Another One Done! Cheesecake Time...

Well, I made my deadline on the book I had to turn in this week, but I had a pretty darn good incentive--a vacation :-) A much needed, a very much anticipated vacation.

I turned it in this afternoon, then had about a gazillion small things stacked up on my desk, waiting to be processed (not to mention the HOUSE, which looks like a tornado, an earthquake and a hurricane went through here, but I'll get to that tomorrow!). My hands are toast...fingers are literally numb, but hey, the book is D-O-N-E.

And here, in advance, are some blog posts for you all to enjoy :-) Some recipes that I will NOT be cooking because I am now down 20 pounds and will be wearing a swimsuit (and coming into swimsuit season, which keeps me on my diet until the swimsuit goes back in the drawer, LOL).

This is from PRETTY BAD, my current release (I'll be posting recipes from that book this week). In case you didn't know, that's part of my romantic comedies with recipes series. Each book is a different food group (BRIDE is chocolate, DEVIL is Italian food, ANGEL is seafood, BACHELOR is desserts and this one is cheese :-).

Madison’s If-You-Need-More-Ammunition Cheesecake
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
Rind of one lemon, grated
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, at room temperature

If you’re going to start a food fight, be sure to have enough heavy ammunition on hand to win. Choose the highest-calorie weapons, too— to make the maximum impact on the enemy’s waistline.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while your temper is starting to boil over and those cats are sharpening their claws. Mix the butter, three tablespoons sugar and the cracker crumbs, then press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake the crust for five minutes.

Take out some of your frustrations on the cream cheese by beating it (with a mixer, not your fists—don’t want to break a nail here!), for about 30 seconds, until it’s as smooth as Noxzema. Scrape the bowl, then add the sugar and mix again for another 30 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients, all while plotting your next move.

Make it look perfect—because if it looks perfect, then you can tell yourself the calories don’t count. So, wrap aluminum foil around the bottom of the springform pan, until it comes one inch over the sides (about the distance between the first two knuckles on your delicate index finger for those math challenged home chefs).

Pour in the filling, then put the springform pan on a jelly-roll pan. Pour a 1/2 inch of water around the outside of the springform pan. Don’t worry, with your foil barrier, the cheesecake’s future is as smooth and secure as a woman with an unlimited Botox supply.

Bake for one hour, which should be just enough time to plan a hell of a comeback—and buy a really killer pair of shoes so no one forgets your entrance.

And yes, I have indeed made cheesecake (this one and a few with Splenda, because I am back on my low carb eating plan and let me tell you this has been a HUGE HELP to my migraines lately, so I am so totally sticking to low carb again...not to mention the five pounds in a week lost :-). I love cheesecake. Think it is a total gift from God when I see it on a menu. Which is, of course, why I opened the book with it ;-)

Writing the recipe books is always a blast. They are tempting for the writer and the reader (the writer has to cook all those dishes :-). But they are fun and I love working the recipes in with the character voice, the story, and add some scene foreshadowing. It takes work, but hey, if this was easy...it wouldn't be a job ;-).

Shirley