Two Years Equals Two Layers and a Onesie

8.23.17

Did you hear Bonnie Tyler? Was your heart totally eclipsed? Did you look straight at the sun and your eyes burned out? Bummer. Well in the spirit of celebration for something quite exceptional, I’d also like to raise a glass (or a slice of cake) to the (belated) two-year anniversary of my blog. I cannot believe I started this side project two years ago. I’m not a famous blogger, I do not have 1 million followers, and I am very much ok with that. This summer has been one of the most educational and challenging I’ve ever experienced. Stick with me as a I give you the low down of what’s been happening, and what the result of that is. Or I guess you can skip to the end of the post to see the exciting personal news that’s going on.  I AM NOT PREGNANT.

But first. The cake I made, which once I realized had two layers like the eclipse, had to wait until this week to be posted. And now you have cake recipe for your eclipse party in 2024!

I also want to show off this jumper that I love, and have worn both to weddings and casual nights off. When you can dress it up or down, that’s how you know it’s a good piece in your closet.

SO this summer, right? I decided for the first time, to accept a job not waiting tables.  The job was described to me as baking being my primary responsibility. Baking as my job? How perfect! Except as any job, it wasn’t.  I also had to be the manager of a small cafe, dealing with inventory, overhauling a menu that wasn’t great, and dealing with scheduling snafus or co-workers calling out.  And while I became more savvy by the end of the summer, there was also the obstacle of a very small space to bake, and very limited resources and tools. 

I learned in the past four months, that I was not meant to be a manager….of anything, and that I cannot wake up and be expected to bake something new every morning and feel fulfilled and happy. It became daunting, and discouraging when a lot of the things I baked didn’t sell because the clientele wasn’t interested. Oh and side note, this job is an hour commute from my apartment, longer if the subways are acting up. I really wanted baking as a job to be the perfect daytime solution, but it wasn’t.  And while most of you will roll your eyes at the next part, I don’t care.  I also had a very hard time switching to a Monday through Friday 9-5 type of schedule.  As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been a server all my life to pay the bills.  It’s exhausting, but lucrative, and flexible and also allowed me weekday mornings here and there to have time to myself, bake, audition, grab coffee with a friend, or catch-up on The Bachelor.  That time did not exist this summer, and taught me how important “me” time can be.  I love my husband more than all the things, but not having any time to myself is something I’ve never had to deal with.  This schedule also made me appreciate my HUSBAND’S schedule more, because he has been a 9-5er forever.

The upside to all of this is I learned what I want, and what I don’t.  I was motivated even harder to audition because I realized that acting is what I truly want to do everyday. I’ve never doubted that, but taking a new job I thought could replace that feeling really taught me how wrong I was. I love waking up and deciding to bake, because I want to, not because I have to. Having to work every morning has been the number one reason this blog has fallen to the side, no free mornings to bake, and no mornings to take pictures in natural light.  And yes I have weekends, but a lot of times I’d have plans, or need to get life stuff done, etc. Baking was what I did as a quiet therapy for myself in the mornings, and being required to do it took the joy out of it.

So what does all this mean? Well, for starters, my last day working at the cafe, baking, is in two weeks. And through the motivation of not wanting to bake as a job and definitely wanting to act as one, this summer I’ve successfully booked some background work on an upcoming amazing TV show (which ended up being a golden opportunity and a ton of fun I didn’t expect), premiered a new play in a play festival (in which I’m nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy #humblebrag, #sorrynotsorry), AND……..

I’m happy to announce I will finally, FINALLY be paid to be an actor in the coming months.  I can officially put out into the universe I’ve booked a tour, and will be playing the Cat in the Hat all over the Northeast, Canada, and a little Midwest from October through the middle of December. Contracts have been signed, and rehearsals start soon. Normally, a kids tour would not be my thing, but the cast and I will get to create this show for the production company for future tours from the ground up. We’re creating the foundation, and we basically are going to get to play all day and work together to make a show that kids will love, but so will their parents.  We’ll allow kids to see theatre who may never have before, and that is very exciting.  Once I come back in December I will be funemployed, but I’ll figure it out. I cannot wait to spend my ‘workday’ actually doing what I want, and not be constantly tired from balancing rehearsals with a serving job. It’s a dream.

I’ll be taking a little time off from the blog, not that I’ve been super active, just to finish up the cafe gig.  I’m sure I’ll bake a little and probably take some pictures for post-hiatus posts. Afterwards, I’m excited to bake on my own terms again and on any mornings off, wake up, pour myself a cup of coffee and make a goddamn cake.

Cake you say?

I’ll give you the short of the long of this story behind this cake.  Basically, I had discussed the idea of this cake around Christmas last year with a co-worker, and have had it on my to-do list ever since.  No-bake cheesecake on the bottom, orange chocolate mousse on top, all on top of a classic graham cracker crust. It was just as delicious as I had hoped.

Summer can’t come to a close without me showcasing a romper, or jumper, perhaps, since it’s a little longer.

I’ve worn fancy heels with this to a friends wedding, but can easily throw on a denim jacket and wedges to make it a perfect night-out ensemble. And anything that I can wear out that feels like PJs and are socially acceptable is always a plus in my book.

I hope you’ve had a fantastic summer, whether it was lying around in the park catching the sunshine on your face, or hustling your ass off to make your autumn closer to what you want in life. This was not the summer I expected when I started 2017, but I could not be more pleased with the lessons I’ve learned throughout it. 

I have some really fun ideas for the fall on here, that I’m hoping will pan out with my schedule, and if not, I’ll stick a pin in them and wait for the new year. Happy Two Years my biatches, I’ll see you after Labor Day!

 

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 1 packet of graham crackers, broken up
• 5 Tbsp melted butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar

For the Cheesecake Layer

• 1 1/4 lbs cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Mousse Layer

• 1 2/3 cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp orange extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Instructions

• Measure a strip of clear acetate and tape into a circle to fit snuggly into a springform pan
• Mix together crust ingredients, pour into bottom to springform pan and press into the bottom of pan and up the sides with bottom of a glass
• Freeze crust for at least 30 minutes
• In a chilled mixing bowl, whip heavy cream with electric mixer and whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, set aside
• In another mixing bowl using paddle attachment on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until combined and smooth
• Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, making sure no white streaks remain
• Pour cream cheese filling into frozen crust and smooth out with offset spatula, chill until ready to add mousse layer
• In the bowl of a stand up mixer with a whisk attachment beat heavy cream, orange extract and salt until stiff peaks form, set aside
• In another mixing bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, then slowly stream in sugar
• Once sugar is mixed in, fold in melted chocolate, it should be cooled but still liquid
• Once chocolate is almost incorporated, fold in whipped cream and continue to fold until solid in color and no white streaks remain
• Spread on top of chilled cheesecake filling and smooth out with offset spatula
• Wrap tightly in saran wrap and chill over night
• When read to serve release springform ring and carefully remove acetate
• Garnish with slices with candied orange rind, chocolate shavings or more whipped cream

Adapted from Saveur Chocolate Mousse