Going as long as we did without an operational oven was such a drag on me and the way I show affection to friends and family. I love feeding people. It's really my thing. Needing food to be both safe for me to handle and yet still delicious adds a degree of difficulty, but I am up to that challenge. The next three days in a row are birthdays here, one for my mother, one for our granddaughter, and one for our college roommate who is the cornerstone of game night. I can't deliver food to mom, 700 miles away. I am not in charge of Valerie's cake. But for our friend, I was on it.
I had been promising a cheesecake for weeks, mostly because I had those lemon cookies that would make a perfect crust. I bought bags of lemons and limes at Costco, and made a plan. That plan involved absolutely winging it for the cake. I softened two pounds of cream cheese and let four eggs come to room temperature, and that was the end of my careful measurements. I scooped sugar, tasted a tiny bit, and scooped some more. I think I used 3 limes and half a lemon, plus zest from each, but memory is fuzzy. Sour cream was just scooped with a spoon until it looked good. No water bath, just baked at 325 for an hour, observed, and baked for 15 minutes more. It cooled slowly. And it was the best cheesecake I have ever made. Simply perfect.
Game night was fun, even if our DM insisted on playing around a table rather than in the comfy chairs in the living room. I spent all day getting stuff done, cooking and cleaning and planting hanging baskets. I wanted to sit with my feet up, but even I have to admit having the map where we could all see it helped a lot. Don't tell the Mr that I said he was right, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment