Out of the November Dark
Dear friends,
No new publications this month, but I'm not done for the year--December will bring at least one story.
It's been a fallow period for me. I like to be able to tell you I've been writing up a storm, but I haven't, just little bits here and there. Keeping my hand in. But this has been a time of grief for me, and I'm trying to be gentle with myself as well as with other people.
I think that one of the central questions you have to be asking all the time in order to write speculative fiction is, "What if things were different?" What if the cultural norms we have now were not our cultural norms, what if the place was not our place and the time not our time, what if. And I think a lot of the people who write speculative fiction have ways in which we feel different too--and sometimes our families are. It is not "normal" for a great-uncle to be one of the most important people in a person's life. It's not "normal" for that great-uncle to be a rock, one of the points of steadiness. It's not "normal"--but it's wonderful. Even when I say "my great-aunt and -uncle were more like grandparents to me," I think most people do not have the relationship with grandparents that I'm thinking of. In recent years I never had less than weekly contact with my great-aunt and -uncle. We talked about real things. We liked as well as loved each other.
Never less than weekly contact--until this week. Until now. Last year we lost Aunt Ellen, and I wrote about that, and now, this week, we've said goodbye to Uncle Phil as well. And I am...just a little more adrift than I was before. Just a little colder. And I think it's okay to take a moment--I think it's okay for all of us, with whatever difficulties we're facing, to take a moment--and do some things that are deliberately warming and nurturing. Sometimes you need a breath. Right now I need a breath. Maybe two.
It's a good thing I don't also need a piece of cheesecake, because that is all gone, was all gone by 3 pm on Thanksgiving. But I've included the recipe for the (gf if you want it to be, mine was) Black Forest cheesecake I made for Thanksgiving, because it was nice, and you deserve nice things when it's dark and cold.
Hang in there, friends. There will be more good things to come, even if November didn't always make us feel like that's true.
Best,
Marissa
Black Forest Cheesecake
I'm going to give this to you in sections, because it's not hard to make, but it's got a lot of steps.
CHOCOLATE CRUST
I used a store-bought gluten-free crust. You can do that too! It'll be fine! Or else you can take gf chocolate wafer cookies and butter and make one yourself. Just pulverize 1 1/2 c chocolate cookie crumbs in the blender, in the food processor, or with a rolling pin, whatever you like, combine them with 6 T melted butter, and press into pie pan.
If you don't need it to be gluten-free, of course you can do this with non-gluten-free chocolate wafer cookies, it's trivially easy.
CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
4 oz chocolate chips (about 2/3 c), melted
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. sour cream
1 egg
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 t almond extract (or vanilla if you prefer, but I find almond enhances the cherry experience, and I'm not the first person in history to say so
Mix together with a mixer (hand or stand, you do you) until smooth and creamy. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes, until the middle is only slightly jiggly. Let cool on the counter and then move into the fridge to cool further.
CHERRY COMPOTE
3 c. cherries (I used frozen. Fresh would be fine. I used a mix of sweet and sour cherries because that's what came in the bag. All sweet or all sour would be fine. You're fine. It's fine.)
6 T sugar
2 T water
Combine these things in a pot on the stove and cook on medium heat for 10-12 minutes, until the whole thing is soft and juicy.
While that's cooking, combine:
1 1/2 T corn starch (can use potato starch or rice flour if the person you're cooking for has a corn sensitivity)
1 1/2 T water
When the cherries are juicy and soft, stir in the above slurry. Then add:
1 t. orange zest
3/4 t. almond extract
This should be looking pretty familiar. You've seen a cherry pie filling or cherry compote before. Great. Put it in the fridge.
Whip the heck out of a cup of cream. I didn't do this quite enough, my whipped cream was a bit soft. It was fine. No worries.
Okay, so you've made everything, you've chilled everything. Now you're in assembly mode. You take the cheesecake, and you pour the compote on top and spread it out. Then the whipped cream. Top with chocolate chips to taste, or if you're feeling fancy you can make chocolate curls and put those on for decoration. Good for you if you're feeling fancy. Good for you if you're not. It will be tasty either way.