well, Cheesecake!

No, that is not an expletive!

It's just that - cheesecake!

I have been in the mood for cheesecake lately,

but if you have ever made a cheesecake,

you know that they are not small!

So I waited.

And waited.

Patiently.

Not my best attribute, waiting patiently.

I think I used to be more patient.

Maybe I have become accustomed to

our life of instantaneous results...

Like microwaved food - almost instant hot food.

Pop it in the little box,

poke some numbers,

and just a minute later:

WaLaa! Hot food!

Or maybe like fast food restaurants -

drive through, pay and pick up a meal.

Or maybe the worst culprit: 

picking up your cell phone

and texting or calling someone RIGHT NOW

and having them answer AND

not having to wait until you get to a Pay Phone or back home.

Pay Phone??? What's a Pay Phone???

Well, anyway,

back to the cheesecake...

I had to wait until I had a reason

to make a cheesecake

that feeds 16.

And the occasion arouse over the past weekend.  Yay! 

And I had a cutie of a helper...
(this pic was before we started licking the utensils
and before chocolate was on the white t-shirt! 
Oops, time to get out the aprons!)

I made this scrumptious

Turtle Cheesecake:

It was well worth the wait! 

Scrumptious!

a crust of pecans and flour and butter!

(whole wheat flour, of course)

Then the filling of

Two pounds of cream cheese,

eggs, sugar;

Dark chocolate mixed in with some of the cheesecake,

for a bottom layer of chocolaty goodness,

and a "turtle" layer of caramel and pecans!

Bake for a couple of hours...

then chill and cover with a ganache.

Ganache is that french goodie

that includes warming some whole cream

and pouring it over a good, dark chocolate, stirring until smooth.

What could be better?

Now,

I am going for a walk...

a very long walk!