Cookin' With Leo

By Leocthasme

No, it ain't Italian, an' fer that matter this recipe has nothing to do with my dear sweet Italian Fairy Godmother. She hasn't been around all summer anyway, probably foolin' with the rest of the Fairies at their annual mid-summer Fairy Frolic whatever. This is my own invention I've come up with while sorta' keepin' Ma on her low carb diet, whichever. A' course, this here ain't entirely free of carbs since it has some sugar in it. Tried it with some sweetener, but that stuff won't work well with this outstanding advance in my cooking creativity. An', this ain't an everyday desert fer Ma anyway. All the cheese an' eggs in here is mostly her thing, but a bit of goodies, once in a while, ain't gonna' add too many inches, wherever. This here is summer goodies that won't heat up the kitchen, well not much, so enjoy it.

This is what you need:

1/3 cup Graham Cracker or butter cookie crumbs

2 lbs Philadelphia Cream Cheese, let it set out to room temperature.

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract, good stuff, not imitation vanilla flavor

¼ cup brandy, and that's good stuff too, not no cookin' flavor

5 eggs, real hen stuff

a bit a' butter to grease the baking pan

OK, got all that? Here is how we do it, read it well before you start so you don't get startled by my superior style, whichever:

Step 1, before bedtime let the oven heat up to 200°F. Butter a 9" spring form pan or a 2 qt soufflé dish and spread it with the cracker or cookie crumbs and set it aside.

Step 2, in a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, add the vanilla, brandy, and the eggs and stir those in well until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven overnight.

Step 3, ok go to bed you're done with the preliminaries.

Step 4, Whenever you get up the next morning remind your self to turn off the oven and that you better look inside to see what you did the night before, probably 8 hours earlier. The cake should be set, so remove it to a rack and let it cool. Let the pan cool enough to handle, should take about an hour. Meanwhile make your morning coffee.

Step 5, after your cup or two of eye-opener, cover the cake with wax paper or butcher paper and an inverted plate. Turn it upside down. Remove the pan you baked it in and place in fridge for at least 1 hour. Have a few more shots of eye-opener, whatever.

Step 6, Get the cheese cake out of the fridge and invert a serving plate over it. Turn it over again and remove the plate and wax paper. Now you can cover it and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours or until ready to serve your delighted guests, whoever. If you ain't a real hog, you will get about 12 to maybe even 16 slices of celestial cheesecake.

Before slicing and serving, you might top the cake with some halved Maraschino Cherries or a sprinkle of cinnamon and raisins, you are on your own for toppings..

Ya'll keep real cool the rest of the summer, ya'heah!