.

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Revamped Pizza Poppers.

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Invest in Yourself and Others in 2018.

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Creative Therapy, Embracing my Inner Crafter.

Rabia of The Lieber Family Blog shares Five Ways to Keep Your Resolutions.

Be sure to stop by again next month for more theme based projects.

White Chocolate Raspberry Refrigerator Cheesecake

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 box vanilla wafers
4 TBSP melted butter

2 8oz blocks cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 pint raspberries

Directions:
*Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth when mixed. Set aside.
*Set aside a few of the raspberries for decoration.
*Lightly grease a springform pan.
*Place the vanilla wafers into a food processor and process to crumbs. Mix with the melted butter. Press into and partially up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate.
*Beat the cream cheese, sugar and melted white chocolate chips. Remove about 1/3 of this mixture, whisk in the raspberry jam and spread into the crust.
*In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks hold.
*Beat the whipped cream mixture into the remaining cream cheese mixture. Fold in the raspberries. Spread into prepared crust. Decorate with the remaining raspberries.
*Refrigerate at least 2 hours before removing from pan to serve.

Silver Bracelets and a Box of Donuts: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 10 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: If you were arrested with no explanation, what would your friends/family assume you had done?
It was submitted by: Rabia of The Lieber Family Blog.


I had some fun with this topic recently in a private group when I made 5 statements, one being a lie, and had my friends guess which one wasn't true. I'm not sure what this says about me, but most of my friends were willing to believe I'd been arrested. So let me just say for the record that I haven't been arrested. 

That said, I have to admit that if I were to be arrested, most of the people I know IRL would probably say something like "okay, what the hell did you do this time? Pick another fight with a state trooper (and then tattle on him)? Give the finger to the guy behind you while blocking traffic again?"

Except for my kids. They'd probably say something like "been to Dunkin Donuts again, Mom?"

You see, although I have never had those silver bracelets on, there was one time when it looked like I might be arrested. And it was my kids who almost made it happen. Miles from home.

We were back in Boston visiting family one summer when the boys were about 5 and 6 or so. I had borrowed my mom's car to get them out of the house and give the poor woman a break take them to the movies. After the movies I decided that since I hadn't been baking, we'd stop and buy treats.

Peppermint Stick Cookie Bars

There was a Dunkin Donuts near the movie theater and I thought we'd get a box of donuts to bring back to mom's. There were certain places we liked to go to while back in Boston, places we don't have in the Midwest (well, we didn't at the time) and Dunkin Donuts was one of them. 

I knew I was in trouble as soon as we walked in the door. There, in line ahead of us was a police woman. What are the chances?

"Look, Mommy", my oldest said, pointing.

"What kind of donut do you want?" I asked, starting to sweat and trying to divert.

"Cops love donuts. See mom, it's true." my oldest chimed in. 

The police woman turned and looked at me. I'm pretty sure that wasn't a smile on her face. I'm guessing my sheepish smile did nothing to help the situation.

"Let's leave the nice officer alone and pick out our favorite flavors" I said through gritted teeth as I turned the boys away from her and towards me.

It was then that the police woman ordered a fat free muffin and a coffee.

Oh, dear Lord, I'm toast.

My older son's mouth fell open as he yelled "No, no, that's wrong. She needs donuts. Everyone knows police love donuts." 

"Yeah, they sit at their desks and eat them all day." my oldest chimed in.

The look I got from the police woman could melt the glaze off a donut.

I was just trying to figure out a way to leave that shop with only a box of treats and without any new silver bracelets.

As we ordered our dozen donuts, the officer moved over to the side, tending to her coffee. Felt like she was staring darts from her eyes into my back, but maybe that was just my imagination

I paid and tried to slink out the door unnoticed, but the cop was right behind us.

"Why aren't we leaving, Mom?" The boys asked as we sat in the car in the parking lot. 

"Mom's just being polite. I'll let the nice police woman pull out first" I answered.

~ a few minutes later ~

"She left, Mom, can we go now?"

"I think I'll just give her some time to get a little further away. How far do you think it is to the station?"

When I decided the coast was clear, I headed to mom's house. I stopped at every yellow light, used my blinker copiously and kept at a steady 5 mph below the speed limit. You know, just in case she had put a BOLO out on me.

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:

Never Ever Give Up Hope 
Cognitive Script
The Lieber Family Blog
Part-time Working Hockey Mom  
The Bergham Chronicles 
My Brand of Crazy
Southern Belle Charm 
Climaxed 
The Blogging 911

Peppermint Stick Cookie Bars

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
1 stick margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar 
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup red oreos, crushed (10 - 12 cookies) 
3 oz candy canes or peppermint hard candies, crushed (about 6 candy canes) 
24 peppermint kisses

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan.
*Cream butter, margarine and both sugars in a mixer. Beat in the eggs and peppermint extract.
*Carefully beat the flour, baking soda and salt into the mixture.  Mix in the crushed oreos and hard candies.
*Spread evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. 
*Remove from oven and immediately place the kisses onto the hot cookie bar. Allow to melt for 5 minutes, then swirl them with your finger.
*Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing and removing from the pan.