Cheese Cake: The World’s Finest.

Ladies and gentlemen, we can go on and on about the best cheese cake on earth until we are yellow in the face. The fact of the matter is, there is only one best. My mom’s… Recently, my mom was out for a visit. (Actually I worked her to death tiling bathrooms.) I have to tell ya, there is nothing better than spending time with a great mom! Especially a great mom who wrote the book on cheese cake! NO! I MEAN IT! My ridiculously talented mom wrote a cheese cake book! Granted, she put this out back when the earth was still cooling, but I think the rules of vulcanization and the earth’s crust also apply to Gastronomic delights! This cheese cake is timeless! In other words, it’s all physics. Just as the crust of earth was vitrified then cooled to solidify the fine cracks and mars in the surface of the globe. Process so perfect as to render such fine details as the Grand Canyon, or perhaps Niagara falls. A process so perfect that it could also create the perfect cake. YES! The perfect cheese cake, I say was created from the same forces of nature that created the great lakes and Mt. Ararat! A crust so divine as to be only compared to the slopes of Haleakala. Lines in the strawberry glaze mirroring those of Nazca. A creamy consistency reminiscent of mother’s milk. A sweetness only tasted by the diligent honey bee on its quest for the purest nectar. Oh to dine on paradise and drink the milk of divine!!!!!!

As I wipe the tears (and cake) of joy from my cheek, I also back up a bit. My intent was to share with you this receipt of pure culinary delight. So, let’s get started.

WARNING!!!! DO NOT attempt to execute this recipe while feeling depressed, lonely or hungry. Failure to fallow this recipe to a “T” will result in a ripple in the space time continuum. The resulting exponential increase in cheese wave dispersion, most certainly could render all matter and anti-matter into cream cheese. This is a universal threat.  A thick and non-life sustaining situation could result. Please take care!!!

Cheese Cake Supreme:

Crust: 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour ¼ cup sugar 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel ½ cup butter 1 slightly beaten egg yolk ¼ teaspoon vanilla

Filling: 5 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese ¼ teaspoon vanilla ¾ teaspoon grated lemon peel 1 ¾ cups sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour ¼ tablespoon salt 4 or 5 eggs (1 cup) 2 egg yolks ¼ cup whipping cream

Make the crust by combining the first three ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Blend thoroughly. Pat 1/3 dough on bottom of 9 inch spring form pan (sides removed). Bake in hot oven (400f.) about 8 minutes or until golden; cool. Attach sides to bottom, butter and pat remaining dough on sides to height of 1 ¾ inches.

For filling, let cream cheese stand at room temperature to soften. Beat creamy; add vanilla and lemon peel. Mix next 3 ingredients; gradually blend into cheese. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at time, beating after each, just to blend gently stir in whipping cream. Pour the cheese mixture into crust-lined pan. Bake at 450F. For 12 minutes; reduce heat to 300F. And continue baking 55 minutes longer. Shake the pan to see if the cake is fairly firm in center. Remove from oven; cool. Loosen sides with spatula after ½ hour. Remove sides at end of 1 hour. Allow the cake to cool for 2 hours longer before glazing with your favorite sauce.

Yields 12 servings.

The family has tried a number of sauces, glazes and flambés with this cheese cake… one is better than the other. For the purposes of this blog, I have chosen the strawberry glaze. Mom would approve…

 Strawberry glaze:

“A good basic glaze that can be varied by changing the fruit to black cherries, pineapple, canned or frozen peaches, black berries, etc….No. 2 cans work just right for this recipe.”

½ cup sugar 2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca 1 ½ cups of juice (add water to drained juice to total 1 ½ cups) ¼ tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon orange juice 2 cups frozen strawberries, well drained

Combine all ingredients except the strawberries. Place in sauce pan over moderate heat and stir until blended. Cook, stirring constantly, until juice is thickened. Remove from heat and cool. Arrange fruit evenly over top of cheese cake and pour the glaze over the top. Chill several hours before serving.

Yield: About 3 ½ cups of glaze.

So, there you have it. Please be careful with this recipe and PLEASE consult your physician before attempting to taste such a powerful food. It’s that good…

Keep your pans greased ya’ll!!!

Summer art!!!!

Well, it’s that time again. Summer is upon us. Time to put away the hammer and saw, dust off the paints and stretch some canvas! Those who know me well, see that summer is my time to create. When I thrive! The best works I’ve ever done were created in this time. For me, summers is the time for sloughing off the energy robbing vampires of the rainy season and seek out those truly intellectually and creatively stimulating individuals. A time to greet the sun with early morning walks at the tide pools. Taking the colors we saw in the rain forests of winter and mix them with the morning sun of the season. When the flowers and mountain apples are a plenty and the warm feeling of a perfect wave spawn the next painting. Sunday morning brunch with egg’s benny and a mimosa. White shirts and a north shore polo match. The smell of fresh Sex Wax on a hot long board.  Summer is for love of the world around us and the ones open enough in there heart to feel it. BRING IT ON!!!!

Where to begin? Rite here! I just finished a huge project that took many months of time and energy. The results are fabulous. Also plenty of fresh studio space ready to be filled with colorful memories. After all, that’s what our creations really are! Memories captured in time. We take all those colors, shapes and faces and words and everything and solidify them into the work, as a marker in eternity. Some are happy, some are angry. Some are sunny, some are dark. All legitimate though. All are relevant! All will speak volumes…

So, what is on the palette this summer? MIXED MEDIA!!! A revival of something old and a touch of something new. First will be a series I began years ago that I never was able to bring to fruition. A combination of photography, printmaking, oil, ceramic glazes, acrylic, melted rubber and dyed textile art. Yes boys and girls, textile exotic fabric. I messed around with this on the side all threw school, as well as at the South West School of Arts and Crafts. While teaching in the sculpture department I used to sneak over to the fabrics girl for some inspiration. After the prep was done, that same fabric was taken over to the photo department to be silver dyed. This enabled me to expose images directly into the fabric itself. That was only the beginning though. Some were stretched and the real fun began. Well, without revealing too much of the proses to you, let’s just say, I’m excited as hell!!! Time to put on the lab coat and get back to creating something amazing!!! (I’m glowing!) YES!!!

 The second series of the summer of 0-12, will have to be a surprise. I don’t want to get closure on the work before I even begin. I find too much talk before the process gets rolling, tends to lower the inspiration level a bit too low for me. So keep your shorts on! Patience grasshoppers. Patience…

OK then, that’s all I wanted to say for now. I’m just excited and had to tell someone. I hope all of you have the same glow about summer as I do. I also hope you all get out there and experience the world. Suck up some inspiration! It’s all around you. It’s rite in front of you. Can you see it? It sees you. Now reach out to it and let it play inside your heart.

You won’t regret it...

Happy creating!

Do you remember that song?!?!?

  It never ceases to amaze me how drawn to music we humans are. What is it about this structured combination of sounds that can have such a powerful influence over not only individuals, but entire cultures? The human brain, as well as most living creatures, evolved to detect sounds as a survival tool. Now, that same tool is used for detecting and comprehending scale and structure of all types of music! From a simple ring tone to a large scale symphony, then find the meaning and beauty that lies within the piece. Why?

6 months ago, I came across an LP I had not even thought about in 20 years. No, make that 25. After taking a quick look at the liner notes and cover, I sat back for a listen. Before the first note hit my ears, I could remember the style and instrumentation, yet not the melodies and solos. After listening to the entire LP, something extraordinary happened. Later that day, and every day since listening to the album, I could “hear” the entire record in my mind, virtually note for note! When I say note for note, I really mean it. Complete and total recall of every aspect of the music, including drum fills, bass licks, phrasing in the solos, as though the last 25 years were suddenly erased. Simply hearing this record again unlocked a memory that had been filed away in my brain nearly an adult lifetime ago. Why?

If you know anything about data and music you can understand just how much “data” 45 minutes of music represents. How much other important information about your life can you recall from 25 years ago? Why in God’s name would the human mind allocate the significant resources necessary to store this music for so long and in such intricate detail? Even more astonishing than the fact that the human mind could hold on to such detail in these combinations of sounds for 25 years is that it would. Why?

Let’s get scientific for a moment. From this perspective, every physical or intellectual function exacts a price in “overhead” for maintaining that function in terms of calorie intake and a myriad of other biological needs. So, any capability that does not directly contribute to the organism’s survival quickly disappears from the gene pool. Moreover, that saved brain capacity could be used for other functions that could more directly aid in survival. A simple example is we’re highly attuned to discriminating faces, understanding expressions on those faces, and remembering faces. The survival benefit in this is obvious. Being that said, what is it about music that is so important that our brain has developed a capacity to understand and remember it? Why?

  At its heart, I believe music is communication, and communication is vital to any species that relies on social organization. We have examples of instruments that date back 43,000 years. Despite the rigors of Neanderthal life, our ancestors found time to create music. There are artifacts that show, not only did our ancestors create and play instruments, but they had then worked out the diatonic scales to a precise hole-spacing in a hollowed out bone. This hole-spacing corresponds perfectly to a contemporary diatonic flute. Moreover, that diatonic scale has been with us since the dawn of music suggests the basis for responding to certain musical intervals has been common to humans for eons. Ahhhh…

There are many authors and studies into the neurological effects of music. It is uncanny how the evolutionary biologists also come to many of the same conclusions why music matters so much. We are still a long way from completely understanding why we are such a musical species though. You should try a little experiment of your own. Grab a random LP out of the rack and take a close look. Try to hear what is on the piece before playing it. Next, play it in its entirety and just see if you get the same recall as I did. I found that the more I practice this, the better my mind taps into those dusty files and plays the memories more clearly. Much like a built in tape machine. Who needs a stinking IPod anyway? Save your money and buy a new needle for your deck. I guess until the smart guys in lab coats figure it all out, we will just have to look at our musical minds in wonder. Better yet, REMEMBER THAT MUSIC!!!!

PS. It was Styx-The Grand Illusion on the turntable. Love that record!

Good Morning Ya'll!

OK! Here we go!   Lets start this blog by saying WELCOME! The idea here is to share ideas. Ideas that have to do with all things ART!!! This can include paintings, music, the equipment you play it on and whatever else you can think of that gets you moving! Feel free to add photos of the systems that you have and why they are perfect for your lifestyle. It can be the boom box in the bathroom, or a full-blown HI-END sound reproduction system. It really doesn't matter. As long as it does what it is really supposed to do. That is play the music we love.

  OH! that's another thing. Please post that music you are listening to and why! What is the painting you just saw in Waikiki that blew your mind? Where was that concert? Could you shoot us a picture? What about a link to that song? HEY!?! Do you have a favorite place to hear live music, or view beautiful creations in general?

If yes to any of these, well then! Lets get going!

PS. Anyone have a good ceviche recipe?

JWM