Fire in the Hole!

On Sunday, we had a family birthday party for Jeff.
Fifty five.
Bethany decided that so many candles would melt the frosting.
I made a chocolate-cherry cake, a tradition at our house. In its usual incarnation, it is a dark cake with whipped cream filling and a ganache coating. This time I used a German chocolate cake mix and put chocolate chips in it, with white chocolate filling and chocolate fudge frosting.
I was not happy with it.
The white chocolate was too sweet.
Sometimes I am too clever for my own good.
I hear my Dad's voice when I write that sentence.
However, the basic recipe is simplicity itself.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

One dark chocolate cake mix
One can of cherry pie filling
3 eggs
Mix all together and bake in two 9" rounds or a 9x13" oblong, about 25 minutes.

Because this is Bethany's favourite cake, I felt an obligation to make something gluten-free. Inspiration, in the form of a 3-pound container of cream cheese, dictated two cheesecakes: a big one with graham cracker crust, and a smaller one with a crust made from gluten-free cookies. Once again, I made the mistake of messing with the recipe. Let's just say that it is a perfect cheesecake by the recipe, but smarty-pants here went a little too far. It took way longer to cook than it was supposed to and came out kind of curdly and also dripped something all over the oven. I think the smaller one was pretty edible, because Bethany liked it.
Here is the original recipe, highly recommended by me because it usually turns out perfectly.
When I don't add extra sour cream and eggs.

Justa Pasta's Marvelous Cheesecake

Crust:
2 c graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c unsalted butter
Mix till crumbly and press onto bottom of 10" springform pan. Refrigerate.

Filling:
32 oz cream cheese
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
Beat all together till smooth. Pour into crust and put in cold oven. Turn on oven to 350* and bake 40 mins.

Topping:
2 c sour cream
3/4 c sugar
Juice from one lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla
Drop of almond extract
Blend together, gently spread on cooked cheesecake. Return to oven and bake 15 mins at 300*. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
It is dense and creamy and delicious.

Here is the poor overbaked specimen.

Little Jeff ate a sweet orange instead of dessert.

Natalie tucked into the cake. She loves her food and is very independent in feeding herself.

Did I mention the substance deposited all over the bottom of the oven?
Monday was Jeff's actual birthday, so I made him a nice dinner of tilapia and roasted potatoes. I roast potatoes on a high heat, 450* or more. I had put the pan in the oven and was about to start on the rest of the dinner when I happened to glance through the window in the oven door.
Flames.
Big flames.
I grabbed the pan out of the oven and had the presence of mind to locate the baking soda and throw a handful over the flames.
Immediate extinction.
I was so impressed with myself, you can hardly imagine.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to grab the camera before I extinguished the flames.

Dinner was a little late.