Movie, End of Summer League.

Watched an odd little movie on TV last night, The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao – Dr. Lao played by Tony Randall (The Odd Couple). We both stuck with it so I guess we both enjoyed it, but it was a somewhat different film. The basic premise was a town in trouble and Dr. Lao saves it. But how it was done was what made the film worth watching. Tony Randall was very good in the movie although apparently they had originally wanted Peter Sellers for the part. It didn’t do very well when it was first released but has apparently developed quite a following since that time.

So yesterday was the last full session of our Summer Bowling League and I finally got a decent score. Right on the last day. Next week we have our banquet, for want of a better word, and play one regular game and one game of bingo. Their computers have bingo built in to them so we don’t have to score the game ourselves. Not sure how it works but we shall see. I have got the job of finding out who is going to be bowling in the winter league and then to allocate teams. Properly in bowling, one should establish an average and then teams are made up from that, but these seniors all want to bowl with their friends and probably wouldn’t bowl at all if they couldn’t.

Matt finally managed to find Canadian blueberries in the store, and I came across this dessert. More coincidence. It came in my email from the BBC. It was listed as 606 kcals per serving, but I Googled and that is the same as 60. Here one would use Graham Crackers instead of Digestive Biscuits. No idea what golden caster sugar is, but regular sugar in North America is fine enough. Of course cornflour is cornstarch.

Blueberry swirl cheesecake

By Cassie Best

Servings

Cuts into 14 bars

The creamy, sweet texture of this baked vanilla pudding is complimented by a vibrant fruit sauce

Ingredients

• 300g digestive biscuits
• 140g butter, melted
• 275g golden caster sugar
• 100g blueberries
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 3 x 300g packs full-fat cream cheese
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 200ml pot soured cream

Method

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a 20 x 30cm rectangular tin with baking parchment. Put the biscuits in a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Add the butter and blitz again to combine. Tip into the tin, press down firmly with the back of a spoon to cover the base, then bake for 10 mins. Leave to cool.
2. Meanwhile, tip 25g of the sugar and the blueberries into a small pan. Mix the cornstarch with 1 tbsp cold water and add this to the pan. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and bubble for 1-2 mins until saucy. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese with an electric hand-held whisk until smooth. Add the remaining sugar and whisk again. Add the flour, vanilla, eggs and soured cream, and whisk until smooth and well combined.
4. Pour half the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base, then spoon half the blueberry sauce on top in small blobs. Cover with the remaining cheesecake mix and smooth the surface with a spatula. Drizzle the remaining blueberry sauce over the top, then use the end of the spoon to ripple it into the cheesecake. Bake for 10 mins, then lower the heat to 110C/90C fan/ gas ¼ and bake for a further 30 mins. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside for 1 hr, then leave for 1 hr more with the door ajar. Finally, leave at room temperature until completely cool, then chill for at least 3 hrs or, even better, overnight. Slice into 14 bars. Will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Recipe from Good Food magazine

Have a great day