Ten Dollar Words

English is such a cool language. It is chock-full of words that are fun to say. We have the benefit of absorbing words from all the different cultures that make up America. Kind of like America's fabulous cuisine, where every meal in a day may originate in different country.

We have words that we made up right here, too, like y'all (y'all come back now, ya hear?) and lyrical native American words like mahnomen and tatonka (my favorite part of "Dances With Wolves" is where Kevin Costner's character tries to communicate with his new friends, he speaks english, but LOUDER).

A lot of words I like come from Greek or Latin. After I read seed catalogs, my brain whirls with the great names: Delphinium, Ranunculus, Foetida. Science is full of fancy words like hibernaculum (where snakes sleep in winter).

Some words are inspiring like "resolute", "ascendant" or "evanescent". They just roll around in my (admittedly empty) head. I like "whimsy", "Lalique" (french glass or porcelain) and the name "Jethro". Nate likes "diabolical", Nick likes "badger" and "Lithuania". I also like "hobnob".

They don't even have to be real words for me to like them. I read a series of books by Michael A. Stackpole in which he MADE UP great words like, "Preyknosery"(the name of a character), "Gyrkyme" (Preyknosery's race), "Temeryx"(a critter) and "Sullanciri" (a dark elf). It was days before I could get these words out of my mind!

Some words are silly, like "Tallywhacker". One of my very favorite things to say (or hear) is "Knickerbocker Liquor Locker". It is a liquor store in Fargo that I heard about in a radio ad. It just rolls off your tongue. I'm not the only one who likes this name. My niece, Mac, (who lives in Fargo) tells me that the phrase "Knickerbocker Liquor Locker" was banned in her middle school english classroom because of overuse!

Cooking words are so good, you can almost taste them. "Chiffonade", "shish kabab" and "ravioli" make me hungry. A really fun word is, "Spatchcock". This means a chicken is opened up flat by removing it's backbone. It is cooked flat, which makes it cook more evenly. Some people put something heavy on it, like a brick. Then it cooks flat and from top and bottom. That's a different recipe.

Spatchcocked chicken

1 whole chicken
2 garlic cloves
1 pint ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 Tbls each chopped fresh oregano and parsley

Spatchcock the chicken by removing the backbone with a big scissors or knife. Press it flat on a cookie sheet or other shallow pan.

Mince the garlic and saute it in olive oil. If you have any roasted garlic, mash that up instead and mix with the ricotta, egg, parmesan and herbs. Stuff about half of the cheese mixture under the chicken's skin. Squish it to make an even layer. Rub the chicken skin with salt, pepper and oil. Bake at 400 degrees until chicken is 170 degrees. Chicken may also be grilled. Bake extra stuffing until golden and puffy.

Wide-Awake Nuts

From the Mpls Strib last Friday (abridged): Johann Scott Scrimshire, 42, was arrested about 6 a.m. near Calhoun Parkway after a 911 call about a man on a bicycle exposing himself to walkers and joggers. The officers who responded said Scrimshire told them he was training for a bike race on the West Coast in which participants ride nude. The officers said he was wearing a skirt-like garment or a pair of shorts with the crotch removed. "It clearly looked intentional" said the police spokesman. Scrimshire is a PARTNER (or he WAS at the time of the incident) in the lawfirm of Scrimshire, Martineau, Gonko and Vavreck. ("Denny Crane, my name's on the door"). Police had received a similar report in the area 10 days earlier, but they were not sure it was related to this case. (Yeah). Scrimshire says, "The charges are ridiculous, and the facts will come out in court."

Ok, are we getting this? Johann is caught waving his willy in the breeze, it's probably not the first time, and all he can come up with is "naked bike race"? You'd think a LAWYER could lie, er, think on his feet, better than that! When he left the house in his home-made pervert suit he needed to have a story aready made up, for pete's sake.

You're wondering if there even IS such a race, aren't you? Doesn't matter. It is quite ILLEGAL to hang your nuts out on Calhoun Parkway no matter what they do in lala land. A lawyer should know this. He should also have heard of a thing called a "stationary bike" that is used in the privacy of one's home, so one can "train" all day in one's birthday suit without being arrested. (Incidentally, my hubby thinks naked bike riding would be VERY uncomfortable.) But that's not the point, is it? The fun is in showing off your tallywhacker to people who, if asked, would NEVER agree to have a look at it. (This is really not the way to impress the ladies, my friend, penii are not pretty at the best of times.)

Johann's case comes up July 30th. As "Boston Legal" lawyer Alan Shore is off the air, I'll step in. He should tell them his shorts ripped. Accidentally, as he was riding. He was on his way home, so embarrassed. I'll be waiting for my fee if that works.

As long as we are on the subject of nuts, here is a red squirrel update. When we last heard of Mrs. Turdie (oh, yeah, it's a girl) she was scolding us from the rafters early in the morning of July 4th. Well, my guys went up north again last weekend. Three families were there Friday night so the rarely used Murphy bed was let down from the wall. (Do you see where this is going?) There is a HUGE CRATER in the center of the bed, with a baby SQUIRREL popping it's head out of it!!! There are also MORE moving lumps in the mattress! Paul and Nate quickly moved it outside. Mama squirrel obviously had another entrance. I'm told all the baby squirrels are happily living in the woods now. (Yeah, I know that is probably not true, but I don't want to know.)

In honor of Johann and his 6 a.m. "sexcapade" here is a recipe for......

Wide-Awake Nuts

4 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup espresso (instant is fine)
2 Tbls Kahlua Liqueur, if desired
1 cup powdered sugar

Toast pecan halves in 300 degree oven for 10-15 minutes (watch so they don't burn). Cover 2 cookie sheets with waxed paper and set aside. Simmer espresso, Kahlua and sugar for 10 minutes then pour over nuts in a bowl. Spread nuts on waxed paper to cool and dry.

Fishing Chicks Weekend

This past weekend I went on a girl's fishing weekend with my friends Chris, Stacey and Kari. The trip was organized by Marilyn's Boutique in Rogers. I don't know how she did it, for $90 we got a fishing chick t-shirt, a pre-trip cocktail, a bus ride to Mille Lacs and back (and it was a nice bus, too, with a potty and everything) a fishing excursion on the biggest boat Eddy's owns, a bratwurst lunch on the boat and a hotel room at Grand Casino, which threw in $50 in gambling credit!




Here we are before we got on the bus. There were 24 of us. We brought coolers on the bus so we wouldn't get thirsty. We played bingo to pass the time.










Here we are on the boat. That is Stacey top left, Chris in pink, and me in blue with my arm around Kari.











This is Trent, he works for Eddy's. He and Captain Brian cheerfully baited hooks (not ours, we are real fisherwomen and bait our own), changed bobber depths and removed fish from hooks (OK, I did have them do that, fish are so wiggly!). These guys didn't even complain when we made them turn up the radio so we could sing along to "Love is a Battlefield". We sang that REAL LOUD!












I caught 3 fish, ranging in size from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches. Look at my cool bobber earrings, also part of the package from Marilyn's.











That 4 1/2 incher won me the prize for "smallest fish". Besides bragging rights, I received the bobber necklace with "smallest fish" on it and funny napkins. The napkins say, "A good friend will come and bail you out of jail. A TRUE friend will be sitting beside you saying, "Damn....that was fun!""














If I do go to jail, here's the friend who will be sitting beside me! And then she'll probably charm them into letting us go.

















Kari thought she had better cover up the "caught our" part of the sign since nobody caught any keepers.











Here is some of the fine merchandise available at Eddy's. These are can cozys to keep your beer cold. Classy.











This is Faye and Jody. They sweet-talked the crew out of the lead weights used to find depth. These looked really nice on their shirts. If strippers were tough, they'd wear these! Faye, incidentally, drinks Jagermeister and Red Bull. Together. I tried it, and I agree with Elizabeth Swan (from "Pirates") "It is a vile drink...."













We went back to the casino and had the buffet and tried to learn how to use the $50 gambling credit. It could NOT be converted into cash, sadly, because I tried. I have several vices, but gambling isn't one of them. I would much rather have money. However, I couldn't let the $50 go to waste, so I played the slots and won $70! Chris and Kari's mom Sherry met us for dinner and gave us a ride to the Blue Goose in Garrison. They had a really good band and almost all of the fishing chicks were there (in our matching t-shirts).


This is when the phenomena began. The Blue Goose was full of fellas. Young fellas, mostly, early twenties or so. They could not get enough of us! Even in high-necked t-shirts and bobber earrings every one of us was asked to dance! It was a "target rich environment"! Now, I've been clubbing with the Portner sisters (Chris and Kari) for 20 years now. They ALWAYS get hit on. I am usually totally invisible. (Actually, I am always invisible to young men. I don't care.) So this time guys actually see me and talk to me. I am a cougar! Very odd. I decided I wasn't missing much. Although nice to look at, (one of them kept showing us his tan tummy) you can't talk to these dudes. I had to explain to one of them who Van Morrison is! He asked if I'd ever heard of the band "Journey". Sigh. Not only have I heard of them, that was the first record (yeah, vinyl) I ever bought. 29 years ago. We all left the youngsters at the Goose and went to bed. We were all up past our bedtimes, so it was a quiet ride home on Sunday!

This was a very popular treat on the boat. Salt AND chocolate, yummy!

Cracker Brittle

Line a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan with foil and butter or spray it. Preheat oven to 350. Cover the foil with saltines, neatly, in rows. (You can also use club crackers or graham crackers. This is a good use for stale ones.) In a pan, melt 1 cup of butter or margarine with 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, boil 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, pour evenly over crackers. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes (watch carefully, this burns in a heartbeat) until golden brown. Spread a small bag of chocolate chips over this and spread it out when it melts. Cool and break into pieces.

Yippie Koi Yay

I'm so happy! (I know, a nice change from crabby, right?) This weekend we finally installed the "water feature"! I have been wanting this for a long time. I put a trial one on the deck (in a plastic tote) 2 years ago to see if I liked it. I did like it quite a bit, until my Betta fish (Vermillion) leaped out to his death. Last year I found this nice rigid pond shell at (what else?) a garage sale for $5. The price was right and I had big plans. This spring I bought pond plants at the plant sales and kept them in the tote. When we finally agreed on a location, we started digging!


Liner in ground, water in pond (yay, no leaks!) plants in water, cute little fountain tinkling away, but something is still missing.....FISH! We were off to the pet store to get some feeder goldfish. The 17 cent kind were too small, so we went nuts and bought 3 of the 27 cent kind.








Then we turned around and saw the KOI! Little, yeah, but REAL KOI! Only $4.99, so we bought one. I don't usually name fish ( OK, other than Bettas), but a koi can live 60 years and get 2-3 feet long. A koi in Japan was proven to be over 250 years old! Obviously, a fish that may outlive me (Paul gives it a year, tops) needs a name.
I thought long and hard, and decided it's name is... Yippie Koi Yay. Yippie for short. The white goldfish is very fast and zips all over the pond, so s/he's Zippy. Skippy goes well with Yippie, so we have Yippie, Skippy, Zippy and....? Still trying to decide. Paul suggests Mississippi. The un-named fish is timid and hides alot. It is all orange. I'm taking suggestions.
The finished water feature! I love it! The only drawback is, now I worry about the fish. I check them every morning. I need to do more research to find out what to do in the fall. Does it all have to come inside? Where the *#&% am I going to keep that?








I also bought a George Foreman grill at a garage sale this weekend. Paul is still fuming because we got there 10 minutes too late for him to buy the welder. We need to go garage saling early and often. Unfortunately, the instructions were missing, so I'm trolling the internet for them. I found this recipe and it was delicious! We had it with steak and green beans out on the deck, so we could listen to the fountain and peek down at the finny four.

George Foreman Taters

Potatoes
olive oil
fresh rosemary

Slice potatoes into slabs 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. They should all be the same. Coat them in olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary. Put them on the grill and plug it in. Cook them until they are tender and have nice grill marks. (5-8 minutes?) If you didn't get the huge grill (I did!) you may need to do this in batches.

I'm going to the library to get pond books AND George Foreman books, but I'm thinking PANINI!

Orangutans are Skeptical

"Orangutans are skeptical of changes in their cages...at the zoo!" That is one of my favorite Paul Simon songs. We (my boys and I) went to the zoo on Friday with my friend Christine and her boys. For some reason, the orangutans were wearing t-shirts! They are able to take them on and off by themselves, so it must be fun for them? I like orangutans, but my favorites are the little mustachioed Tamarins. Too cute!





Here we are: Chris, Cole, Nick, Caden, and Nate. We toured the zoo and then had a picnic.












One of the strange things about my photography is how often I get pictures of animal behinds. Most of the time I am trying for a face shot and they move to show me their rear, but since it started being a trend, I took the photo of the ostrich's butt on purpose. He's going to get a sunburn if he isn't careful!







Mama Lion was VERY happy to have a nice cold bone to chew on this morning. She kept carrying her meatcicle around and then stopping to lick it.











Even the penguins moon me! Is it the penguins that make this building smell so bad? We can't blame the polar bears, they are in Detroit until the new exhibit is built. I hope they are getting therapy and/or medication for that OCD thing they have going.








The big gorilla scares me, frankly. Sometimes he pounds on the glass. The last time we went to the zoo, the glass was cracked! This time, he bent over to get a drink and took our picture! More than I needed to know about Mr. Gorilla.















This is one of the adult giraffes, but the new baby giraffe was so adorable. It was not out in the yard, it was in the building, so you could see it's big brown eyes. Thank goodness this giraffe has a tail, or we would see IT'S big brown eye! (sorry)
















Don't say I never taught you anything.












I love the butterfly house. I could sit in there all day and watch the butterflies flit around. Sometimes they play classical music, which makes it even better. Unless you are a boy. A hungry boy. (sigh.) We left the butterflies and went to eat our lunch.















Butterflies like to eat flowers and fruit, apparently. Who knew?

Melon is such tasty summer food. I will share a good melon recipe with you. This looks nicest if you use a melon baller, but tastes just as good if the melons are in cubes. This is also good for a picnic or buffet, because it won't go bad and poison you!




Lime Melon Balls

1 cup water
2 Tbls sugar
1 tsp lime zest
2-3 Tbls lime juice
2 cups melon balls

Boil sugar and water, cool, add lime, pour over melon. Chill and eat. I think blueberries look especially nice with honeydew melon, so throw a few of those in if you have them.

I have heard both Rachel Ray and Giada say that "We eat first with our eyes". Must be something they make you say on the food network, but why not make it pretty?

Cuckoo or couscous?

Just Beat It...It doesn't matter who's wrong or right...just beat it! Please, get off my TV, I mean it.

I'm sorry, I used up ALL my nice on that last post. (You know how it is.) I am not understanding the worldwide outpouring of grief for Michael Jackson. I understand that he made huge contributions to the music industry. I understand that he made huge progress for people of color in the entertainment industry.

What I do not understand is why we get so wrapped up in a celebrity's life that we would cry when they die, or wish to attend the funeral of a person we do not know. John Lennon died when I was in high school. One of my friends boarded the school bus that day in tears, to my utter mystification. He did not know John Lennon personally, yet was so upset he cried all day. (I brought this up to my friend via facebook the other day. He denies knowledge of the incident.)

The exception to this would be a world leader such as the president or the Pope. The death of such a leader will have an effect on the world and people are understandably bereft. This deserves to be televised.

To my way of thinking, celebrities work for me. They make movies, or music or whatever, for my entertainment. I do not wish to know about their personal lives. I do not want to know who they are sleeping with, or what their drug of choice is. I do like to see the gowns worn at special events, but that's part of the entertainment. I do not want to see undies (or lack thereof!). I do not want to see them locked in houses together, or throwing any hissy fits. Make movies, go on talk shows, go away. Maybe that's just me. When a celebrity dies, I think, "Hmm, I'm sorry for their family", and that's it. Life is hard enough without crying for people I don't know. I also do not want to see the family grieving, that's way too intrusive.

Back to MJ. I have a hard time with celebrating the life of a man who had such a history with children. I understand he was aquitted of child molestation. I also heard him say he likes to sleep with other people's children, and he didn't see anything wrong with it. At BEST it is inappropriate (in any culture) to sleep with a stranger's child. It is confusing and NOT in the child's best interest. At worst....well, I think we know.

So the media loved it when MJ would act cuckoo, hanging babies over balconies, etc. They called him "whacko Jacko", followed him everywhere, reported on his every move and made his life a misery, for profit. Because we will pay to watch this. Now that he is dead, they are whipping up a frenzy of grief and reverence equal to the frenzy of revulsion they whipped up previously. They are doing this because they are making money off every minute of TV coverage. The poor exploited child/man is still not free. It's just too sad to watch. Call me when the "Big Red Balls" show is back on.

Other cuckoo things I've seen on TV this week: Aerosol waffle batter (is that can recyclable?) and battery operated mascara. We live in a world gone mad.

This is a recipe for a very nice summer side dish that features couscous. This is actually pasta that is as small as sand. I like this (even though it is not swimming in sauce) because it isn't dry. I hate dry food. I also hate capers (useless, expensive nasty little things) so I leave them out, but I sometimes add pine nuts, because THEY are yummy.

Lemon-Broccoli Couscous

1 (10oz) box couscous (cooked according to pkg directions)
1 bunch broccoli, broken into stems, peel and chop big stems (4 cups)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in halves or quarters if large
4 green onions, sliced up
1 Tbls capers
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Juice of at least one lemon (better get 2)
4 Tbls Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
freshly ground black pepper

optional additions:
2 Tbls chopped fresh mint
1 jalapeno chili, seeded and minced
chopped red pepper
radish, carrot, olives

Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Cook the broccoli (with a pinch of salt) 4-5 minutes, until broccoli is tender. Drain and rinse in cold water then finely chop broccoli. Mix it all up, adding more lemon juice, salt or oil as needed. serves 6

Up North for the Fourth

We went "up North" to the cabin which belongs to Paul's relatives for the holiday weekend. When we got there we found this really huge spider! That's a 5 gallon bucket above it, so you can see how big that puppy is. Luckily, this is OUTSIDE the cabin, so we didn't have to evict it. However, the cheeky red squirrel (all of which are known as "Turdy" since the time one jumped onto Peter from the outhouse) needs to GO! I woke up Saturday morning to a loud scolding from this beast. It was IN THE CABIN, sitting on a rafter, YELLING at us! Later that day, it made another pass through the interior. I meant to say, "Look, that stupid squirrel is back inside", but all that came out was, "EEK!EEK!EEK!EEEEEKKKK!!!!" He came back for a Sunday morning wake-up call, too. Paul nailed more wood over the most recent entry hole, at least it will slow him down.




Next on the agenda, mow the lawn.













Lucy by the Orange Hawkweed. Poor thing is so deaf, she didn't even hear the squirrel. She didn't hear the firecrackers, either, and that's a good thing!












Next we went into Moose Lake for fishing and tubing. We caught a mess of crappies, which were tasty! Nate practices his meditation, "Ooom mani padmi, HIT IT!"









The new tube is so stable, it can hold them both.














Here is Nick, tubing. Sand Lake is really busy on the 4th, so Paul was extra careful. I will cheerfully outlaw those stupid waterbikes, though. The riders never look where they are going!

We went up to Duluth for the carnival and fireworks. This ride shot you up and dropped you down. Both boys agreed never to go on it again, it was so scary!









Waiting for the fireworks. We missed Martin Zeller play at the bandshell. He is most famous for the classic, "I wanna drive a zamboni". We did get to hear the Duluth orchestra play a nice medley of show tunes, though.









Nice fireworks display in Duluth. They coordinate with music on the radio, which is cool. I liked the smiley face fireworks during "What a Wonderful World".
















Paul finished siding the woodshed, it turned out pretty well.












This is the word's best mousetrap (credit Grandpa Vern). The mouse (or squirrel, hopefully) walks up the board, jumps onto the peanut butter covered popcan, which spins, dumping it into the antifreeze, where it drowns. Seriously, this works like a charm, we need a minnow scoop to get them all out!







Paul's sister Gracia was in town from Florida for the weekend. We had dinner with her at Grandma Ose's house Sunday night. We had barbequed chicken, with extra chicken for a salad tomorrow. Gracia used to work a "California Pizza Kitchen" where she learned to make this great salad. I like it because it's nice and sloppy. I hate dry food.

You know what jicama (hickama) is, right? Crispy root vegetable, eaten raw?




BBQ Chicken Salad

12 corn tortillas, cut into strips and fried in oil until crisp, divided in half
1/2 head iceberg lettuce
1/2 head Romaine lettuce
(go ahead and get 2 bags of prewashed lettuce if you like, greener = better)
12 basil leaves, thinly sliced (only if you are growing this in your garden, otherwise it's optional)
1 lb jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 cups shredded Monteray Jack cheese
1 cup cooked black beans (canned is fine)
1 cup white corn (canned or frozen, yellow corn is just fine, too)
3 tbls chopped cilantro
2 lbs chopped tomato
3-4 cooked BBQ'd chicken breasts or the equivalent leftover chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup chopped scallions

Toss together all ingredients except chicken, BBQ sauce, scallions and half the tortilla strips, these go on top, with the BBQ sauce squirted on last for extra prettiness! Deep frying the tortilla strips is kind of a pain, especially in summer (it's HOT, that's why we are eating salad, for pete's sake!) so feel free to crunch up some tortilla chips and mix them in. Perfect use for what's left in that big bag from Costco, right?

Strawberry Goodness

We picked strawberries this morning. We live on the geologic area called the "Anoka Sand Plain". Glaciers dropped lots of sand here, I think. It is a pain for gardeners because the water and nutrients drain right through the soil. We are big fans of compost here. Strawberry plants like this kind of soil, though. There are quite a few strawberry farms up here.

We like to go to Berry Hill Farm to pick our berries. They should have them for another week, yet. Call before you go. The berries you pick are $1.65 a pound. Costco's berries are $1.50 a pound. The difference is that grocery store berries are bred to withstand shipping cross-country. Local berries are bred for TASTE! Plus, I like to give money right to my local farmer. You are allowed to eat as you pick, too! I didn't get a lot of strawberries, because I still have some from last year, but I needed some of these today! I will give you my 2 favorite strawberry recipes, too.

After berrying, I went to Costco where I saw this really cool purse/totebag! Look, it has a really big CLOCK on it! Your teenager would never be able to be late for curfew again. When I was a teenager I tried turning my watch back as an excuse for being late ("Oh, sorry mom, my watch must be broken") unfortunately, my mom invented that excuse and didn't buy it.
Then I went to joann's to get the new "marty mag" (Martha Stewart magazine). Then I went to Kohl's because they sent me free money! They sent me a coupon for $10 off anything in the store. While I was there I tried on perfume. If you know me, you will not be surprised that I could not stop at one kind, I have to try lots of them. If you don't know me, you will still smell me coming from a mile away, I smell like Saturday night at the cathouse! Sadly, most of the perfume fades pretty quickly. By the time Paul gets home I'll probably smell like bath night at the nursing home.

One of our favorite salads (well, 3/4 of us like it, Nick refuses to eat spinach) is spinach with shredded cheese, sliced strawberries and italian dressing. This recipe steps that up by making the dressing out of strawberries, too. The recipe suggests adding pecans to the salad, as well.

Strawberry Vinegar

1/2 pound strawberries (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup white balsamic vinegar (or other mild vinegar, like champagne or tarragon)

Buzz this in the blender and let it sit at least an hour. The recipe says to strain it, but I didn't and it was just fine. Use vinegar to make salad dressing.

Strawberry Vinaigrette

5 Tablespoons Strawberry vinegar
6 Tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin is best)
Salt and pepper to taste

Shake this all in a jar just before serving. It is really good on spinach salad with strawberries and shredded cheddar and/or pecans. This cannot be beat as a side dish to a nice steak.

This is to-die-for cheesecake. It was Marty's Dessert of the Month a few years ago. I'm simplifying it a bit, you know how over the top Marty is. You can use any cookies for the crust, sugar cookies are especially good.

Strawberry Cheesecake

1 1/2 pounds strawberries, green caps removed
3 Tbls light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups graham cracker (or cookie) crumbs
1 cup plus 3 Tbls sugar, divided
3 Tbls melted butter
2 pounds cream cheese
8 ounces of neufchatel (light cream cheese) or marscarpone cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place strawberries in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. drizzle with corn syrup and toss gently to coat. Bake until syrup thickens and berries turn deep red and shrink slightly, about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. Don't let it burn. This step concentrates the flavor of the berries. Put berries and syrup in a bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork.

Raise oven temperature to 325 degrees. Mix graham cracker crumbs, 3 Tbls sugar and melted butter and press into 9-inch springform pan. Wrap 2 layers of foil around pan so it will be watertight later on. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese in mixer until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides and add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides and add vanilla and neufchatel or marscarpone. Mix until no lumps remain. Stir in strawberries. Pour into prepared pan.

Put pan into large roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with boiling water until water reaches halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan. Bake cheesecake until set, about one hour to one hour, 10 minutes. Remove cheesecake from water bath, cool, refrigerate until cold.


Have a great 4th of July, be safe!