I'm sure some of you are thinking I've disappeared into the desert - let me tell you, it's hot enough to be the desert and so far the humidity has been fairly low. I'm choosing to praise the Lord for the small things. :) It's been averaging daytime highs of 90 inside my house, so you know it's hotter than that outside, I was told 112.
I've got a least a week to catch up on my remaining time in Latvia and now my return to India. Most of that will have to wait, as I don't have Internet at home yet (some minor communication problems, but by Wednesday I should have confirmation on when I will have it...and then I still won't hold my breath). :) And I really want to post some pictures of my time...It was so good for my soul and body. God showed me some things about myself and the way I interact with others, He healed my body - I'd been sick the two weeks prior to going, and refreshed my soul and renewed my passion for what I've been invited to do. I'm excited to be back and it's been a good week of reorganizing, taking care of things that hadn't been taken care of and connecting with friends.
Today friends had a house warming party. It was a nice turn out and a good blend of American and Indian cultures. Tomorrow is Mother's Day (though I'm not really sure when this will get posted - I've decided to start blogging even if it doesn't make it up for a few days) and I've attempted a cherry cheesecake. I am feeling a little more like a scientist than a chef; only because when I was in the US I went exactly by the recipe, seldom varying anything. In my city that is impossible, because so much of what I would use is unavailable. To start with, I made cream cheese. It still has the sourness of the yogurt in it - not sure what to add to get rid of that (in case I should decide to make bagels, when the heat dies down, and want to slather on some cream cheese), but for now I'm going for more of the consistency and that's exactly what I got by draining the curd in a cloth for the past 24+ hours. I don't have my famous New York Cheesecake recipe, but even if I did, it calls for sour cream, which I can't get here. Of course, curd could work for that too, but it might just be too much yogurt taste. So, I found a recipe out of the cookbook my mom gave me. It's simple, but seemed to be missing some things I thought were key - like salt and a tablespoon or two of flour. I ground up some butter cookies and added some melted butter to make a crust (theirs actually had flour, sugar and butter, so I think it came out about the same), pressed it into my spring form pan and add the slightly runny batter and baked it. While that was in the oven I opened the can of cherries in sugar syrup I found - this was my inspiration. Unfortunately, it wasn't really what I expected...pits still in the cherries and it was more of a water than a syrup that they were in. I'd seen a trick somewhere for pitting cherries and I found a tool that would work - whew, that cutting with a paring knife was getting old fast, so I'm glad I remembered it. I added the water with some cornstarch and heated it until it got thick...a little too thick, so I added from mixed fruit juice and then some red food coloring - trust me, I think everyone would have been afraid to try it - the exception would have been Dan, he's up for trying anything. :) The cake is done, and after it "cools" a little (it's still 90 in my house, so it's not really going to cool too much) I'll put it in the fridge and get some sleep. For those of you who are worried...I do have an A/C unit in the bedroom, but I only use it when I sleep and it's only on part of the time - the nighttime power shortage makes sure I don't use too much. :)
Happy Mother's Day!
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