I thought long and hard about when my love affair with cheesecake started and more like a typical male(sorry guys :) ) I could not remember our "anniversary" of the first time we met. My mother didn't make cheesecakes at home(not sure why... she still doesn't) and so I only ever got it going out.  I'm sure my first experience involved the no-bake Jello cheesecake version that was so popular when I was a kid. But I suspect that I fell in love at a restaurant taking a bite off my mother's plate. No doubt it was New York cheesecake with the then obligatory blob of cherries on top...for years this is the only way I thought it could be offered. Fresh from all my pastry learning, I worked part time(I was a full time teacher) at a little bakery that sadly no longer exist(Phoenix is over run by commercialism now). I decided that I wanted to make the cheesecakes(among other things). Now you are probably thinking that I chose that so I could eat all the cheesecake I wanted....WRONG. I took … [Read more...]