Casting about for something to bake for yesterday's dessert, I remembered that I had two cream cheese boxes in the refrigerator that had been there for so long, since I hadn't baked a cheesecake in ages, that I figured they must be getting pretty close to their 'best before' date. What called them to memory actually, although I was well aware of their presence, was the supermarket advertisement I'd perused that morning with cream cheese on sale.

So I took the two little containers of cream cheese out of the refrigerator to reach room temperature, along with three eggs and a sour cream container and left them out while we had our breakfast. After which I set about to prepare a cheesecake. First the crust; graham cracker crumbs, butter and cinnamon crumbled and pressed into an old glass baking dish; prebaked for ten minutes, and then in went the filling. Before adding the filling I lightly sprinkled white chocolate chips over the hot crust. The filling consisting of 2/3-cup granulated sugar, the two bars of cream cheese, the three eggs, vanilla and a quarter cup of sour cream. The cheesecake baked in a low 325-degree Fahrenheit (convection) countertop oven for almost an hour until it appeared puffed, cracked and brown. And then I spread a fruit topping of (quarter cup sugar, 1 tbsp.cornstarch, 3/4-cup frozen raspberries, cooked to a clear glaze) over top, and our dessert was made.

After we'd gone for our usual ravine walk, and had done the week's grocery shopping, I set about the rest of our dinner. I cooked up rice for the chicken soup that was bubbling on the stove top, and I prepared the rest of our meal. A potato kugel (pudding) is a must for my husband on Friday nights; 2 medium-sized potatoes grated with a middling-sized onion, adding an egg, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon or two of flour.

I sprinkled two skinless chicken breasts with garlic powder, dabbed grated ginger root over, then thinly sliced red bell pepper, and finally sliced tomatoes. Over that went a sprinkling of soya sauce, then olive oil. And in a corner of the large glass baking pan I placed large sections of cauliflower to bake along with the chicken. And popped everything into the oven. Voila! dinner was done.