RECENT PROJECT

When I was single, one of my favorite things to try baking was cheesecakes.  I used to travel around a lot, and thus ate out quite a bit at different restaurants.  One of the desserts that almost every restaurant has is some variation of cheesecake, and I thought, why not try do this at home?

In the long run, I haven’t made a lot of cheesecakes (let’s say 20 or so), but I did end up finding one from the Kraft food magazine that was really good.  I couldn’t find the exact recipe on their site, but if you use this one and replace the mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and blackberries with two cups of strawberries, it’s the same recipe.

THE BAKE, AND THE RESULTS

I hadn’t made the recipe for probably six or so years, which is a side effect on our one kiddo’s then-allergy to dairy.  How did it turn out after all that time?  I did remember that the recipe seems a bit sparse with the crust, so I bumped up the graham crackers to 1 3/4 cups and the butter to 5 tablespoons.  OK so far . . .

Then on to the batter.  There’s something about when the sour cream and eggs get added, and it gets all glossy, that it just starts looking awesome.  OK at this step too.

Then finally, to let it bake, put the nice little topping mixture across the top, bake a little more, and this is what comes out.

It’s not perfect by any means (nor is my photography at this point, for that matter), but taste is the ultimate judge.  I let the wife try a bite first and she was really happy with it.  So happy that she took another chunk out of the piece we were sharing, at which point I moved the plate so I could eat some.  Love only goes so far, after all 🙂  I liked the taste, so I let the oldest try it (he enjoyed it) and the wife gave the youngest a bite.  At 1 year old, our youngest ate his piece and walked over to the table, waving his little plastic spoon at the cake to try and reach far enough to get some more.  With those kinds of reactions, I’m calling this bake a winner.

TOPIC FOR TODAY

I talked in this earlier post about getting a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) back when I was a kid.  I loved playing that thing–you got Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, along with the light zapper, in the package.  Back then (believe it or not, kids) you could also go to Blockbuster and rent other video games