Designer

……………………Sunday morning…we all got up early, because Michelle, who’s a realtor, had a 1:00pm showing of a house, and there was a lot we wanted to do before they got on the road……First stop Elm Street Diner…[photos at left…The poster outside shows their famous “desert”…it’s a design your own, or they will make one for you….It’s a mile high with all kinds of ice cream, whipped cream, candies and even lollipops sticking out…..Honestly it’s kind of gross, and I can’t believe how many people order it! Talk about a sugar overload….They even order one for breakfast to share….yuck!….I order fried eggs and bacon…no potatoes please, but Matty jumped in, and said I’ll take my uncle’s potatoes!….He had the “Lumberjack Special”….Poached egg on top of a stack of pancakes with bacon, a sausage paddy, a slice of ham, and toast!….That 6’6” boy can eat!…..Michelle had the French toast with blueberries, which were the size of marbles!….Breakfast was yummy!!……..Then off to Terrain, a wonderful store in Westport Ct…….You simply can not go into that store without buying something. There is also a cafe in the store and it was full of people enjoying their meals….We walked around the store with baskets in hand buying all kinds of Halloween decorations, soaps and candles….Matty and Michelle had given me as a present, a “Blueberry Muffin” candle…..photo bottom right….and it smells just like a blueberry muffin!…..His older brother Chris, had given me this heat lamp that you put a candle under. The heat of the lamp melts the candle without any flame!…and boy does it work! It’s great because you can put it on a timer, and you can leave the house without worrying about a burning candle………Then off they went back to Long Island…….another fun visit with my family!

………………….My nephew Matty, my brother Mauro’s youngest child, and his girlfriend of many years, Michelle, came to spend the weekend with Uncle Lou………They arrived about 2pm…..The plan was to have some snacks first, and then go to the store “TERRAIN” in Westport Ct……We had a 6pm dinner reservation at “Casa Me”, a relatively new, extremely popular restaurant in Westport, which was near Terrain. I hadn’t been there yet, so I thought it would be a fun place for us to experience together…..When we got on the road, in the pouring rain. the traffic on the highway was horrendous….bumper to bumper. It took so long we decided to skip Terrain for the next day, and go straight to the restaurant…..We found a spot in a packed parking lot and went into the packed restaurant…[photo bottom left]……They had outside dining under an awning, and the tables were almost all full, but it was damp and we really didn’t want to sit outside…….Uncle Lou screwed up!…..I thought our reservation was for 6pm, but the hostess told me it was made for 5pm [she was correct], and they didn’t have anything until 9pm….3 hours later….I said thanks, but no thanks…..I knew another relatively new restaurant in Westport, so we went. I noticed through the window, as we pulled into the lot, that the host was a young woman….so I sent Matty in to see if there was a table avail? I figured when she saw this extremely handsome, 6’6″, hazel eyed young man with salt and pepper hair come in, she couldn’t turn him away! He came out with two thumbs up! She squeezed us in!….I was right…he charmed her even thought she was fully booked!….[photos top and bottom center, and top right]……The dinner was wonderful…..Sometimes lemons do turn into lemonade……I thanked the hostess profusely and gave her a nice tip!…….We all knew we had RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE waiting for us at home……We got into our pjs, and started to watch the new movie…..”TWISTERS”……half way though we paused it…..We all went to the kitchen….I whipped up some fresh whipped cream and cut pieces of the cake….upstairs we went…cheesecake in hand, and finished watching the movie………….Both the movie and the cheesecake were FABULOUS!….We all went to bed happy campers…..Tomorrow was another day!

…………………….Here is my finished RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE!……..I added a layer of the BONNE MAMAN PRESERVES on top and decorated it with fresh Raspberries…….I will also make some fresh WHIPPED CREAM to dollop on the side. I love the combination of the whipped cream and the raspberries!!!!

………………..I have weekend guests coming later today….my nephew Matty, my Godson, and his partner Michelle…….Since the Chocolate Cheese Cake is GONE!…..I made my first RASPBERRY CHEESE CAKE!………The crust and batter are classic…….GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST, and the batter is CREAM CHEESE, SOUR CREAM, SUGAR, EGGS and VANILLA…….It’s the raspberry sauce that takes a little time…..RASPBERRIES, SUGAR, a table spoon of FRESH LEMON JUICE and 1/2 cup of water……You put it in a sauce pant on low to medium heat and stir, stir stir until the berries break down. Then you are supposed to put the sauce in a sieve and push it through leaving the seeds behind, which I did……but……for me it wasn’t pureed enough so I waited for it to cool, and put it in my food processor to get it really smooth……Then after baking the crust in the oven for 15 minutes and letting it cool, I poured half the batter into the spring pan….then with a table spoon I started to drizzle the raspberry sauce over the batter evenly……Next with a large spoon I dolloped the rest of the batter carefully on top. When it was even I added the rest of the raspberry sauce dropping it evenly over the batter…..Next, I took a tooth pick and zig zagged it over the sauce as you see in the top two pictures at the right, and into the oven it went in a hot water bath. The spring pan had two layers of tin foil wrapped around it from the bottom up the sides…. It cooked for 55 minutes, then I turned the oven off and let it sit in the oven to cool slowly to prevent cracks for another hour with the door closed…..After that out of the oven it came…out of the water bath and I removed the tin foil. It sits on a wire rack, bottom right photo, to completely cool……Then into the refrigerator over night…..That’s supposed to be THE END…..but…..I will ADD a top layer of Bonne Maman Raspberry Perserves!!!….and finish decorating it with fresh Raspberries!….If it tastes as good as it smells it’s going to be scrumptious……I’ll post photos of the finished RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE!

………………….My visit with Glenn and Charles continued into Wednesday….We went for an early breakfast before the boys went on their journey back to the Hamptons….Glenn is also a marvelous cook, and he sent me some of the receipts we discussed…..one being the scones we all enjoyed when we vacationed at Cap Juluca, in Anguilla….They always served them at “Tea Time” at the main house…..Glenn got the receipt from the hotel chef!……We had fun taking pictures around the property…..more memories to add to my memory book………..In addition to the plastic cups with “Harris Walz” printed on them, the boys also gave me a beautiful bottle of Rose wine and Rose Prosecco……They also gifted me with a marvelous book called….”THE BRASS BOOK”. Since I have an extensive collection of both English and Dutch antique brass pieces ranging from candle sticks and candle holders and trays, lanterns of all shapes and sizes, brass boxes in different shapes including a pear, wall sconces, kettles, bell candle holders, trivets, a fire screen, large brass stands with draws, and a collection medallions used to decorate horse’s reigns…etc. etc….the book was right up my alley. I know I will spend hours perusing through its’ pages…..Finally, before they left, we finally had pieces of the CHOCOLATE CHEESE CAKE I made for them, which we all enjoyed immensely…..I gave them a large piece for them to take home….less for me to eat!! Along with the cake I gave them slices of the banana, walnut, and chocolate chip loaf I also made….something for the road….Then it was time to say goodbye…..with promises made that their next visit wouldn’t take so long!…….It was great to be with my boys again….The years just melted away.