It’s been a little quiet around here this week and I bet you already know why: moving out is the easy part! Moving in, hoo boy. You walk into an empty new home with freshly painted walls and there’s nothing but possibility. You run from room to room, whee! Then your stuff arrives and the pristine landscape is forever compromised. The first boxes aren’t so bad: you prioritize bedding, toilet paper, toothbrushes and whiskey (um, just play along here.) The next few boxes are pretty doable too: glasses go where they always have, books go in bookcases and lamps go on tables. But then, eventually, you get down to the last six boxes and you look around and you realize that the closets, cabinets, dressers and shelves are all full so where does this go? Then, if you’re us, the great unraveling begins: how did we get to a place where we had so much stuff? I thought we were going to resist the siren call of consumption (says she who just purchased what can only be considered a luxury ice cube tray). How did I get to a place in my life where I had 125 cookie cutters, 9 shades of sanding sugar and cupcake wrappers in at least 7 patterns that I can neither bring myself to throw away or justify the space they will take up? The last 6 boxes take forever to unpack; you’ll be glad you prioritized the whiskey.





So, right on top of all of this, something else happened: my husband — who has the audacity to look younger and more handsome every year — turned 40. If you heard me freaking out (just a little) over our move being delayed a week, it was because the one thing we were trying to avoid was having people over for drinks and then going out to engage in vodka encased in ice blocks and tableside-prepped chopped liver but 24 hours after moving, which is exactly what happened, and of course, it was no big deal and, if anything, forced us to make quick work of the first half of the boxes. Happy birthday, baby: don’t you feel young after a few days of moving furniture around and schlepping boxes?







My mother came over on Thursday ostensibly to help pack but really we made Alex a birthday cake. The general rule for Alex’s birthday cakes “chocolate and…” It can be ice cream or layer cake; it can be peanut butter, coffee or caramel or hazelnuts; it just has to begin and end with chocolate. And so we decided to make Martha Stewart’s raspberry swirl cheesecake, but with a chocolate crust and puddle of ganache over the top, but it turned out to be so visually stunning (oh, and fun too) that we couldn’t bring ourselves to cover it. The trick, and maybe all you food styling types knew this already but it basically blew our minds, is something I found on an old Martha video, is to make individual droplets of the raspberry sauce all over the top and then use a toothpick or skewer to swirl them. With this method, it is literally impossible not to make a beautiful cake, and my mom and I were, well, perhaps abnormally for other people but pretty squarely in what you should expect from us, excited about this.





What happened next I am less proud of: we all but forgot about the cake. What? It’s been a busy week! I understand that this is like a breach of cheesecake contract, that we probably don’t even deserve to eat cheesecake now after showing it so little respect, but so it happened, nonetheless, that on Wednesday evening, four full days into my husband’s 40th year, we sat outside (the only place we can avoid the view of unpacked chaos) with friends with wedges of cheesecake on our laps and it was perfect. Our neighbors were out on the next deck so we brought them some too. I’m starting to think we’re going to like it here.





Instagram: Just to make things complicated, I have two Instagram accounts, the first @smittenkitchen is the official one, you can use it to find out when there’s a new post up here. @debperelman is my personal one; I use it to document almost everything but food (though sometimes food too, of course). And, in the last week, I’ve been sharing glimpses of the new place and pleading for advice on various things that I’m clueless about. Okay, a tiny fraction of the things I’m clueless about. I don’t want to scare you guys.

Alex’s Birthday Cakes, previously: Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake, Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake, Espresso Chiffon Cake with Fudge Frosting and, in the book, Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake.

Related birthday cakes for Alex’s chocolate-obsessed family: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake, Hot Fudge Sundae Cake, Double-Chocolate Layer Cake, The Biggest Birthday Cake Yet, Fudgy Chocolate Sheet Cake and S’More Cake (in the book)

One year ago: Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes

Two years ago: Vanilla Custards with Roasted Blueberries

Three years ago: Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Mint

Four years ago: Zucchini and Almond Pasta Salad

Five years ago: Summer Pea and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad

Six years ago: Grilled Eggplant with Caponata Salsa

Seven years ago: Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake