Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Cheesecake: My Nemesis

(photo courtesy of MyKitchenCafe.blogspot.com)

I have always loved cheesecake. Like I really, really love it.
I remember during my freshman year of college, a guy who just happened to be an amazing cook, brought over a homemade cheesecake just for me. My roommate had tipped him off about my love of cheesecake and he figured the way to my heart was through my stomach. What a smart guy!
Fast forward a couple years to my junior year in college. My three roommates and I found ourselves sitting at home, discussing all the possible reasons why we were single and what we could do to change our single status.
We decided it was time to lose a few pounds. For inspiration and motivation, I ripped out a page from a Runner's World magazine and taped it to the wall. It was a picture of a girl sprinting up a steep hill and the caption read, "I will not let cheesecake win!"
To show our commitment, each of us signed our name on a sheet of paper with the words "5 Pound Club" scrawled across the top. The rules were simple: Lose 5 pounds. If caught eating fast food or eating dessert the accused had to wear their swimsuits for thirty minutes.
I can't remember who actually lost five pounds but I have several pictures of roommates sitting on the couch in their swimsuits, hoping no one from the opposite sex would stop by for a visit.

And so you see my dilemma. Cheesecake is divine but if I eat it as much as I'd like, I would have a lot more to worry about than five pounds. You can imagine my horror when Randy bought me a set of spring-form pans. Pans specifically used for baking cheesecake. I found a recipe from the only blog that matters, and made some delicious cheesecake, baked to perfection. Then I promptly invited friends over to try it out and let's be honest, to prevent me from eating the whole thing.
What's a girl to do?


Luckily I married a smart man. Randy also bought me a Garmin for Valentine's Day. Now I can make him (and me) some delicious cheesecake and then go on a long run using my new watch. A perfect balance! Bring on the cheesecake.....and the running shoes!

Got a good cheesecake recipe? Do share!

7 comments:

  1. Ah the 5 pound club! I may have not let cheesecake win that semester but many other desserts sure did. What great memories!

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  2. Oh, Melanie, you are so nice to me and my blog.

    I have my eye on this raspberry swirl cheesecake recipe - I'm making it this week. I'll let you know how it goes...and then you can let me know how far I need to run to burn it off.

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  3. Yeah for Randy getting the Garmin for you (and him too I suppose). You'll love it! Was that a picture you took of it after you ran...the 8.7 miles at a 7:45 pace? j/k although you're not far off from that. Yum for cheesecake.

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  4. Yay! Congrat's on both.

    Maybe you could search the web for some good Cheesecake Factory clones. We should have a big cheesecake cook-off so we could try a little bit of every kind. :)

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  5. i really thought at the bottom of this post there would be a picture of you or randy sitting on the couch in your bathing suit...

    scott

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  6. Your cheesecake was fantastic, thanks for sharing it. Anytime you need someone to help you eat it give me a call, and I'll even go running with you the next day. I run to eat... it's that simple!! Congrats on the Garmin! I still can't find the attachment for my Nike+ system so Tom is threatening to buy me a Garmin...we'll see how long I can hold out! I hope you love it!!!

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  7. It wasn't the 5 lb club. It was the 51 b club!! I still think about that all the time. Hope all is well! And by the way, we call our Landon "Landonator" as well. Or "Landonian". Depends on the day. :)

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