Thursday evening I had made plans to visit my parents and my mom was going to dye my hair for me. I hadn't seen them in 3 weeks because they were away at the cabin and I was definitely craving some family time. I had bought a box of colour that was purple-ish and had just got my hair cut too. My hair-dresser, Elaine, always does a great job and I am surprised she's not out of breath after thinning my crazy mane. In any case, I was relaxed after a pampering hair cut, the sun was out, the day was beautiful, and I was on my way to my parent's lovely house on a man-made pond.
When I got there, my parents had finished eating but my mom said there was lots in the fridge and she was right! Elk sausage and fresh from the garden baby courgette homemade pizza, some fresh garden veggie dark quinoa salad, fresh cut up veggies, olives, garden fresh Swiss chard, hard boiled eggs, salad, etc. I opted for the pizza, fresh Swiss chard, and brown quinoi salad.
 |
| Dinner at my parents |
My parents are both really good cooks, although my mom does most of the every day cooking and my dad enjoys the special event meals or recipes (fruit cake made with a bottle of Grand Marnier, nougat, tarte Tatin, etc). My mom made what you see here and it was all so amazing and fresh! The best food every is fresh, healthy and not made my me so I feel spoiled :)
 |
| Another view of the Swiss chard and some of the veggies from my parent's garden |
After savouring dinner, I had a slice of pumpkin cake that my mom made (not shown) and was asking her about the leftover canned pumpkin that she had. She told me that she was going to make Curried Pumpkin Soup with hers and that is was one of her favorites. Since I had leftover pumpkin as well from the Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, I needed a recipe or idea to use it up too. I knew that soup was good so she pulled out her recipe box so I could copy it out.
Seeing my mom's recipe box is a little like getting to see the family treasures. I get very excited to flip through the well-worn, food stained, torn recipe cards that contain the mysteries solved of all of my childhood and adult favorites that my mom cooks. Recipe cards are secret treasures. I have a box of them as well and some are more worn that others and I doubt I would let just anyone rifle through them either.
 |
| My mom's treasures |
She found the soup recipe so I copied it out and figured that I would make it on the long weekend. With my recipe cards, I write out the ingredients and directions in my own way, the title (often if it came from a family member, their name goes on the card too. E.g. Mom's Curried Pumpkin Soup), the amount of servings that it makes, and after making it, a rating. A+ are go-to recipes. Tasty, easy, well-received. Notes are often made by recipes in my cookbooks or magazines in case I made changes and tasted better, or if I wanted to add in a tip.
 |
| Curried Pumpkin Soup |
After having my hair dyed and spending some time with my awesome parents, I drove home with my husband just arriving himself. It was about 10pm. Now, before all of this, I had an idea in my mind about making a recipe from a Taste of Home Magazine that I had been eyeing for a while. It was for a banana cheesecake. I had bought bananas at Superstore whose purpose would only be for baking. I don't like bananas. Every 6 months or so, I get the notion that my taste buds will have changes and I will like them this time. So, I try a banana and it is always the same unappetizing disappointment of trying to gingerly finish chewing the mushing piece of fruit in my mouth and swallowing it with the least amount of tasting as possible. So, these bananas would give their life to a higher calling: cake.
Now, here's the problem with cake. I can't see the purpose of making one for the 2 of us when we'll just polish off the whole thing in a couple of nights (or less). Some people may be looking at their partner going, "what's the problem with that?" but I keep a food log to stay on track with my diet (which is not a "diet" but a lifestyle) and I cannot meet my caloric intake by eating cakes all day. I like to make cakes for occasions. I was talking to one of the women in my office about her long weekend plans and she was telling me that she was actually going to be gone after that and not coming back until September! She said that she was getting surgery. I didn't press for what but started thinking, what better occasion than a "wishing you a speedy recovery and happy long-weekend" cake!
So, at 10pm, I got to work.
The recipe calls for making a cheesecake layer that sits atop of a typical graham crumb crush with a pudding layer on top. The graham crust is made by mixing graham crumbs, melted margarine and some sugar together, pressing it on the bottom and up the sides of a 9" spring form pan, and baking it until golden. If I did it over again, I would make the crust thinner and go up higher on the sides as it shrunk down during the baking time.
For the cream cheese layer, it was really just a block of reduced fat cream cheese, whipped with sugar and an egg. Then, light Cool Whip was folder in.
 |
| Cream cheese layer with powdered milk and chopped bananas waiting |
Next, bananas were chopped and placed on top of the crust. I used about 4 bananas in this recipe, two for this part. Then, the cream cheese mixture was spread over top. This was a little tricky to do without moving the bananas around.
 |
| graham crumb crust with bananas |
Next, the pudding layer was made. Easy. Instant banana pudding powder (which I could only find in No Name brand, and unfortunately, they did not have a reduced sugar or fat free one) is mixed with milk, in this case, reconstituted powdered. Then, you mix that up until it thickens, which only takes a moment. It does proclaim to be instant, after all. Now, fold in the rest of the Cool Whip.
 |
| pudding layer being mixed |
More sliced bananas go on top of the cream cheese layer, then the pudding layer gets poured on top. I decorated the top with leftover slices of banana, some graham crumbs, and a few lemon balm leaves (are mint is not growing as quickly). Into the refrigerator overnight. Now, bedtime!
 |
| the finished product |
I emailed P at work, telling her that some bananas had made a sacrifice for her and dropped off some paper plates at her desk and told her to check the fridge. She was pretty happy and started asking around the office who wanted some cake. It was only about 9am but it was pretty well received none-the-less.
 |
| Banana Cream Cheesecake |
It seems that the no-bake banana cream cheesecake was a success. Everyone who had a piece had smiles on their face and I would like to think that their Friday of a long weekend was made just a little bit better. I did end up trying a small slice and it was pretty good, but not really my thing. A crowd-pleaser for sure though. The nice thing is, this recipe is one of those flexible ones. The cream cheese layer could be flavoured and a different pudding mix could be used in the other layer. Chocolate or ginger cookie crumbs could be used, a different fruit or chopped nuts or something else could be layered within the cake. The directions in making it would remain the same but the possibilities are endless!
Maybe if I made this again, I will try doing a Kahlua and chocolate version, or maybe a lemon and strawberry one, who knows?
 |
| inside view of the cake |
All I know, is that at lunchtime, I went to see if there was any left, and all I found was a washed spring form pan, knife, and cookie sheet...
No comments:
Post a Comment