Now that I think of it, I have made this recipe many times and it could probably fit under a broad definition of a cheesecake. I'll include it for your research, Jim. [Sorry these directions are so long but my stepfather used to make this with just a list of ingredients on a scrap of paper. I finally got him to write down the instructions. There are easier versions of this that don't involve cooking the cheese mixture but this one comes out so creamy that it's worth the extra step.] PASKA (Ukrainian Easter Cheese) 1 1/2 cups sugar 7 egg yolks 2 1/4 lb. dry curd cottage cheese 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup blanched almonds, chopped fine 1/2 cup chopped candied or dried fruits 1 - 2 Tbs. liqueur Grated rind of 1/2 lemon 15 Tbs. soft butter 2 tsp. vanilla Scrub a 6 inch clay pot (measured across the top) thoroughly with a brush and soap and water. Rinse inside and out with hot running water; wipe dry and bake in a 300 degree oven for an hour or until thoroughly dry. Let the cheese, butter, egg yolks stand covered at room temperature for 2 hours. Mix fruits with liqueur. Place sugar and yolks in a mixing bowl; beat until light and lemon colored. Set aside. Break up cheese. Put half in the container of an electric blender. Add half the yolk mixture; blend at low speed until smooth. Scald the heavy cream; add half to blender. Blend until smooth. Empty into a saucepan. Repeat with the remaining yolk mixture, cheese and cream. Add salt and mix. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring, until it thickens slightly. Do not allow it to boil. Remove from heat; add fruit, nuts and lemon rind. Put the mixture in a cool spot until it is completely cool. Place butter in a mixing bowl; beat until soft, fluffy and pale. This will take several minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir and fold this into the cooled mixture. Add vanilla. The mixture should be very well blended. The flower pot must be thoroughly cooled before using. Cut off a large length of cheesecloth, rinse in cold water and squeeze until it is almost dry. Line the flower pot with a double layer of the damp cheesecloth. Allow the cheesecloth to extend way over the edges of the flower pot. Place the pot on a rack over a shallow pan. Pour in the paska mixture. Fold edges of the cheesecloth over top. Cover top with foil. Fit a small saucepan into the top of flower pot and weight down to press on mixture. Place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Whey will drain into the shallow pan. Run a knife around between cheesecloth and flower pot to loosen paska; open up cheesecloth to expose the top of the paska. Put serving plate on the top and gently turn over; ease paska out. Carefully remove cheesecloth. Garnish with fresh or glazed fruits. Cut in small wedges. Serves 16.

I'm home and I survived another holiday! We went to friends' in rural north San Diego county - we are both child-free couples so this has become a tradition. One more couple joined us, as they did last year. I was ordered to bring a delectable dessert - ME! Dessert! Hence the thread, blah-blah. What did I end up making? First I was going to do Nancy's pumpkin creme brulee. But the hostess said she was making smoky pumpkin soup. And it wasn't something I could easily make in advance, according to me. So I changed my mind and made Sharon's pears in port with stilton whipped cream, and a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry ganache. I also made mini pumpkin and walnut scones with a maple icing for the long weekend. And I brought a roquefort tort with cranberries and roasted hazelnuts, from Costco. When I got there, I found that there was a change - no smoky pumpkin soup. It was going to be pear soup! LOL. We had too much stuff, so I refrigerated the pears to eat another time during the weekend. They were delicious by the way - thank you Sharon! I bought a huge bottle of tawny port so I will be making these again for ourselves this winter. The flourless chocolate cake was served with a generous dollop of whipped cream and garnished with fresh raspberries. It was delicious too. It was too easy to make in advance and will be added to my limited dessert repertoire. The friends had a new 75-pound Pyrenees puppy (I had seen her earlier in the year when she was a lot smaller), and four egg-laying hens. Along with the existing Pyrenees, Retriever and four cats, it was a full house and I don't think I'll get the dog hair out of my clothes for a few washings, LOL!

Our gathering this year initiated by me. With 6 children among 3 moms living in the southern portion of California it made sense to meet in Hollywood for Thanksgiving. I recommended much of the menu according to the tastes and traditions of my friends. We had turkey wrapped in bacon, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, two kinds of sweet potatoes, green beans almondine, a lovely salad brought by guests, corn bread with bacon stuffing, apricot sausage bread stuffing, a raspberry-cream cheese jello, three kinds of cranberry sauces, homemade pumpkin pies and cheese cake, purchased cherry and pecan pies, ice creams, and whipped cream. It was all quite traditional fare. I made stuffings and gravy at home and traveled with those. Pie filling and crust pastry dough were made at home and assembled there. My crust discs didn't have enough moisture and fought me. Thankfully pumpkin pies only have bottom crusts that were well covered by filling. They were not pretty! But the taste and texture were good. I cooked the turkey and a spare breast there. The turkey went into a roaster. I cooked it 450 for an hour and then turned it down to 325 for the rest of the cooking and held it at warm while everything else finished. It was quite fine. It was an organic 19 pound tom. My friends made the sweet potatoes, cheesecake, jello dish, and cranberries. We also had canned cranberry jell. The young'uns love that stuff. Alice and Haley made guacamole to snack on before the meal. Our hostess Lisa made hot cider and coffee. Though I asked and my emails were forwarded to all guests, no one told me that the two daughters of my friend's friends are vegetarian. :( They ate around the heavily meaty offerings. I would happily have made something for them and some veggie stuffing had I known. I had many sous chefs among the young adults who wandered in and out and helped. Everyone pitched in with everything that needed to be done. Though I am perfectly capable of turkey carving, I was also really ready to abdicate the duty due to tiredness by the time the bird emerged. I asked my son to carve. He stuttered in a panic and left the kitchen. :) I asked the super social husband of the friend's friend to carve. He also blanched at the request but manned up on the spot and did the job. Bless his heart. All of the young folks took over at dessert time and set everything out after we cleaned up the main event. We were supposed to be 15 but the elderly momma was unable to attend so we were 14. I packed up a boxed meal for her. Things I would do differently next time: have a Silpat on which to roll pie crusts, make a vegetarian side that can work as entree for the vegetarians. Make sure we don't buy 2 hams and twenty pounds of potatoes. Lisa and I accidentally doubled up on a few things. I sent my starving student children home with two bags of potatoes. Otherwise, I would not change much. If we do this next year I will suggest that the adult children make some of the sides as well. Thankfully other people took photos! The youngsters gathered in the patio before dinner. Left to right: Lisa, Alice and Alice, Noelle, Haley, Daniel, Aimee, and Gina. Daniel and Alice amusing themselves while waiting to eat. Serving ourselves. Alice and Aimee with their plates. Someone's plate. The kids' table. ;) Candace, the ham thief. She was banished to the patio until dessert after helping herself to a portion of ham from the buffet. She is very tall and will counter surf if not watched carefully. The oldsters. Lisa, our hostess, is third from the left. Tom, the turkey carver is pretending to steal a kiss. Alice and Haley with desserts. Post orgy, um...meal.

L. I can't imagine that graham crackers crumbs over a decade old would be good. Whew. I tossed all the outdated stuff from my pantry when I moved to the farm, and now it's time to do it again. I've never heard of using cottage cheese in cheesecake, though. I do use it in lasagna in place of ricotta, but never heard of doing that for cheesecake. I meant to post this picture with the original post, but somehow it didn't get "attached".... The cupcake things were cupcakes, red velvet. The little pumpkins were also red velvet, made with these pans: I did a separate post on those. The cupcakes were frosted with cream cheese frosting and topped with sugar turkeys... Happy Thanksgiving! Annie