Calorie-free Cheesecakes!

I am one of those people whose refrigerator is completely covered with magnets, photos, etc. I’ve been this way for as long as I’ve had my own kitchen and I’ll probably never change. In fact, I had my first refrigerator magnet before I even moved into my first apartment. I moved to Oregon with my friend Stephanie when I was 19 years old. We packed up three vehicles and drove up to Portland from California. Stephanie drove her truck, I drove my Oldsmobile, and my parents drove my mom’s little Toyota pickup. On the way up, we stopped off in Corning, CA at a place called The Olive Pit for lunch. Actually, Steph and I ate at Burger King next door because at the time, the idea of an “olive burger” didn’t sound too appealing to us. By my mom and dad went to the Olive Pit and most likely had a much better lunch than we did! My mom also made a secret purchase in there and when we got to the new apartment in Portland later that night, I was given my first refrigerator magnet, a souvenir from Corning featuring a little mouse hugging a huge olive that said, “Olive you.”

The magnet is old, stained, and chipped now but here it is 13 years later and it’s still on my fridge, and it’s still my favorite! Looking at this magnet instantly brings back all the memories of moving out on my own for the first time: the excitement, the fear and the sadness that goes along with moving so far away from everyone you love and everything you know.

Pretty much all of the magnets on my fridge come with some sort of story or memory. Many have been given to me as gifts. Some of them I’ve purchased for myself just because I think they’re funny, some of them were picked up as souvenirs of our travels through Europe, and some of them came from my mom’s refrigerator when she died. Someday maybe I’ll write more about them because in a way, they tell the story of the last 13 years of my life. But today, I am only going to talk about one more thing…my latest magnet purchase that has moved up into second place in my long list of favorites!

Yes, I’m finally getting to those delicious-looking little cheesecakes that made you start reading this post in the first place! These beautiful, tiny, delectable cheesecake magnets were custom-made by a very talented artist who just so happens to sell all kinds of miniature, calorie-free food creations online at her etsy shop. I sent her a photo of my own mini cherry cheesecakes and a couple of days later she had handcrafted these beautiful little magnets for me. I ordered five of them but I can’t help giving them away to friends and family so I will have to order more soon. I can’t say enough about the quality of her work and the wonderful customer service! So, next time you need to buy a gift for your favorite foodie, head over to Aoi’s Art and pick out one of her original creations or let her create a custom piece just for you.