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If Not Cake?

When you start to write a post about cheesecake, the first thing to do is research this tasty dessert.

Further study reveals a startling fact … 

Cheesecake is NOT cake!

We’re crazy for that graham cracker crust.
So is it pie? Round, custard filling with crumb crust …
sounds like pie.

 

*”Despite the confusing terminology, cheesecake is by no means a cake. Also, since cheesecake isn’t topped with pastry, it cannot be a pie. Cheesecake is, and forever will be, a tart”*.

Our baking experiments continue with these little guys. We tried three sizes and found we liked this small cupcake shape. The ratio between graham cracker crumb to cheese filling was great!

An early form of cheesecake was served to Olympians in 776 B.C. But it didn’t resemble what we now think of as cheesecake. Romans took the “recipe’ from the Greeks, made some changes, but all of these early forms of the dessert used a Ricotta-style cheese.

Immigrants brought it to America.  In the late eighteen hundreds a Philadelphia Dairy man invented cream cheese which found its way into what is now commonly called the new york style cheesecake.  This is what most think of when we say cheesecake.

It may not be cake, or pie, or a tart, but we can agree . . . it is a great dessert.

Print Recipe

Mini Cheesecake

These little cheesecakes are baked in a muffin pan just like cupcakes.
Servings: 16

Ingredients

CRUST

  • 6 graham crackers, broken into pieces We used cinnamon graham crackers.
  • 2 tsps sugar
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 pinch salt

FILLING

  • Two 8 oz pkg cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tbsp flour

Instructions

Prep

  • Preheat oven to 325. Line 16 cups (of two muffin pans).

To make crust

  • In bowl of food processor process the graham crackers to fine crumbs. You should have 2/3 cup.
  • Pour crumbs into bowl and add sugar, melted butter, and salt.
  • Use a fork and stir until crumbs are evenly moistened.
  • Divide mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups (about 1 tablespoon per cup).
  • Press crumbs into bottom of cup.
  • Bake until lightly golden, about 4 minutes. Set on wire racks.

To make filling

  • In a clean food processor bowl, process the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.
  • Add the sour cream and vanilla until combined.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, processing well after each addition.
  • Add the flour and process until combined. Scrape down the bowl and process one more time.
  • Divide the filling evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-fourths full.
  • Bake until the cheesecakes puff and are set, about 23 minutes. Let cool completely in the pans.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
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Staying away on the Crooked

The weather has been so nice we took advantage and put the new Euro rod through its paces.

We are back on the Crooked River … fishing … training Tip in the ways of the river …

and generally practicing our own form of social distancing.

This time I evaluated the new rod and in the process caught a couple. The biggest problem encountered is the cobble rock bottom that makes wading difficult and precarious.

At the Crooked we generally don’t cover a lot of river.  Instead we pick a spot and work up and down from there (maybe a quarter of a mile at most). While the river’s bottom is rock and moss, the bank is really easy to traverse.

As the weather keeps getting better, this will be a regular destination for us. It feels great to hear the river rush by and take the time to breathe in the good and exhale the bad.

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Roadside novelty

America developed a national highway system starting in the thirties with a boost after WWII. Paved roads improved commerce but also gave birth to the cross country road trip.

Along our web of highways enterprising business men constructed cement monuments to gophers, dinosaurs and mythical lumber jacks as enticement to the many new sojourners. Some offered food and beverage, but all were rest points so travelers could stretch their legs and spend some money.

The age of roadside attractions has passed or more to the point was bypassed when we upgraded to the Interstate.

However, the monuments remain and it’s amazing what you can find sitting just a mile or two off the freeway. As the weather warms we venture farther from our home base. These road trips, by design, avoid the freeway but any Historical Marker is always a reason to pull over.

Recently we came across a throw back to the time of blue highways, a tea pot shaped gas station in central Washington.

The Teapot Dome Service Station is a former gas station built in the shape of a teapot located in Zillah, Washington. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It is an example of novelty architecture and was intended as a reminder of the Teapot Dome Scandal that rocked the presidency of Warren Harding.

 

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A GREAT Pub … just a bit out of the way

Mitchell, Oregon is roughly halfway between Portland and the Oregon / Idaho border. Sitting on the south edge of Highway 26 there are few reasons for you to do much more than just drive past the sleepy little town.

However, Painted Hills unit is just a few miles east and we venture to that spot 3 or 4 times a year. JQ pointed out the existence of a brew pub, but I was reasonably skeptical of the pours it might offer.

Turns out I was mistaken. Tiger Town Brewing offers a great selection of house brews, a guest tap and an amazing assortment of high end whiskey. Who’d of thunk.

We chose a couple of glasses of different ales and a ‘dram’ of Weller’s. Then, from their adjoining food cart we shared a basket of delicious fish and chips. The menu offered a nice variety of pub fare. Tiger Town may be a bit of a drive but if you ever find your self on Hwy 26 in Central Oregon this is a definite must stop.

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Tight-line Dead Drift

For a few years now we’ve been dabbling with the ‘Euro-nymphing’ flyfishing technique. About this time last year we got some formal instruction from Mary Ann Dozer. Then this week we finally broke down and purchased a dedicated euro-nymph rod.

I found an Orvis ten foot three weight that cost less than two hundred dollars. It arrived this week, so we took it out for a test cast on the Crooked River.

Euro, or tight line nymphing uses a two fly rig with weighted wet flies or split shot. As the name implies this is fished with the line kept taut through the arch of the drift.

The day was warm, for mid-February, and sunny. We hooked up to several fish and caught a couple of decent ones. There is an old adage which says, “a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.”

Well … this was a GREAT day on the river.