The blogosphere is full of people who cook and post their recipes. Most of the posts are light-hearted and fun and full of cute anecdotes. But every once in a while, you'll come across a post that just tugs at your heart strings. I was searching through one of my favorite blogs (zoebakes.com) when I came across this post. I'll save you the process of reading and just explain to you that just over a year ago, a blogger by the name of Jennifer lost her husband. He was in perfect health. She had popped out to get some groceries with her daughter and returned home to find him dead from a heart attack. In a very brave post on her blog where she told the world of her loss, she requested that the people who read her post bake a Peanut Butter Pie in memory of her husband (that was his favorite). One of her biggest regrets was not making him a peanut butter pie before he passed away. She said that something always got in the way of her making it or she just decided to put it off in favor of baking something else. That story really got to me. I read the original post from her blog and her subsequent posts where she chronicled her daily life without her husband. Yes, I cried - I cried a lot. I don't like to cry. At all. Period.
Ryan is always asking me to make a key lime cheesecake and I, just like Jennifer did, put it off to do something else. But when I read her post and how her grief showed through her words, I felt like she was speaking to me when she would mention that we may not have another day with the person we love the most and we should do what we can for them while we have them. So I decided to not wait another day and make my husband a key lime cheesecake. (end of sappy story.)
Okay, so what all does this have to do with cartoons? Well, like I said before, Gnomeo and Juliet has been my cartoon movie of choice here lately. (I mean, its GNOMES! That's just beyond awesome.) When I made this pie, I proudly went to Ryan and said, "This recipe has been made before. A lot. And now I've made it AGAIN! But different." He gave me a very strange look and I then explained to him that I was paraphrasing this:
It made perfect sense to him and gave him a good laugh. Oh and he really liked the cheesecake too. And isn't that what love is all about? Laughing with those you care about over some good food? (And I'm from the south where we celebrate EVERYTHING with food so that answer should obviously be yes.)
(This cheesecake is so simple it's ridiculous. If you don't like using key lime juice, the original recipe called for lemon juice so you can easily make that. No, it doesn't make lemon cheesecake. Don't ask me why the key lime flavor comes out so much more in this and not with the lemon. Blame it on the rain or whatever.)
Key Lime Cheesecake
adapted from my Aunt Betty's recipe
1 Graham Cracker Crust
1 8 oz. Cream Cheese (full fat please!), room temp
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (you can use the reduced fat version)
1/3 c. Key Lime Juice (bottled is fine)
1 tsp. Vanilla
Open graham cracker crust package.
Combine ALL remaining ingredients in a bowl.
Pour into crust.
Seal top of graham cracker crust package.
Open fridge.
Place in fridge.
Close door.
Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. (I've found it sets better if you let it rest overnight.)
(I told you it was so simple it was ridiculous.)
