The radishes, great wine, lemon-raspberry cheesecake, and so forth

I got inspired tonight. Perhaps it was sheer necessity for my brain- today was good, and Jack had a marvelous 5th birthday, but there was a lot of talking, touching, kissing, asking and so forth, and at some point, I think I just had to retreat and do something alone. So, I started cooking.

The radishes are done and so pretty. Pink, purple, white and speckled with fresh mint. Goat cheese topped figs are browning -some with walnuts, some without- in anticipation of being used as a base for our honey tasting (those I procured from Eataly). And, there’s a lemon-raspberry cheesecake in the oven too. It’s my Nanny’s recipe from decades ago. She and Papa had a successful restaurant in my hometown, and she cooked 6 of these a week. I adapted it some and am excited to see how it tastes. Once it cools, I’m going to spread a homemade raspberry curd on top and then throw some fresh raspberries on as the final hurrah. Yum….

Lastly, Lot18 gave Tom a great bottle of wine that we’re really enjoying. It’s the 2006 Oracle, a Bordeaux-style blend from the Miner family. Bellissima!