Dana's Birthday!

My springform pan is quickly becoming the official cake pan of birthdays at 106 Governor Street. As you may remember, I bought it for Nick's Ice Cream Cake, a delicious if unwieldy creation. Sunday was Dana's birthday, and although she's game for pretty much anything sweet, fluffy and delicious, she has a soft spot for cheesecake.

I've never made a cheesecake before, in fact, I don't even like cheesecake that much. Dana, on the other hand, considers herself something of a cheesecake connoisseur, so I was understandably nervous. But then I found this easy recipe on the Bon Appetit Project Recipe Blog, and figured if Bridget could do it, I could too. (I even have a metal food processor blade! Actually, it's Vicky's, so I only have it for another 6 days.)

Conveniently, Seth had whisked Dana away to Cape Cod for her birthday, so I had all of Sunday to work on my cakes. I dragged Nick through the grocery store Sunday morning and got started right away.

As the Bon Appetit bloggers pointed out, the theme of this cheesecake is food processing. First, in go the butter and shortbread cookies (I used Walker's, and while it didn't resemble a crust at first, it turned out delicious. Even Dana thought so.)

The rest of the ingredients are basically just thrown into the food processor together, then poured into the pre-baked crust. Although Bon Appetit blogger Chris cautions against using too many pre-processed ingredients, I used Philadelphia cream cheese because that's what my mom bakes with. (And if you've ever eaten something she's baked, you understand why this is reason enough.) I did take Chris up on his suggestion to leave out the almond extract, mostly because I'm moving out in a week and already have an almost-full bottle of bourbon extract to use up somehow (if I added it to cheap vodka would it taste like whiskey?)

I had no idea how to tell when a cheesecake was done, but apparently I guessed right, because the cheesecake received rave reviews. Even Dana, cheesecake connoisseur, said it was among the best cheesecakes she'd ever had. Victory!

Delicious Reads

Terrible news: I can't eat. 

This tragedy was brought on by the removal, yesterday, of all four of my wisdom teeth. They were replaced, in a rather unequal trade, I think, with four stitches, which greatly inhibit the process of eating. As a result, I have been subsisting on soup and milkshakes for two days now, which, despite the caring ministrations of my loving family, is getting a bit old.

The limited upside of this situation is plenty of time to kill while I laze about with bags of frozen peas on my face (which do wonders to prevent bruising and swelling, for those of you still in possession of your wisdom teeth). So what have I been doing? Reading about food, of course! I should probably do less of this, as it is making me hungry, but knowing me, I'd be hungry anyway. And there's really nothing quite as great for taking my mind off this world as a great story about great food.

So if anyone else, masochistic or not, would like to read some great food writing, I have the following suggestions:

Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell — In a word, great. In three:

 fantastic, hilarious & edifying. This book came out a few years ago, but I just got around to reading it, and at the perfect time. It's not so much about food as about doing what you love, although there's plenty of food. (Much of it disgusting, especially all those aspics.) Things I learned from this book include a) that Julia Child and my mother have a lot in common, including extra-tall marble counter tops, b) that doing what brings you joy really is the way to live your life and c) 2 new ways to kill a lobster. Julie Powell isn't much of a cook, even after slogging through 524 French recipes, but she's a captivating, brutally honest writer who had me laughing out loud on the commuter rail.   If you haven't yet, read it.

 Service Included, by Phoebe Damrosch — An enlightening look into the dining room of one of New York's finest restaurants. An enthralling read throughout, from Phoebe's crash course in truffle varieties to her thoughtful musings on why this world of prohibitively expensive meals exists, and why she has chosen to become part of it. And while she may not in the end provide a satisfactory justification for this restaurant's existence (does it need one?) she provides plenty of humorous tips of how - and how not to - behave when dining there.

On the lighter side, my mom's friend Nina Simonds pointed me toward some great food blogs. I'm still exploring all her fantastic recommendations (and all their recommendations, in turn) but here are some of my favorites so far:

Leite's Culinaria — Thoroughly tested recipes, gripping features, advice on buying knives. They host some lectures/programs/scholarships in the "real world" too. Quite the outfit.

Serious Eats — I love this one. It's not in the least bit serious, and they've got everything: recipes, restaurants, tips, travels and good old funny pictures of dogs. The user-generated content is top-notch too.

The Kitchn — As the name implies, this one is as much about kitchens as it is about what's made in them. But they're careful not to alienate those of us without the counter space (or budget) for Kitchen Aids and Cuisinarts.