Bon Appétit

As Kellie and I have settled down here in Tennessee we have had the privilege of dinning with some fine people. Sometimes we eat at our place, sometimes their’s. In either case the food is certainly enjoyable. Monday’s dessert, however, tops them all.

Now, before I start raving about Richard’s cheesecake we need to get something straight: rarely, in my opinion, is cheesecake made well at home. Most homemade cheesecakes taste like the box that the powdered ingredients came in. Add an egg, a tablespoon of vegetable oil and, bam!, you have cheesecake. I don’t think so, scooter.

At the other end of the cheesecake spectrum is a triumph that contains 2 1/2 pounds of cream cheese. That’s a good start but what goes well with 2 1/2 pounds of cream cheese? How about 6 whole eggs plus an additional 2 egg yolks thrown in for good measure? Once the rest of the ingredients have been added and then baked you end up with, in the words of the recipe creators, a cheesecake with a “texture that is dense but not heavy, and firm but not rigid.”

Richard and Heather were nice enough to leave us a section of the leftover cheesecake that should have yielded a couple slices for both Kellie and me. But being the kind husband that I am I tricked Kellie into giving up her slices in a manner not unlike Jacob tricking Esau out of his birthright.

So, well done Richard – you’ve made me blog about food. Keep up the good work. Bon appétit!