Treasures and Kindness

First off, I would like to note that this is not the first time I wrote this post. I wrote a huge long inspired post on Friday night about all of this, and then, before I could post it, my cursor navigated away from the page, deleting it! I tried in vain to get it back but it was too late. With that, I closed my laptop, and went to the gym.

I would love to be able to blog every evening so that all of the post arrive right after I make something. Unfortunately, when one gets home around 8pm and then dinner is at 8:30/9pm most nights, that gets a little tricky.

Thursday after work I got my haircut. To most people, this isn't a big deal but I only go about 3 times a year so it feels like such a luxury! I love getting my hair washed and then the final product seeing how much she's thinned it out so it's not so heavy anymore is bliss! Especially in the summer. So, smiling to myself after leaving the salon, I made a relaxing sunny drive to my parent's place in Riverpark South since my mom agreed to dye my hair. I like to get a cut and colour all at once so I can surprise my husband so this really worked out nicely. He was at his parents doing some work so we'd meet up when we both got home later.

Granted, I had not been to the gym but I was starving! My mom gave me a big hug when I walked in, and so did my dad, since I hadn't seen them in over 3 weeks because they had been at the lake. I definitely miss my parents when we don't see each other that often. I like spending time with them and they have the most beautiful relaxing house and yard, overlooking one of those man made lakes. Since moving to this house, my mom has finally got the garden that she wanted and now they are growing their own vegetables, berries and herbs (and I will definitely be reaping the benefits once those zucchini plants start to go wild, which suits me just fine!).

After hugs, my mom asked if I had eaten and directed me to all of the leftovers that they had in the fridge. My parents cook and eat pretty healthy and with my general healthy eating (I say generally because although on Thursday I had eaten fairly decent, as I write this on Monday, my weekend was absolutely horrifying). I opted for a couple slices of homemade pizza with baby courgette and elk sausage, some brown quinoa salad with chopped veggies, and from-the-garden sauteed Swiss chard. Mmmm!

Nothing like healthy fresh food that was cooked by someone you love.

Baby courgette and elk sausage pizza, Swiss chard, and brown quinoa salad with fresh veg and balsamic dressing

After eating, my mom and I were talking about good things to use up pumpkin with since we both had about a cup leftover (mine was from the pumpkin pie ice cream). She told me that her favorite was Curried Pumpkin Soup. She's made it for me before and it's definitely great, so I asked to copy out the recipe. She got out her recipe box and found it and then I started thumbing through the well-worn cards.

My Mom's recipe box

There is something to beautiful about being allowed to look through someones recipe box. There are family secrets in there, most loved meals, cards that can make an event. They are historical short stories passed down from generation. They can show the evolution of pallet. Being privy to look at a good cook's recipes is like being allowed to watch a master working on a painting. They are glimpses into the art, the creative, and the process. You have earned the trust and the privilege to be allowed a peek. I told my mom that if she ever wants to leave anything to me, I would like her recipes. That would be one of the things that would mean the most to me. Both of my parents have contributed, and I can tell whose handwriting is whose. There's that wonderful tactility again, being able to run your hand over the card and feel the soft indent that the pressure from the pen left, feeling old dried remnants of some ingredient that accidentally leaked onto the card and was quickly wiped off. These are precious items and if you are ever allowed the honour of going through someones recipes, treat it as a gift with respect and care.

My mom's copy of Curried Pumpkin Soup and my copy of it

After copying out the recipe, hair dying commenced, which was a hilarious and fun evening of chatting, telling stories, and catching up. I had a nice visit with my parents and wanted to stay longer, but it was already 9:30pm and I had a 30 minute drive home and still, I had a plan that I wanted to execute that night.

Ingredients out for the banana cream cheesecake

I had been eyeing a recipe in one of my Taste of Home magazines for about a week or so. Taste of Home, was an excellent cooking magazine, great for beginner cooks. I would recommend getting your hands on some older copies from the library if you can, the ones before they started putting ads in them. The quality has gone down since then. They also have cookbook collections like "Mom's Best Meals". Anyways, the recipe was for a banana cream cheesecake and I had just bought some ripe bananas for baking with. The other day, I found out that a lady at work was going to be off after the August long weekend for surgery and wouldn't be back for a month after that. I very covertly found out if she liked bananas and cheesecake (it was not covert at all, I sent her an email saying I was taking a poll on who like bananas or cheesecake...). Turns out she did so it was game on. I figured a nice treat before a long weekend and surgery would be a nice way to start the Friday.

So, I got home at 10pm and while catching up the day with my husband, started prepping.

First, like most cheesecakes, you make a crust. Graham crumbs, sugar, and melted margarine. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a greased spring form and bake until golden. I think this recipe called for too much margarine as it took a long time to get the crust to the right firmness and it shrunk a lot from the sides.

Graham crumb crust with sliced bananas, cream cheese mix spread on top

While the crust was going, the cream cheese layer was started. Light cream cheese whipped with sugar, and light Cool Whip folded in.

The top layer was banana pudding, which I made with powdered skim milk, and folded in the rest of the Cool Whip.

Cream cheese layer in pan, pudding layer being prepared

Basically, these 2 layers were spread over some sliced bananas placed on the crust and then in between the layers and after decorating the top a little, the whole thing went into the fridge overnight.

The next day, I emailed the work lady after dropping off paper plates at her desk, telling her that the email would explain what these were for. She was onto me with the poll but was nonetheless thrilled when she saw her banana cream cheesecake that was hers for the eating and the sharing with whoever she wanted. I took a slice to my boss who loved it, and grabbed a sliver for myself for later. I didn't feel like having cake for breakfast.

Banana Cream Cheesecake finished product

It turned out quite well. It was very light and refreshing and the flavours were mellow and sweet. I think that I would do a thicker layer of cream cheese next time, and add some gelatin to the pudding mix so it sets better. Or perhaps freezing it would have worked too.

All in all, everyone that was given a piece seemed pretty happy, which made me feel quite good and definitely did start off the Friday of a long weekend quite nicely.

Banana Cream Cheesecake inside view