Sunday, February 20, 2011

Cheesecake Overdose

Those of you who have followed this blog for a long time may recall that we attend a cheesecake party every February. This was my commentary from last year that includes many of the rules and whatnot, so I won't bore you with it again. There were 13 entries (see photo above) and this year's theme was "True and False".  This meant that either your cheesecake title or your statement of rationale had to contain an element that was both true and false. I know, it all sounds a bit confusing...I only go for the fine dining (I bet that you're all picturing me wearing a bib and wielding my own silverware).

The gentleman who hosts the event...the same professor Larry that hosts 'Bad Movie Night'...is an academic, and many other eggheads academic associates of his were in attendance. One aspect of the evening was that everyone competing must make a small speech explaining how their cheesecake met the requirements of the theme. One gentleman, a professor of philosophy, stole the show by going on a Shakespearean rant explaining why he thought the theme was bogus because something can not be 'true and false', it can only be 'true or false'. Everyone was relieved that he cut his presentation down to two pages from it's original 50 pages...

Shown above is Sean's entry, Area 51, that  contained such odd ingredients as: honey, dates, lemon rind and the ever-popular tofu. In fact, it contained NO cheese at all. It didn't taste too bad either. He called it Area 51 because while he and his mother were making it, he exclaimed, "You'd have to be from another world to want to eat this!" 'V' and I went with the same Chocolate Almond Cheesecake that we have entered the past two years. Predictable yet yummy. If anyone wants the recipe for either of these just send me an email and I'll be happy to pass them along.

There were three newcomers to the event this year and I had a chance to chat with each of them. One man is from Houston and has been living here for five years. He works for one of the larger oil companies and has enjoyed his time on The Rock. He is an avid golfer and was disappointed to discover that you can only golf for about 7 months of the year. He was also a bit baffled as to how people here golfed in 40km/h winds.

Another young man attended with his wife and 6 month old daughter (I figured the baby should have been entered in the contest because she was a real cutie-pie...sadly, only cakes could be entered). This man is from Nigeria and has also been living here for five years. He has another year and a half to go until he completes his PhD in chemistry.

The third man was there with his two children. His name is Pete Stanbridge and he has his own company that manufactures drums. Wooden ones that you play, not the steel ones that you store stuff in. He hand makes them from exotic woods and ships them all over the world. Check out his web site if you get a chance, especially if you're in the market for a cool looking drum.

I think that it's really great that you can go to something like a cheesecake party and meet such a diverse bunch of folks from all over the place doing such different things. And here I thought we were living in such a remote location with little influence from the outside world (like an indigenous tribe in the Amazon--that would be the one in South America, not the one that sells stuff online).



Professor Larry brought the event to a close with the presentation of the prizes: all hand-picked from the bargain bin at Princess Auto. He was stunning in his tie-dyed shirt and pilgrim hat (I really should get him something more suitable, such as a fez, for next years festivities). We were not able to repeat our 'Best Overall Cheesecake' but Sean won a prize for Best Presentation and Ginny won a door prize. Sadly, I did not win the 'Most Cheesecake Consumed' award. This honour went to Professor Larry's 11 year old son. All I got was a sugar rush and a sore tummy.

 I'll close with a few photos from the evening. Notice the orange one on the right of the first photo. The mice on top are made from eggshells.  I thought that the Gold 'Boolean' Cake was kind of clever. The third photo has a tall, round cake in the foreground. That's actually two wheels of brie cheese stacked to top of one another, cemented together with a layer of Kraft Cheese Whiz. Interesting and effective.






























15 comments:

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Wow. I gained ten pounds just looking at all those photos of the different kinds of cheesecake! Always an interesting post, Roland

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

Oh, oh, oh! GREAT PHOTOS! This is the most fabulous excuse for a party I've ever heard of. It just makes me happy looking at all those yummy desserts and hearing what a super time you all had. So glad you had a nice time and talked to cool people. I really wish my friends would do something like this. I mentioned it to one friend and she said, "I'm on a diet." Another friend said, "I'm lactose intolerant." Still another friend said, "Sorry, I don't like cheesecake." Do I need new friends?
Sean's cake looks, um interesting... I was with ya, Sean, until I saw the word tofu... but I would have tried it and, yes, probably enjoyed it! Good idea for a theme, too.
Did you try the brie cake?
I really liked the vase/profile cake... that's using your noodle.
One question: what's the black bar doing over Professor Larry's, um, boobies?

Fox Lee said...

Now I'm in the mood for peanut butter cheesecake.

Paula RC said...

They look good enough to eat in my book... Brie Cake, how interesting...:-)

Alan W. Davidson said...

Roland- Thanks. Cheesecake night is always entertaining and fattening. I'm glad it's only once a year.

Cathy- Yeah, I think you need cooler, cheesecake consuming friends. A lot of folks there don't normally eat like that, they just set aside their sensibilities for a night of cheesecake fun. Note: I didn't include any photos of the naked cheesecake frolic after the kiddies went to bed.

The black bar on prof. Larry's shirt is just part of the design. It was suggested that he should decorate that with sequins.

Nat- Hmmm...I've never had one of those before.

Jarmara- Yes, good enough to eat. Funny though, it's hard to see in the top photo but one entry was in a plant pot lined with plastic. It was chocolate powder 'dirt' with a very soft cheesecake mixed in with chocoate chips. And there were tulips sticking out of the mix (the stems were also wrapped in plastic).

Danielle Birch said...

Did someone say "Cheesecake party"? Dear God, I would be in heaven.

Katey said...

Oh god, I loved this year's cheesecake update just as much as last year's, Alan!

...brie and cheese whiz. There's a thought. I'm young, right? My heart can take being jammed up...

Right. Maybe not.

Laurita said...

I would have given V's cheesecake top honours. Sounds much better than brie and cheese whiz, although that cake is pretty.

The city is full of intersting people. And apparently, they all eat cheesecake.

Michael Solender said...

omg please please please send some down this way hurry...

Alan W. Davidson said...

Danielle- It's a nice way to help the winter pass (in your case, the summer).

Katey- Yeah, tough choice, eh? Inflict damage on one's arteries or one's liver...

Laurita- V's cheesecake was tasty but liked in the aesthetics department. Yep, nothing like chatting with new people over a freshly-killed cheesecake.

Michael- Sorry, we ate the left overs two days ago...better luck next year. Should you come up the coast for a visit we'll have a cheesecake in your honour.

Susan Cross said...

Hats off to you, Alan. I need to take a cue from you and come up with some interesting ideas for a theme party. Maybe I'll just steal this one! Pictures are great. I gained 5 pounds just drooling over them.

John Wiswell said...

I am not a large cheesecake enthusiast. I am large, but not in my enthusiasm. This level of cheesecake innovation would still get me to endorse and attend.

Unknown said...

I think I got diabetes just looking at those AWESOME shots.. Yowza!!!

Alan W. Davidson said...

Susan- The whole cheesecake party idea is all Prof. Larry's. We just love to attend and sample all the schtuff. There's always so much left we all take home a doggy bag. A really big one.

John- Glad to see that you can set aside your ideals and diet to attend such a function. I remind myself it's just ONE day a year.

Ant- Yeah, lots of sweetness. It's the massive cholestoral that gets me, man. My doctor said I could only attend if there was a defibrulator on hand.

Laura Eno said...

I missed it again? Ah, man...
Yes, he would look much better in your fez - it's classic.