The hair...

I had tried to get some better pictures with the violet dye, so here are those:
indoors:

 outdoors:

Sadly, my hair looked black or blue which was not my intent, so I have since dyed to a 'normal' brown. However, I really dislike having a normal hair color now, so I might try out one more purple color (without bleaching). I have heard good things about a British hair color brand called La Riche and their plum purple in the Directions line. I have heard some reports that the color does not bleed as much, so I may be going for one more purple attempt soon.

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

I recently decided to try making cheesecake again. I had a bad experience about 10 years ago with a family recipe and the inside didn't cook all the way. So I looked up some easy recipes and tried my luck. (Not to ruin the suspense... but it worked so well I've made it multiple times.)

Filling:
16 oz (two 8-oz packages) cream cheese
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat until smooth - *I recommend using an Immersion Blender

Crust
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs (~one package inside box)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/8 cup water
Melt butter, mix all together, press into pan.
Does not require pre-baking if pie will be baked.

Bake 350 degrees for ~50min

My first one (I made less because I put a portion into a not-so-good attempt of pumpkin cheesecake, but this tasted great and didn't need to cook as long - only about 30min).

 

For my second one, I blended in some frozen strawberries (which is why the color looks different).

 Before serving, I spread some strawberry topping on top.

I've also used half of the cheesecake filling recipe for muffin filling. I made pumpkin muffins with cheesecake filling and can't wait to try this again with chocolate muffins or brownies.

*I added the recommendation for using an immersion blender after talking with a friend who has many cheesecake-making problems. She believes her problems (sometimes explosion, sometimes collapse) had to do with how much air was in the cheesecake mixture. She uses a hand mixer and I have used my immersion blender for this recipe and never had a problem. So maybe that's the key? Anyway, it is worth mentioning.