Cleaning Up the Mess

Those of you who come here regularly know that Pots ’n Pens is all about the writing and the cooking. Today I’m going to take a little tangent from that to highlight one of the support players in both tasks: cleaning up the mess.

Dishes already accumulating two days after Mom left.

For the last week, we were fortunate to have a helper in our house keeping the dishes washed and the kitchen in order—thanks, Mom! But for most of us, most of the time, staying ahead of the mess in the kitchen, in the office, and in the manuscript is half the work. It’s also a task that’s easy to put off, much to our shame. Still, as any top cook will tell you, maintaining a clean workstation is essential to preparing top quality food. You want your kitchen to be sanitary and every dish to be washed right away so it’s available the next time you need it. Otherwise you’ll end up with one of those monster stacks of dirty dishes that threaten to swallow you whole.

My desk area at the moment. Yes, those are rodents!

The same thing can happen in an office space. It’s easy to add one more thing to the pile and then to start another pile, to shove a few papers to the side with the intent of dealing with it later. But we all know that “later” never comes. And soon it’s a struggle just to find the space for your laptop. Even at the end of one project, we jump in so excitedly to the next that cleanup never happens.

While it’s not my main focus here, manuscript messes can start out in similar ways. They can be the result of a finished project that leaves drippings all over your next work in progress: an old character’s voice you love so much that it infects your new characters or a manuscript that you never finished editing because it seemed too difficult/messy. Manuscript messes can be as simple as a logic problem on page 3 that you choose to ignore until page 200 even though you knew it was there. But by that point, so much of the plot has wrapped itself around the problem that fixing it requires rubber gloves and industrial strength cleaner.

Whatever your mess, here’s my suggestion: CLEAN IT UP! . . .  DO IT NOW! It’s not going to get easier later. As evidenced by the pictures above, I’m a master at making messes, so trust me on this. Your cooking, your writing, and your family will be a lot happier if you do.

And just to prove that I’m not a hardhearted wretch, I’m sharing a recipe for Valentine’s Day. It’s an old classic I loved in my childhood that’s also available in variations all over the internet. But in case some of you don’t already know about these sweet, simple treasures, I present some tartly treats.

Miniature Cheesecakes

1 box vanilla wafers

16 oz. cream cheese (I usually use reduced fat and they’re still delicious.)

¾ c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract (or almond)

1 large can cherry pie filling (or blueberries or chocolate chips, etc.)

18 cupcake liners

Preheat over to 375°. After softening the cream cheese (by leaving it out fully wrapped or microwaving for a few seconds), add sugar and beat together. Mix in eggs and vanilla until blended.

Place liners in muffin pan cups. Put one vanilla wafer in the bottom of each liner. Fill each cup one third to one half full of cream cheese mixture. (Fill all a third of the way, and then spoon in whatever is left.) Bake for approximately 12 minutes until set and slightly golden, being careful not to overcook them.

After the cheesecakes cool, spoon cherry pie filling (or topping of your choice) on each cake. (You may wish to have more than one can of cherries ready if you want yours to be extra fruity.) Serve or refrigerate until ready.

Jonathan Schkade is the author of six books for children, including Icky Sticky, Hairy Scary Bible Stories. He's also a  network co-representative for the Southern Ilinois region of SCBWI. To learn more about Jonathan, you can study his dirty dishes or visit his site: www.jonathanschkade.com.

Twix Cheesecake and Aiming for Perfection

Aiming for perfection—we’ve all done it. Whether in cooking, writing, parenting, or dusting, it’s a noble pursuit.

Why wouldn’t we want to be the best? With perfection as the goal, low standards disappear, rough edges are smoothed, and grand results take shape. When we aim beyond our understanding, our knowledge and abilities can be fundamentally changed for the better.

Perfection, of course, is a dangerous goal as well. Mirages are unattainable. There’s always a flavor to adjust, a sentence that’s good but not great, an A- that could be an A+, and, of course, those dust specks in the air that settle right back down until those clean surfaces. I hate those specks!

There’s always more to do. But that last step is elusive. For example, the writer of a scene that makes 80 percent of readers cry longs to learn how to pull tears from the stone hearts of the other 20 percent. Perfection is the ultimate tease. It can break your heart, erode your confidence, and taunt you like an intangible gingerbread man: “Catch me if you can!”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s worth trying for, but only if you can appreciate where it leads you more than where it hasn’t.

Since I received some lovely springform pans for Christmas, I’ve known that cheesecake has been in my future. Recently, however, I’ve become obsessed with making the perfect Twix cheesecake. And I don’t just mean a cheesecake incorporating Twix. No, no. I want a cheesecake with the full essence of Twix: the crispy cookie, the mellow caramel, and the chocolate draping over it all.

The problem, as you might have guessed from today’s lecture, is that I had no idea what I was doing. The Twix desserts I found online all sounded tasty but missed the mark of that perfect dessert of my dreams. After much thinking, I decided on a shortbread crust, a vanilla/Twix bar middle, creamy caramel, and a chocolate ganache topping. In execution, it's a very sweet, delicious dessert, though not exactly my idealized version.

Still, it is good. And perfection can wait for me to chase it another day.

Twix Cheesecake

Shortbread Crust
1 1/4 c. flour
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. finely crushed shortbread cookies
1 tsp. orange peel
8 tbsp. softened butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan. Stir the dry ingredients together. Mash or cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg and vanilla, and mix just until the dough forms a ball.

Spread a bit more than 1/3 of the dough over the bottom of the pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until crust is lightly golden brown, about 10 to 14 minutes. Cool completely on rack. Press remaining dough around the sides of the pan, attaching dough to the bottom crust.

Cream Cheese Mixture
24 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sugar
5 large eggs
3 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
12 oz. sour cream
1/4 c. heavy cream
12 fun-size Twix bars

All ingredients should be near room temperature before you begin. Cut up Twix bars into thin slices and set aside.

Beat the cream cheese on a low setting until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until creamy. Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg. Mix in flour, almond extract, and lemon juice. Add the sour cream and heavy cream and beat well. Stir in Twix pieces. Pour mixture into the springform pan.

Caramel Layer
30 caramel candies

2 tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 325°. Melt caramel with milk, being careful not to overcook. Pour over cheesecake. (Mine sank a little into the cheesecake and made a swirl layer. You could also refrigerate the cheesecake before adding caramel for more of a coated look.)

Place in the middle of the top rack of oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When time is up, turn oven off, slightly prop open oven door, and leave in oven for 1 more hour. Remove to a rack and cool for at least an hour before adding ganache.

Ganache
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
3/4 tsp. butter, room temperature

Place chopped chocolate in a glass or stainless steel bowl. In small saucepan, heat cream and butter over medium heat just until boiling. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a few minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly and then pour over cheesecake. Evenly spread the ganache over the top of the cheesecake. Cover and return to the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Serve and enjoy. :)

Guest interview: Diana L. Driver

It’s my pleasure to introduce Diana L. Driver, who “writes the kind of stories you’d like to read.” Her books cross the genre lines from Young Adult adventure/suspense to Mystery to Romance. She’s currently working on a Cozy Mystery and a Norse Fantasy based on the myths and legends of the Northern Traditions, including Runelore.

Diana's Mayan books initially attracted me, but I've since discovered her expertise ranges from history to quantum physics to conspiracy theories--gotta love it! We now blog together on The Writers’ Lens.

So, Diana, if you were marooned on an island, and Pots & Pens granted your wish for only one book and one food, what would you choose? One Book – The Boy Scouts Outdoor Field Guide! I know nothing about foraging for food, building a shelter, or which plants might or might not be poisonous. And, if Pots and Pens were to offer me a choice of one food it’d be cherry cheesecake!

Taking a survival guide—that makes perfect sense. And yum, I love cherry cheesecake! Have you also got a favorite literary feast or treat? I’d have to say the “A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery” series by the late Philip A. Craig. Each book is set in Martha’s Vineyard and I love not only the setting, but his characters and plots. My sister lives on Orcas Island, Washington and (except for the murders), Philip Craig knew his island personalities. 

It’s stretching your boundaries time. Is there a food you’d love to learn how to cook or a different genre or type of book you’d love to try to write? I’m currently working on an historical fantasy series which is turning out to be extremely challenging and very much a stretch of my boundaries. I’ve been reading and rereading old manuscripts just to get a feel of Norse thinking and priorities during the 700’s. Then, of course there’s all the background information that’s needed to make the book feel authentic. 
 

Hot out of the oven: What inspired your latest book, and what ingredients do you hope make it a tasty treat for readers? My latest book, The Maya, People of the Maize, is a companion book to my novel, Ninth Lord of the Night. I think of it as a sample of Mayan information that encourages the reader to explore further the various aspects of the Mayan culture. Just as Ninth Lord of the Night offers the reader a full course of mystery and suspense with a touch of paranormal, The Maya, People of the Maize offers the reader a solid background from which they can choose to continue learning about this fascinating culture.    

Since I love ancient Mesoamerican cultures, those were certainly a tasty treat for me! At Pots & Pens, we know too much salt can ruin an exquisite meal, and the perfect dessert tempers earlier mistakes. What ingredients can destroy a book through overuse or salvage a book despite its flaws? Any overused writing technique will detract from a story, but if the plot is exciting and the characters are well-developed, then I can forgive a lot. Stephen King wrote in one of books, that “It’s not the teller, it’s the tale.” I agree with that. 

Recipe Row: I see you’re getting prepared for that desert island with today’s recipe—very clever!

New York Cherry Cheesecake!!

Crust:

2 cups (200 grams) of graham cracker crumbs

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup granulated sugar

Filling

32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)

1 cup granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (double cream)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping

1 can Comstock pitted Cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center of oven.

Grease, or spray with Pam, a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan. Place the springform pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking.

 

For Crust: In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For Filling: In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

 

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees and continue to bake for about another 60 - 90 minutes or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. (The baking time can vary due to the differences in ovens, so make sure to check that the cheesecake is firm with only the center being a little wet and wobbly.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let cool completely before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours, preferably overnight. Top with one can of Comstock’s cherry filling (undrained) and serve

Tips:  Sometimes the surface of the cheesecake cracks.  To help prevent this from happening do not over beat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar. Another reason for cracking is overbaking the cheesecake.  Your cheesecake is done when it is firm but the middle may still look a little wet. Also, make sure the springform pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools. 

Learn more about Diana and her books at her website