Food'n'Such

I didn't plan it, but I ended up seeing two fight movies this past weekend. Friday night CC and I went to see The Wrestler and on Sunday we went to the Cleveland International Film Festival and saw Tyson. I can understand the oscar nom for Rourke in The Wrestler, but overall this movie was a big downer. Tyson, on the other hand, was so intriguing. The movie is essentially him telling his life story to the camera with intermittent shots of fight footage. The guy is clearly nuts, but in the end I was surprised by how sympathetic I was to him. It was funny and touching, and I really enjoyed it.

We liked Tyson so much, we decided to check out another film while at the CIFF. Next up was The Wrecking Crew. Another true story; this one about studio musicians in the 1960's. It was an interesting story, but it ran too long and lost my attention after the first hour. I don't write about movies much, so while we are on the topic I have to say that my favorite movie of the past year is Pineapple Express. Maybe it is because I am butt-crazy in love with James Franco, but I thought this movie was hilarious. I'm a netflixer so I don't buy movies very often, but this one I had to order.

On Saturday night we went down to H&M's house in Akron to celebrate H's birthday with a dance party. She wore a headband (a la American Apparel) and I wore a flower - we are into headgear for dance parties. H has been one of my best friends since second grade and for as long as I can remember she has had cherry cheesecake on her birthday. So when M asked us to bring something, I had to try making one. I wanted a traditional recipe that would be somewhat similar to her mother's clearly superior recipe. I opted for the Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe from the Kraft website, with a slight twist: I subbed almond extract for the vanilla extract. The result was awesome! Here it is (you will notice Kraft brands are used, but whatever)

Cherry Cheesecake

6 HONEY MAID Honey Grahams, crushed (about 1 cup)
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
5 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. vanilla (I used Almond)
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
4 eggs
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

HEAT oven to 325°F.
MIX crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 min.
MEANWHILE, beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
BAKE 40 min. or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top with pie filling.

Size-Wise
Sweets can add enjoyment to a balanced diet, but remember to keep an eye on portions. (Thanks Kraft, note to self)

New York Lemon Cheesecake
Prepare as directed, omitting cherry pie filling and adding 1-1/2 tsp. lemon zest and 2 Tbsp. lemon juice to cream cheese batter before pouring over crust.

How to Bake in Springform Pan (I used springform cuz it is prettier presentation, see pic below)
Prepare and bake cheesecake as directed, substituting a 9-inch springform pan for the 13x9-inch pan and increasing the baking time to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. (Note: If using a dark nonstick springform pan, reduce oven temperature to 325ºF.)