The bottom crust of the cheesecake was baking in the convection oven; comprised of graham cracker crumbs, Becel margarine, cinnamon and a dollop of brown sugar.  I was prepared, when I withdrew it from the oven, to sprinkle the crust lightly with white chocolate chips I had at the ready.

In the interim, I mixed the cream cheese, eggs, sour cream until it was all smooth and fluffy, adding granulated sugar, and, I thought, why not something a little different this time.  Instead of vanilla or grated lemon rind, how about lime juice to give it a bit of an exotic pick-up?

I had a small bottle of lime juice in the refrigerator.  It had been there an awfully long time for I hadn't much call to use it often.  As I squirted the first bit of lime juice and integrated it into the cream-cheese mixture, I thought, just a little more.  I shook up the bottle and released an additional amount.  And as I did, I noted a small bit of brown fall from the lip of the bottle into the cheese mixture, as I was still mixing it.

Uh-oh, I thought.  I removed the cap of the lime juice bottle and spilled the contents into the kitchen sink and sure enough there were brown clusters populating the lime juice.  Obviously, the product, too long in the tooth as it were, was compromised, colonized by mould, at the very least.  I struggled with that knowledge; should I, to be careful, junk this project?  I tentatively tasted what remained of the clear liquid and it seemed fine.

Withdrawing the pie crust from the oven I poured over it the chips, then the river of thick, white, aromatic cream cheese mixture and set it to bake in a low-heat oven, while I combined sugar, cornstarch, cranberry juice and frozen raspberries to prepare a glazed fruit topping to be applied once the cheesecake had been removed, fully baked.

I thought later; was I being reckless, might the lime juice have been so corrupted as to present a health challenge?  Later that evening, as we ate the cheesecake for dessert after our meal, I marvelled at its delectable mixture of flavours - smooth texture, moderately sweet and yet naughtily piquant - a perfect cheesecake.