While making telephone calls at work, sometimes I gently scroll the Internet, looking at recipes to make for our evening meal. Here are three features in a recipe that catch my attention. Number one. It has to have a great photo. Number two. The ingredients have to be affordable and accessible. I order from Walmart Delivery, and I am medially successful salesperson so it can’t be too exotic or expensive. Number three. It has to be something that I can make in between evening appointments—none of that constant stirring, please.
Yesterday, a very sexy cheesecake caught my eye. There was some narration in the text about a semester in Rome. My first indication of exaggeration should have been when they said it was a dupe from Osteria da Fortunata and the first ingredient was Nilla Wafers. I googled it, and there is a real restaurant and their torta ricotta e frutti looks so good that if I didn’t have kids, my next search would be for airplane tickets.
Regardless, it’s happening—the recipe, not the international travel. I haven’t had a Nilla Wafer since Sunday School in ‘92, so this is fancy enough. I scrolled over to walmart dot com and tapped in my order of Nilla Wafers, strawberries, mascarpone cheese, Philadelphia cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and one box of Pepto Bismol extra-strength chewables. Meanwhile, I still managed to book some of my evening appointments.
The kids came home, and the groceries showed up. Dinner was nuggets and waffles between calls.
Vanilla No-Bake Cheesecake
Leave the soft cheeses on the counter to sweat to room temperature. Between no-shows and helping a seven-year-old plan for crazy hair day, grind up the wafers in the blender in batches. Mix with one stick of microwave melted butter—salted is fine. Make a call. Whip three cups of cold whipping cream into stiff peaks add vanilla paste then fold in the cheese.
“What does “fold in the cheese” mean? David, I cannot show you everything. OK, well, can you show me one thing? You just… here’s what you do. You just fold it in.”
Assemble in a springform pan and refrigerate one hour or until you close a sale. Macerate the remaining strawberries with three tablespoons of sugar while helping the kids find their pajamas. The floor?
Enjoy while watching 45 minutes of Mean Girls 2 with your thirteen-year old. For what it’s worth, the new Regina George has an awesome singing voice, but I still prefer the original. Three stars.
