Week in Review: Happy Groundhog's Day! Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow on February 2nd, but Buckeye Chuck, in Ohio, didn't see his. We have a groundhog who lives out back by our woodpile. I haven't seen hide nor hair of him. I guess his name is Hickory Hill Hans, and if he did stick his head out Saturday morning (unbeknownst to me) he did not see his shadow, which means SPRING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!


Wednesday was Rob's 19th birthday. He was not receptive to any of my ideas for a birthday present, so I just wrote him a check. He did let us take him and Candace to dinner at the Shady Nook on Saturday Night. Here is a picture of Rob from last summer





I'm taking a 20th Century American Fiction class so that I can also teach English, and this week we're starting to read The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. Have you noticed that when you go into a bookstore, you can purchase classic books, the finest literary works known to man, for peanuts?? I bought a hardcover book that contains, not only The Sun Also Rises, but also A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea. It cost $12.00. That's $3.00 per literary masterpiece. Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography by Andrew Morton costs $25.95. Hmmmmmm. Shouldn't we be disturbed by this?





Speaking of Books, the Book Babes met on January 23rd at Vicki's, and I forgot to mention that last week. Our book was Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg. We just love her. In this book, Aunt Elner falls off a ladder while picking figs in her backyard. She dies and makes a brief trip to heaven where she chats with God, who appears to her in the form of Neighbor Dorothy who used to do the radio show from her living room in Elmwood Springs, Missouri. It's a great story, maybe not quite as good as Standing in the Rainbow, but certainly worth your time.





Ooh! Last summer, our Landon won the Babes of Summer radio contest as the cutest baby in Springfield, Illinois. His prize was a free photo session and pictures from photographer, Kimberly Smoot. Here's one of them.






Recipe of the Week:

This cheesecake recipe comes from the Great American Brand Name Baking cookbook. It's a very popular cheesecake and not difficult to make


Heath Bar Cheesecake

Crust:
1 & 3/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 Tablespoons sugar

Filling:

3 packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 package Heath Bits

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For crust, combine crumbs, butter, and sugar and press into a 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate. For filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in sour cream adn add vanilla. Pour into crust and bake for one hour or until filling is just firm. Let cool for about ten minutes then sprinkle Heath Bits over the top. Cool completely on wire rack and then refrigerate.