Happy National Blueberry Cheesecake Day!
I read that cheesecakes originated in Ancient Greece where it was served to Olympian athletes in 776 BC. (Who'd a thunk it?) Supposedly it was made out of crushed cheese, wheat flour, and one egg. When the immigrants came to America, they used cottage cheese to make the cake. The modern cheesecake started in 1872, when American farmers tried to recreate French Neufchatel cheese. But, instead of recreating that cheese, they accidentally made a much richer and cremier cheese, now known as cream cheese.
When I was in Bar Harbor, Maine, I remember going into one of those candy shops where they make fudge in the front window. Well, they had all kinds of chocolate candies for sale on trays behind the glass showcases. I spotted something that looked like chocolate turtles, but they were chocolate-covered blueberries. Do you suppose I could find my will power? Heck no, it was nowhere to be found. To this day I drool over those blueberry yummies. They'd be real easy to make by just pouring melted chocolate over fresh blueberries.
Nutritional experts rate blueberries as the highest in their capacity to destroy 'free radicals' in our bodies. If I was supposed to define 'free radicals,' I couldn't. What I picture them being, tho, is a bunch of naughty little cells chasing around freely in our blood trying to cause trouble. Close enough.
Here's a terrific website for cheesecake recipes: http://www.i-love-cheesecake.com/. Go kill some free radicals!