january 2026 donation

this month's news has been taken over by all the bullshit going on in minnesota, but we should not forget that ICE is still here in la too. so this month i donated to the los angeles neighbor's support fund organized by the california community foundation. 

also want to help those in la affected by ice? here's a list of different orgs you can you donate to, or go find a different org that speaks to you!

speaking of, why did i donate specifically to this org rather than one of the many others doing similar work? because the california community foundation does a lot of really great work in la. it's sort of like a non-profit for non-profits. they provide resources and grants for la based non-profits. local cities also work with them, so i feel pretty good about my donation going towards whatever they say it's going to go to.

2025 donation list

my giving list for 2025 is like last year's, in that it reflects some of the places we've lived this year. i've skipped a couple because my finances aren't looking so great (nearly $2k hospital bill was not helpful, plus taxes, and so many flights!), but I may go back and donate regardless.

january - prisoners literature project
february - pbs
march -  soft paw vintage
april - various national parks in hawaii
may - npr
june - molokai heritage trust
july - 
august - 
september / october - algalita and moore institute thru long beach gives
november - ywca south florida
december - east jesus

2024 donation list

2023 donation list

2022 donation list

2021 donation list

2020 donation list

mini chocolate basque cheesecakes

basque cheesecake: Basque Cheesecake (with crust!)

chocolate versions - Chocolate Basque Cheesecake, Chocolate Basque Burnt Cheesecake, and Chocolate Basque Cheesecake

oreo crust - 18 regular oreos, scant 4 tsp butter

cheesecake (ingredients mostly from the first cbc link from Catherine Zhang)
16 oz (450 g or two bricks) cream cheese, room temperature
200g (7 oz) dark chocolate, 65-70%.
    if regular chocolate, can add bit sugar
    melt at 20 second intervals in microwave
1/2 cup (100 g) white sugar
1 tbsp (7 g) cocoa powder (can add 1/2 tsp extra if non dutch processed)
1 tsp instant coffee (pretty much 1 packet of the travel size ones)
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
240ml (1 cup) heavy cream

using a cupcake tin and liners, you'll make about 20 mini cheesecakes with the full cheesecake recipe.

like with the actual recipe, you don't need to pre-bake the crusts, just put into fridge while you prep the cheesecake. 

fill cupcake liners pretty near the top. they will rise a little, but not nearly as much as the full sized cake does. 

you can preheat the oven 25 degrees higher, then just before you put them in, drop it by 25 degrees.

december 2025 donation

j's current work contract is in la. we've been here for about two months now, but took our first trip away, to palm springs! j's brother was there for a work training and had a room, so we stayed with him for a night. palm springs was / is okay, but i was really excited for the "new" desert x art installations at the salton sea, and especially for east jesus!, which i've never actually been to. last time we tried, it was during the pandemic and the residents there weren't allowing visitors.

east jesus is actually a lot more... organized than i thought? i thought it was just a subsection of slab city, which it is? but it's actually quite a bit more than that. anyway. i'm not interested in explaining it, but if you're interested, you can read about it on their website. 

anyway, so i donated my usual $25 via venmo to their cause because weird desert art is one of my favorite things :)

pavlova recipe

the pot de creme uses only egg yolks, so what to do with the whites? make pavlovas with whipped cream and macerated berries! personal sized ones are especially fun :) 

recipes: pavlova and mini pavlovas

i had doubled the pot de creme recipes (and got 9 of those), so had 4 leftover egg whites. i made 12 pavlovas (on two baking sheets), but they were very fragile. maybe make them a little taller (so thicker) and less wide? it was a bit hard to make a little depression in each (to better hold the whipped cream and berries). also, possibly make 13, or one more than you want in total, in order to test the texture.

recipe: macerated fruit 

macerated berries "recipe": berries, lemon or lime juice, and sugar. marinate!, cover, and fridge. longer means more wet. can also use flavored liqueur and/or herbs.

these are quite a bit of fun, with nice presentation, but once you add the whipped cream, they get soft pretty so you'll want to serve pretty quickly. in other words, maybe not the best choice for potlucks. 

chocolate pot de creme

recipes: easy pot de creme, blender pot de creme, and pot de cremes

6oz dark chocolate
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
half packet of travel instant coffee packet (1/2 tsp?)
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract 

be sure to not overcook the wet stuff in the pot of the whole thing will be more dense. if you add more chocolate, probably add more heavy cream. this will make about 4-5 of the costco tiramisu cups worth. since you refridge them before serving, they'll have little condensation drops on top, so def leave space on top for whipped cream and some berries.

you'll also want to serve these closer to room temp so they won't be too cold. plus a little warmer makes for a better texture too.