my mother asked me to come to belmont early this morning so i could make my japanese cheesecake. after putting the rain cover over my motorcycle, i left the house by 9:40am, riding my bicycle. not yet christmas but the streets were already desolate. i picked up a collapsible dog stairs somebody had thrown out, figured my sister might be able to use it. it came with two non-slip pads but those were already falling off, better just to replace them.

my mother wasn't expecting me to show up so early so they'd already ate breakfast. i ended up having some turkey sausages, fried eggs, almond pastry, and orange juice. i'd make the cheesecake later in the afternoon.

my mother went out for a walk around 11am, my father and i went with her. we saw a decorated dump truck with a police escort down the street. a santa was standing in the truck, apparently dolling out presents to neighbors. he waved when he saw us. second later, wham's last christmas was blaring on loudspeakers.

we walked down to the watertown CVS. the sky was overcast but it wasn't too cold, especially after we started walking. CVS was a lot closer than my mother expected. she needed to get a facial cleanser and later got some scented heavy duty trash bags as well. CVS has a good collection of boston souvenirs if you're ever in the market.

walking back, my sister called asking where we were. my parents stayed behind in grove street playground to meet up with my sister walking esmei while i continued home.

esmei was back at the house for another half hour before my sister said her dog was tired and decided to bring her home. during that time, we played indoor fetch with her, which seems to be her new favorite activity. she'd pick up a toy and push it up against you, to get you to throw it for her. she played for a while before she just stopped, either got bored or tired. we tried out the folding steps to the car but esmei didn't want to get on it, maybe because it was slippery with the non-slip pads. my sister finally half to half-carry esmei onto the steps to get her into the car.

i started making my japanese cheesecake around 2pm. i first cracked open 13 eggs to separate the yolk from the egg whites. i had high hopes this time, since i was using all real egg whites, not a mixture of liquid egg whites, which i read don't form peaks. once again i accidentally broke one of the yolks into the egg whites. i figured it wasn't a big deal, and my father helped me separate the remaining eggs. i melted the butter and cream cheese then added the milk. without waiting for it to cool first, i added the mixture to my egg yolks and mixed it together with a whisk before adding the flour and corn starch. everything was going according to schedule, had the oven preheating at 320°F, all i had to do to beat the egg whites with the mixer until it formed stiff peaks.

more than 10 minutes later the egg whites were still soupy, not even soft peaks. i went online and searched, "why can't i get stiff peaks?" the first answer was a shock: apparently getting any grease or yolk into the egg whites will prevent them from forming peaks. so this was a baking lesson i learned the hard way. last time i didn't have this problem because i only broke the first yolk, before it could contaminate the egg whites. i wasn't so lucky this time. i'd already gone so far, no turning back now. so i continued beating the egg whites at a higher speed, because i read occasionally peaks can still form that way. but it was a lost cause, at most soft peaks but that was being generous. the egg whites was just a soupy mess as i added it to the other ingredients before pouring everything into the cake pan.

i baked at 320°F for 25 minutes, before lowering the heat to 280°F and baking for another 55 minutes. the final cheesecake was finally done close to 5pm. it looked okay, not as puffy or jiggly as my first cheesecake attempt, but still looked edible. cutting a slice revealed the interior: a airy top layer, a denser middle layer, and a bottom layer that looked like a solid egg omelette. the bottom layer was also wet, despite covering the outside of the cake pan with tin foil, water (in the form of condensation) still managed to get into the pan. the cake itslf tasted fine though was very eggy. it was a failure, but a learning experience, and i think japanese cheesecake no.3 will be much better.

patriots lost to the visiting chiefs, no surprise, 27-17. at least new england wasn't shut out, and did put up some points. i didn't bother watching the game except to tune in during the second half just to check the score and to confirm we were probably going to lose again. the more exciting game was the 2nd weekend magic-celtics at 3pm. like the last game, celtics started slow, but put up major points in the second quarter (34-19). once again they were a little staid in the 3rd quarter, but kept pace with orlando, 24-22. in the 4th quarter they went off again, putting on a clinic, letting the magic know they're on a different level. final score 114-97.

my mother made a spicy stew for dinner, stuffed with cabbage, tofu skin, wood ear mushrooms, and yellow bean sprouts. we also had some braised beef. after dinner my father gave me a ride home. by then it'd already started to rain steadily, not just a light drizzle. i'd already stashed my bicycle in the garage, i'll ride it back home tomorrow night. i brought back all my baking equipment, figured it'd be a while before i make another japanese cheesecake.

there was a sunday night football game but i've basically tuned out from football ever since the patriots started losing. i think i saw it briefly, some purple team versus some other team. instead i watched a few streaming basketball games then later checked the standings to see where the teams landed. celtics currently on top of the NBA, with the timberwolves a close second off by a game.

i was looking for my wireless headphones tonight, couldn't find them anywhere, until i checked the trash can. it must've accidentally fallen in. good thing i checked though, it was 48 hours away from being tossed out.