chez Colleen

chez Colleen is the internet blog and creative outlet for Colleen Berding, located in the middle of America. Recipes, reveries, and recess in no particular order.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

RIP GE and other assorted shenanigans

The GE refrigerator I successfully cleaned is terminal. While I was off, I decided to do a twofer service call and got the appliance man to look at both my balky clothes dryer and the fridge. Turns out there's a refrigerant leak in the fridge. It's too expensive to fix, so yours truly made the appliance search online and in person and I ended up visiting my friends down the road at Sears for a new one. Right now, it's cool, but not much better than that. It will go to the big refrigerator graveyard next week.

We had a wonderful brunch today at Nadoz, which is in the Coronado just across from the SLU Law School on Lindell. Our favorite place to brunch was closed for vacation, so we were pleasantly surprised with the selection. Since we were early, one little boy got to play in and around the clock tower just west of the SLU Cook School of Business.

Mommy remembers when I went there, I would have been run over on that part of Spring in my day. It was a fun place to frolic and wait for brunch, among the fountains, statues and pond.

More to come...stay tuned.

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Zen and the Art of Refrigerator Maintenance

Yes, it's a pun on the book someone at work is reading. I knew something was amiss when I went in the downstairs refrigerator and something smelled funny. The temperature just didn't seem right, either.

Well, I found out why why I took everything out and relocated it to the other freezer and refrigerator, because I found this:


Since I'm a curious sort, I found out here at appliance411 how this all happens. Most likely, we'll have to replace some parts to keep this from happening again. Since this fridge does not keep anything special, we'll fix it at our leisure.

I also found some good articles on this subject at the following sites:

eHow
Associated Content's Home Maintenance section

Nevertheless, it all turned out pretty well. I got a clean refrigerator and learned something new.

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Happy Birthday



Wish you were here....

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

Weekend cooking

I'm always working on something in the kitchen most weekends. Today, I sauteed some vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, Vidalia onion, garlic and my first homegrown, ripe Yellow Boy tomato) and baked a cake.

This is one of my favorite recipes for cheesecake. It is also sometimes called "old fashioned" or "crescent roll" cheesecake, which is what we call it at our house.

Crescent Roll Cheesecake

9x13 pan needed

1-2 packages crescent rolls (I used two because I like more crust on my cheesecake and I manipulate it)
3-8oz. packages cream cheese (I use Neufchatel for lower fat content)
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 eggs

Press crescent rolls into 9x13 pan. Mix cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla; mix well.

Add eggs in one at a time and mix well. Pour mixture over crescent rolls.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cool completely and enjoy plain or topped with your favorite fruits. Keep refrigerated.

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