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Landscaping. Absolutely obsessed with it to the same degree as my LEGO addiction. Relatively cheap hobbies at first, but quickly add up as I am never satisfied with just one plant or set. Funny, my 16-year-old self would be saying there's no way plants and LEGO would make up a good chunk of my life as I got older.

I don't think there are enough people left here to do a league...

Amazon killed it. That's what killed the holiday price surges as flood gates opened and prices rush to the bottom,

Try making the crust by toasting pecans and then crushing them down to the consistency of graham cracker crust...it adds a nice richness to the crust. Also, try experimenting with flavored liqueurs to flavor the cheesecake. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the first time I tasted a cheescake made with Tia Maria, I was hooked.

its actually well done. There are lots of explanations of what the fight represents on YT. My stab at it is that it represents the eternal struggle between our baser instincts (represented by the toilet, our animal function) and our intellect, (represented by our faculties of speech and vision). The toilets ppl start off ruling, representing our generations devolvement into crass materialism and animalistic indulgence. But there is a revolution by the minority of upstanding ppl, blaring their speakers and trying to defeat the animal toilet ppl with reason and vision. I realize the creator did not mean that. Nonetheless, that is my take.

Seems we are on the same page in taste. I have used a bit of lemon juice with milk as a pseudo buttermilk in place of sour cream if I don't have any on hand. The one time I used just egg yolks was in a Basque style cheesecake. I think for that method, only or mostly egg yolks were fine. Thank you for the ideas. I was thinking about a pecan cashew crust for an almond butter & something jam cheesecake recipe I have been tinkering with. First time (I think) I saw the pecan crust idea was from Chef Jean-Pierre. (Guy loves his Kahlua. Haha.) I never actually tried Tia Maria before. Now I'm interested. I used to have a green thumb as a kid in California. My Mother & me got that small excuse for a front yard real nice. Even managed to get a large red fern to grow. Then the family moved, and I became more preoccupied with school at the time among other things. Now the only landscaping I manage is mowing my lawn ....or Minecraft. I am handling the showers better. There still is an initial shock to the system but subsides in less than a minute now. Honestly my first experience was not as bad as I claimed it to be though still amusing in hindsight with all the glory of a drama queen. Ha. Anyway, it is one heck of a way to wake up in the morning and helps get me going as a form of pre-workout. I am not sure how much I may keep the cold showers come wintertime. Then again, the straight tap water may actually be warmer than the chilling air outside. But for now, with this triple digit heatwave, the cold feels great.

I've actually been trying to prepare for the draft this year. Last year I was simply too busy with life and put no time into preparation, and it's amazing how badly the season went. The draft isn't the whole thing - there's a lot of work to do throughout the season - but things can go a lot more smoothly with a solid draft. If there was sufficient interest around here, I'd be happy to put together a Brickpicker league. Still plenty of time to draft.

Even if it sucks for the first 10-20 times just go for the shock, because thats what it makes it so healthy.

Once you scan them they display in the Lego Builder App.

That hasn't been a thing for several years now Unfortunately.

Anyone around here into fantasy football? We're right in the middle of draft season. Kinda surprised there's not a BP league.

I go the sour cream way, mostly whole eggs (couple egg yolks). And I prefer a creamy final product vs hardened. But yeah, surprisingly simple. I think what helps me kick soda (yeah, I fall off the wagon sometimes) is whenever I have an urge I drink some water first. Usually kills the urge.

Using what you said here as an excuse to post again (and I generally stink at segueing into things), I do have a relatively guilty pleasure found through baking. Cheesecake. It's simple to make and I enjoy the process. Cream cheese, egg, and sugar. That's basically it minus the crust. Finally found a use for that cake pan I bought so long ago I can't remember where or when. I am still trying to see in what manner I like the dish best though. (Whole egg versus egg yolk, adding some heavy cream versus sour cream, burnt versus mildly crispy, and so on.) Anyway, I believe to be at a good point where my dietary choices feel normal rather than restrictive. I have found comparable substitutes for things I used to enjoy (in particular anything made with a lot of sugar or corn syrup) and limit my intake on meats & breads in general. Quitting soda was easier than I thought and I'm fine with that. Last time I had a swig of soda went much the same as beer. "Wow, been a long time since I drank any. How's it taste? .....And there's why I quit." Haha. Been getting a bit leaner and stronger since last time I posted anything about that. Also, using some weighted straps to make the most of my current weights pushing them further seeing how pricy everything past a certain point has been getting. Ouch. At least my personal body weight has stopped fluctuating as it did for a while there. One last random note to end on, I finally braved up enough to take a legitimate cold shower (and I do mean cold). With this heat, I figured it would be about the same as jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool. Just a nice relaxing cooldown, right? ....I could have written an entire HBO original series with the amount of expletives ushered forth from me. Holy Jeebus, that was a shock to the system. On the one hand, I was cool. On the other, my "coin purse" disappeared for a while. My advice, remove the showerhead and start down at the feet very slowly working your way up each leg. When the initial chill has subsided (like wading through cold water I guess) then start spraying the stomach area followed by the chest. Then eventually across the shoulders, down the back and arms. Much less of a shock and a possible session of swearing.