Cheese Please

Cheesecake, that is!  If you’ve followed my blog you already know this past weekend was a big time at The Orange Bee.  Miss T was celebrating her 17th birthday – a little early.  I am tickled that she requested cheesecake for her birthday dinner dessert.  It disappeared quickly, meaning no calorie laden cake staring me in the face all week-long.   It was creamy, tangy and sweet all at the same time with a crunchy, buttery graham cracker crust and brought “ooohhh’s and ahhhh’s from everyone who ate a slice.

Miss T enjoys her cheesecake plain.  No fruit, no toppings, no extra flavors or textures to mask that luscious creaminess.  My older daughter LuLu said she thought some cherry pie filling was in order as she had been “craving that stuff”.  Not sure why because I’ve never served that pie filling on cheesecakes nor filled a pie with it.  I mean, who opens a can of pie filling, pours it in a crust and calls it a pie?  No offense if that’s your thing but it’s not my style.  I contemplated making fresh strawberry sauce for the cake but decided since time was running short, to buy a can of cherry pie filling, if only to satisfy LuLu. Turns out all the folks except the birthday girl herself, wanted cherry topping.  The entire meal was a great success but the cheesecake was the star on the menu.

I’ve owned a Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese Cookbook by Kraft for a very long time. I pulled it out knowing that a plain, delicious cheesecake awaited me on page 150.  It’s called Northwest Cheesecake Supreme.  I like any kind of cheesecake and have tried my hand at a few in this book but this is the one I always come back to when I’m short on time and want a plain, basic cake.  I would have liked to prepare the cake the day before our gathering, let it chill overnight for a melding of flavors, but time didn’t allow, so I threw it together on the morning of, chilled it for about 8 hours and it was perfect.

To any mothers reading my blog today I am hopeful your Mother’s Day was celebrated in just your fashion.  Mine was exceptional, both of my girls here for hugs and kisses, my Mother came for lunch, the guys did all the clean up after lunch, and to complete the afternoon, the Mavericks swept the L.A. Lakers.  Sadly all the cheesecake had disappeared and adoring hubby and I savored bowls of Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream while we cheered at the amazing game being played out before our very eyes!

The weather is getting hotter again this week, the winds are back, blowing like there is no tomorrow.  I took advantage of today being promised as the nicest day this week and checked on all my bees.  I’m happy to announce that all four hives are looking healthy, full of bees working hard on honey production, while my queens stay busy laying eggs.  I shot some captivating photos of bees engaged in removing some drops of honey from a frame.  I’ll put them up shortly under the Bees & Honey page, Bee School 101, Honey Drop.

Enjoy!

Northwest Cheesecake Supreme

Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
4-8oz packages  Philadelphia Brand cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling
Combine crumbs, sugar and butter and press into the bottom of a 9″ spring-form pan.  Bake at 325* for 10 minutes.

Combine cream cheese, sugar and flour, mixing at medium speed until well blended.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Blend in sour cream and vanilla; pour over crust.  Bake at 450* for 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 250*; continue baking 1 hour.  Loosen cake from rim of pan;cool before removing rim of pan.  Chill.  Top with pie filling just before serving; or enjoy it plain as Miss T does, you won’t be sorry.
Cheese Cake