Thirty Three

Yesterday we celebrated Lena's thirty third--oh, how I love palindromes--birthday with a small gathering of loved ones, many balloons, and two cakes. I baked one favorite blueberry cake, and one cheesecake (the latter being Lena's forever preference). The form of the cheesecake turned out a little funky (depressed in the middle) due to our funky oven (though, looking at photos from her birthday last year, I noticed that that cake looked a little funky, too, and that one was baked in our old house. So maybe I can't blame the oven), but was exceptionally delicious with a perfect texture (disappearing all together about 5 minutes after Lena blew out her candles).

I topped the cake with both a tree and a baby lion, for my forest ecologist, lion-loving wife.


It took years to settle on a cheesecake recipe worth repeating, and now that I've found one (this has been the standard for at least a few birthdays now), I have stopped looking.

Lena's Birthday Cheesecake

7 packages (8 oz. each) of cream cheese
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F, and butter an 8" spring-form pan.

2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese together with 1 cup of sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for 2 hours and 15 minutes, until top is golden brown and edges are firm (center will still jiggle a bit).

5. Let the cake cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving.

When I met her, Lena was 21 years old. And now she is 33. How is that even possible?! She seemed so old then (I was, by comparison, a wee 18-year-old; she could buy beer), but now, when I think of her current age, I think of how young she still is. Of how young we still are. Of how many, many birthdays there are still to come. Of how many dreams still left to be realized, some not even yet wished for. This is only the beginning. Who knows where the next 12 years will take us?