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Adding this to my "Swear By" category.

One of my sisters recently gave me a bottle of lemongrass and mandarin. Exotic tea blend you're thinking? Nope. Thai cooking sauce? Nope. New vodka flavor? Nope.

It was a bottle of Bath & Body Works' Energizing Hand Soap in Lemongrass and Mandarin. I swear, if my fantasy dream of vacationing in Tahiti had a smell, this is what it would smell like. Just heavenly.

Not only does it leave a tingly feeling, it smells so good, you can almost taste it - citrusy, minty, gingery and peppery (ok, so I'm not the most versed person around).

Next time you're wondering what to get me for a gift, I'll gladly accept a bottle of this...or two.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake... 'nuff said.

Promised a coworker I'd bake him a batch of my mini-cheesecakes. I've grown tired of the fruit topped variety I've been making all summer, so I thought I'd try something new.

Hit the grocery store for supplies and inspiration and then I saw it... what better addition to my mini-cheesecakes than mini chocolate chips! Nestle's Tollhouse Mini Morsels, to be exact. Oh so cute!

So using my Superr Easy Cheesecake recipe (linked above), I substituted chocolate grahams for regular, and omitted the lemon zest and juice and added a 1/4 cup of mini chips. Furthermore, before adding the mini chips, I tossed them in a little bit of flour to prevent the chips from falling to the bottom when baking - a tip I picked up from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Gartner (love, love her!).

Of course, I may have royally ruined the recipe with the addition of the flour, but it looks good, non?