Caramel Pecan Turtle
Our server said they love taking photos and it shows.
Cheesecake at the beach? Yeah, you can go ahead and cross that one off my bucket list.
Yes I drove to the beach for cheesecake. My friend Ayesha lives on the Westside and I offered her a few options of TCFs and she chose the Marina del Rey option which I was happy about because look at it. It’s at the beach. I made a reservation and specified that I would like to be seated next to the beach and they delivered. I told the host it was a special day and he asked if we were celebrating a birthday and I said Nope it’s just a special day being out with my friend Ayesha.
The morning before this cheesecake date, I was feeling low. I spent some time looking at old photos of myself and that bummed me out. I was teary on the drive there. My emotions have been up and down because I weaned off my antidepressant and I’m experiencing withdrawals. I do appreciate feeling more feelings again but I do not appreciate the body dysmorphic thoughts and general irritability. I’m cranky as fuck lately. I’m getting pissed off at everybody, even Scoop. I got pissed at Scoop the other morning because he was following me around our tiny kitchen waiting for me to feed him eggs, something I did one time and now am stuck doing every time. He’s just a cute little dog! And he’s addicted to eggs!!
Fortunately for me and my mood the first thing that happened when I got to TCF was the valet guy told me I was pretty and offered to take my photo.
Also, there’s no way to be cranky around Ayesha. She is so full of life and bright and I hope I can remember every moment of our special date because she shared so much with me and I want to capture it all. First of all, we are very much alike in the colors and styles we like to wear and have around us at home. She was wearing Big Bud Press pants in Gross Green, one of their best colors imo. For my birthday she made me a catchall box that looks like a pink cake with a cherry on top, studded with pearls. It’s beautiful. She’s a crafty queen. She told me about air dry clay and we talked about crafting and using parts of our brains we don’t get to use as therapists and I left feeling very inspired.
Not only is Ayesha an incredible therapist, she’s also the Cheesecake Girl in her family!! I can’t believe this is a thing but it really is. Unprompted, she told me that she was the one person in her family who loved cheesecake aside from maybe her dad who has a big sweet tooth. And I’m like okay I’m a sociologist, I’m a researcher, I’m uncovering something about the world that has not previously been known to us. There is one Cheesecake Girl in every family. It’s just becoming a fact before my very eyes. Part of the appeal of cheesecake as a young girl is that it feels sophisticated. It’s got depth beyond the sugary things the other kids like to eat. It’s grown up. Cheesecake Girls like to stand out. And they’re not afraid to ask for what they want (cheesecake).
Ayesha told me more about her dad and how he eats sweets one small bite at a time, as if he isn’t going to eat the whole thing but he does. And she got him a dozen mini Krispy Kremes as a gift and even those he split in half. And then she revealed that he’s a gym bro and very swole! She showed me pictures of her buff dad and I was like okay, she’s got the receipts and yes he is very buff.
More fun things Ayesha told me: when she was a kid and not allowed to wear makeup, she would color a paper towel with markers, wet it, and add baby powder to it and wear that as eyeshadow. Prison makeup. She said when you take something away from a kid that they want, they’re gonna find a way and I was like YES life finds a way. It’s so true. She also told me that you can get Plan B at Costco/Sam’s Club for either $6 or $8, definitely a single digit, and you don’t need a membership to access their pharmacy!
When Ayesha was little, she liked the Turtle cheesecake from Sam’s Club so it was kind of natural for her to choose this flavor. The cheesecake itself is caramel-fudge swirl, the crust is pecan brownie, and it’s topped with caramel turtle pecans and a chocolate rosette.
You know how I said the Celebration cheesecake is for kids? Caramel Pecan Turtle is for the elderly. It’s a nostalgic flavor. My enjoyment of this flavor did not match the rest of the time I had. I mean you can see what a gorgeous day it is. You can tell from my words how inspired I was. But this flavor was doody. And I feel so bad saying it. Ayesha, it had nothing to do with you. The cheesecake part? Didn’t really taste like cheesecake. It reminded me of my grandparents and that was…nice? But that’s not what I’m looking for in a cheesecake. I want my cheesecake to taste like cheesecake. Fortunately, Ayesha got another slice to bring home to her partner, White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle (number 6 on the list!). This was her first time getting a cheesecake from TCF so hopefully the WCRT flavor will redeem TCF in her eyes.
Caramel Pecan Turtle: 1.5 out of 5
Lemon Meringue
Mango Key Lime
Lemon Raspberry Cream
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Key Lime
White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
The Original
30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake
Adam’s Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple
Classic Basque
Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Caramelicious Made With Snickers
Cinnabon Cinnamon Swirl
Very Cherry Ghirardelli Chocolate
Fresh Banana Cream
Godiva Chocolate
Ultimate Red Velvet Cake
Fresh Strawberry
Vanilla Bean
Cookie Dough Lover’s with Pecans
Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
Toasted Marshmallow S’Mores Galore
Tiramisu
Caramel Pecan Turtle
Celebration
Salted Caramel
Ayesha also shared with me a special tshirt that she only wears on special days when she wants to feel most special.
I get it. Sometimes I get a special flavor of ice cream and I keep it in my freezer for months before I eat it because I’m waiting for the time to be exactly right. This Surfing Ronald tshirt is that.
Ayesha described a dream she had of swimming in cheesecake, like a pool of cheesecake. Or a bed. And when she saw people paddleboarding at the beach she said “imagine being fed cheesecake while you’re paddleboarding”. And because I’m also a crafty girl, I made these dreams (with a little help from my friend AI) into a sweatshirt and some stickers and a car magnet all of which you can find on the Merch page.
Speaking of tshirts, I bought one yesterday and once I got it home I started to wonder if I’d seen it on someone else, potentially a client. If you are my friend and you own this tshirt, please let me know. I don’t want to show up wearing the same shirt as one of my clients if I can help it.
