Ah cheesecake. Rich, smooth, tasty, decadent. I literally had to search through 5 cookbooks for a decent cheesecake recipe before I realised that what I needed was something old school. A cookbook published before someone thought of ruining a cheesecake with oreos, candy bars, or jellybeans. Before cheesecake wasn't good enough unless it contained a hard-to-pronounce Peruvian herb or a berry found in only 5% of the berry-growing free world. A cheesecake-flavored cheesecake.
I found the perfect recipe in Helen Corbitt Cooks for Company. This cookbook originally found its way to my cupboard most likely through my mother. She gave me a stack of old cookbooks when I moved out on my own, and I have kept all of them in my various kitchen cabinets since, though they have rarely been used. The book features Mrs. Corbitt herself, dressed in a drapery-esque dress that clashes wonderfully with the too-busy wallpaper in the background. The table in front of her is laden with down-home food in silverplated chafing dishes and glass bowls, ready for the 30+ people she is planning to entertain that night.
Published in 1974, it is 5 years older than I, making it 32 years old this year. If you are ever searching for something along the lines of "Danish buffet supper" or "Orange rice", look no further - both of these and a few hundred more simplistic (for our time) recipes are contained within. Helen even inputs her own quips about ingredients, the way she hates calling certain dishes "Creamed *", and how to use the bottom of a cup in 50 different ways. Unfortunately, this book is no longer in print. If you're interested, however, a simple search on Froogle might lead you to a cheap copy on ABE Books or elsewhere. Now, onto the cheesecake:
(Halfway eaten, of course - couldn't get a photo quickly enough)
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