Day Three Hundred Fifty

I'm just going to leave this right here.

That particular performance is by no means totally clean, nor is it anywhere near that team's best work, but let's just pause for a second for a serious mom brag. Alexis is, of course, in the video. She's in the front row with the giant black t-shirt and long sleeves under the t-shirt. And she doesn't suck.

I know that doesn't sound like much of a brag, but if I back up a few summers, IT MOST CERTAINLY IS. This will come as absolutely no surprise, but Alexis excels at dance that is heavy on the technique. The kid likes rules so having an exact right way to do something makes her heart sing. That makes her really good at ballet and lyrical, but hip hop? Hahahahlololz.

She would have dropped hip hop a long time ago if that were a choice. However, her studio requires ballet, tap, and hip hop as core classes so that the dancers turn out well-rounded and blah, blah, blah. She HAS to take hip hop. That doesn't mean it has to be her thing.

Two summers ago she decided she wanted to put more work into hip hop in hopes of maybe improving. Which, whatever. Millennium Dance in the South Side has drop-in classes that are a whopping $15/$25 each and they excel at teaching hip hop. So she managed to sucker me into taking her a summer worth of Saturdays.

I can tell you the exact Saturday that everything changed. She was in the hip hop class and the instructor stopped in front of her as she was dancing. He looked at her straight in the eye and gave her some sort of feedback. She never told me what he said, but it was accompanied with him doing his best impersonation of a stuck-up ballerina. He did a technically perfect pirouette, they both laughed, and from that moment forward she seemed to understand that it was okay to loosen up a little.

And she did. From that day forward, it was no longer absolutely hilarious to watch her stiffly work her way through a hip hop routine. Since then, she has been called out at various dance conventions (that's a good thing, apparently) and no longer gets hidden at the back of routines at her studio.

Well done, Alexis.

Day Three Hundred Forty-Nine

There are a few things that I MUST buy if I spot them in the grocery store. Key Limes are at the top of that list, followed very closely by Meyer Lemons. By "followed closely" I mean PLEASE DON'T ASK ME TO CHOOSE JUST ONE. If they're both there, I'm buying them both. It's just a fact.

I love Meyer Lemons for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that they taste amazing. They're a cross between mandarin oranges and lemons, so they're a little bit lemony, but without the tart. Another fun thing about them is that you can use every little bit of them when baking. The zest, the juice, it's all good.

Especially in cheesecake form.

I'm not ambitious enough to dig out the springform pan lately, so I've been playing with cheesecake bars instead. Combining Meyer Lemons with a cheesecake bar was a work of pure genius, I must admit. What wasn't genius is that I didn't write down what I did the first time I made them, so WHOOPS, I had to make them again. And then more time just to be sure.

It's science. Go with me on this.

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake Bars

1 stick butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 8-oz packages cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Meyer Lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated Meyer Lemon zest
Meyer Lemon zest for garnish

1. Place the stick of butter in a 13x9" glass dish and stick it in the oven. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. You're melting the butter while warming up the oven.

2. Once the butter is melted, swish it in the pan until the sides and bottom of the pan are coated. Then sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs into the pan evenly.

3. Let the crust bake for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees. When it's just barely lightly browned, move it to the freezer until you're ready to put the cheesecake filling on it.

4. To make the cheesecake filling, start by combining the cream cheese and sugar using an electric mixer and medium speed. Mix them until creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing constantly.

6. Add the cornstarch and vanilla extract, mixing constantly.

7. Add the lemon juice. Mix.

8. Finally, add in the lemon zest and mix some more.

9. Carefully spread the cheesecake mixture over the cooked crust. Use a spatula to evenly spread it out, if necessary.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the top just barely begins to brown. Remove from heat, garnish with lemon zest, and place the whole pan on a cooling rack for at least an hour. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Day Three Hundred Forty-Eight