The Softer Side of Pensiero

That's right, folks. The Pensieros have a cheesecake recipe that is completely drool-worthy. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners take on a whole new aura.


Now, as it is not my recipe, I am never responsible for making the dessert of honor and thus I have never really had occasion to do so. Oh sure, I have the recipe in my family recipe box thanks to my lovely mother-in-law, but I've never ventured as far as taking it out of said box and doing something with it. Mostly out of fear and intimidation. But a few weeks ago, as Valentine's day approached, I decided that now was as good a time as any. After making the crust and whipping up all the cheesy ingredients, I poured the batter into the springform, only to find that it was rather full. (Wouldn't it rise a bit in the oven?) Eerily full. (Maybe it won't rise very much...) Worrisomely full. (I hope the gas oven doesn't burst into rogue flames when the cheesecake rises.)


After 30 minutes in the oven and a brief consultation with my father-in-law (he's the cheesecake recipe inheriter and chef), I decided that it would be all right, that it would not spill out into my oven helter skelter. But what I could not decide was how long I should cook the little puppy in my overly eager oven. This oven cooks EVERYTHING in half the time, at 50 degrees lower than suggested. Seriously. It's Dante's Inferno in there.

So, I just gave it my best shot. Having never made any cheesecake before, I had no idea how to test it for it's doneness. The only indication I had was the top, and that was browning like my italian husband on a summer day. And considering my oven's lack of consistency, I knew I couldn't trust the timing on the recipe card. So what did I do?

I winged it. And you know what? It wasn't terrible. I mean, the center was rather soft, but the outer edges were FULLY fork-edible. We left that cheesecake in the pan and went to town (pictures misplaced).

And that's the cheesecake saga.

And you're all invited to get excited about it! We sure are. The Lord has really blessed us with this new development in our lives - it goes something like this:

As geno and I were looking into/praying about/thinking about possibly one day maybe someday buying a house, we were approached by a couple in our church who asked if we would be interested in renting a house from them. We certainly weren't opposed to the idea and as we began to pray about it, the Lord kept closing the buying doors and opening up these doors. (Thanks, Jesus!) So we went over there today to check out the place and talk to our prospective landlords and, wouldn't you know it, we are in love with the place. Among the many, many great things about this house and the situation in general, there is one thing that has me more excited than anything else: fruit. That's right, fruit. Meyer lemons, oranges, apricots (swoon!), grapes, blackberries (double swoon!!), and pears. It's a little "country" house on just over half an acre, but not really very far into the country. I mean, there's an apartment complex about 400 yards away on one side and a large church about a half-mile away on the other side.

We didn't get a chance to take any pictures yet, but we hope to do so tomorrow or sometime very soon. Rest assured, we'll show them to you. But for now we're just getting excited. I mean, we'll miss Beryl's newsletters, but I think we'll make it.