Hailing the Season, Part I

     Wow, has this ever been a long season.  Interminable.  I can blame a fair amount on the political and social events of our time.  I can blame it on not one but two...two! nasty head colds in a row, which have dragged me down.  Can I blame them on president elect?  I think I will chose to blame many things on that odious man, this included (stress, leading to reduced immune system, leading to increased vulnerability in the setting of the flu and cold season and voila!).
     However, the event of the season was last weekend, and so my Scrooge-like sentiments are starting to wane a bit.  That event?  Why, the Night of Beef, of course!  This was particularly touching as we presented a commemorative book to Laurie and Darren for their generosity in hosting this delightful time each year.  Also, it is more than a little bittersweet, as many of our babies are heading off to college next year, and who knows who will actually attend next year?  It's the end of an era, in some ways.
     I am trying to be hopeful that it is also the beginning of a new one.  Looking forward and all that.  Trying to imagine a new time.  In the interim, I was on dessert, and had the pleasure of surprising myself with creating two cheesecakes.  Why surprising?  I don't really care for cheesecake.  They are a bit too dense and rich for me, and I prefer a fruitier dessert.  But I don't really serve myself (well....maybe a little), and the beauty of such a dessert is that it is enjoyed by others, and can be made gluten free with little effort.  Oh, and it serves a fair number as well.  Finally, while they are a little time consuming, they are fairly easy to produce.  Oh, and they were quite good, surprise surprise.
     These cheesecakes come from 2 sources.  The first is the lemon cheesecake, which is a riff on the one in the cookbook by Dorie Greenspan called "Baking."  This one was fantastic, and while I don't want to break my arm patting myself on the back, I believe I gilded the lily a bit by scattering freeze dried strawberries on top, to great effect.

     The second is a milk chocolate cheesecake, from Cook's Country.   The only source of gluten in both of these recipes is the crust.  There is a plethora of gluten free cookie options in the city of Seattle these days, this quality being much in fashion.  So the chocolate cheesecake calls for Oreos.  No problem if there is a Trader Joe's around, they make a gluten free variety.  The lemon requires a graham cracker type crust, these are also available, in several stores.

     Don't need to keep the gluten out?  Then follow the recipes as they appear online.  However, I can definitely say that 1.  Doing it gluten free is completely indistinguishable from the other in this case; and 2.  there is probably SOMEONE who will thank you for considering them and making dessert an option; and finally 3 there is something to be said by using the freeze dried strawberries.   Adds a little what's the French saying?  Je ne sais quoi.
     The link for the Lemon Cheesecake is here:
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015672-tall-and-creamy-cheesecake
To make it a Lemon cheesecake, add the microplaned rind of 2 lemons, and juice of one, to the additions.  I added somewhere around 1/3c of lightly crushed freeze dried strawberries on top, which are beautiful and add a dainty crunch.
     The link for the Milk Chocolate Cheesecake is here:
https://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/8137-milk-chocolate-cheesecake
I made an addition of both the 2 ounces of melted chocolate for the top, as well as another 1-2 ounces of white chocolate melted in a similar manner  and drizzled on top.  I liked the contrast that it provided.
     And that, all in all, is something to help with reducing the Scrooge in me, anyway, and helping me through the dark season.