After such a long time when I hadn't made paella for a different kind of meal, we've been enjoying it the last month on a near-weekly basis. There are so many different ways to make this dish, such a number of interpretations, most of them fairly intriguing. The first time I ever had paella myself was at a restaurant called Almond located on the second floor of a building in Roppongi, Tokyo, and I thought it was a most excellent meal. My husband was far more familiar with it as a special treat, since back then he did quite a bit of travelling, though he'd eaten it much closer to home, in Vancouver.

The classical presentation with chicken, fruits of the sea and tomato was what I had the first time around and it was that version that I made repeatedly as a sometimes-hostess and afterward at home. But recently  my husband found a recipe in one of our many cookbooks that featured green peas as the lone vegetable (excepting onion and garlic) that he preferred. And we both decided that we didn't need chicken in our paella; we would focus instead on just fish.

So, in with sole, shrimp, crab legs and clams, for our version. To the onion and garlic that starts off the 'soup' part of the dish, I did add some sliced yellow bell pepper and chopped mushrooms, along with the green peas, however in the paella I put together on Thursday. I really love long-grain parboiled rice, which paella calls for. And it's the only time I use saffron. Otherwise, whenever we have rice in our home it is Asian-type rice, shorter grain, using far less water to cook, and sticky, as my husband most enjoys it.

He had brought home fresh strawberries a few days back, although we didn't need any more fresh fruit at that time. I had decided to bake a cheesecake on Friday, and thought the strawberries could come in quite usefully to ornament and finish the cheesecake. It's such an easy dessert to produce. All it takes is a tub (340 grams) of cream cheese, three-quarters of a cup granulated sugar, half-cup sour cream, two eggs, a teaspoon each of vanilla and brandy essence, and there's the filling.

I had first prepared the crust; graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. When it had pre-baked a short while, I dusted it lightly with white chocolate chips, then poured in the cheesecake batter.  Into the convection oven at a moderate-to-low temperature for an hour, then cooled it. The final touch was to place strawberries over top, melt a quarter-cup of strawberry jam to a running consistency and pour it as a glaze over the strawberries.

De--lic--ious!