It just gets easier: Lemon Cheesecake

When I watch Emeril or Rachel Ray or The Barefoot Contessa casually throwing cups of this and teaspoons of that into mixing bowls, chopping and whisking, all smiles and lively narrative in their beautiful sound stage kitchens, I marvel that cooking has become such spectator sport.

Of course, these chefs deserve their due-- they know how to do many things we mere mortals can only dream of. But basically, what they model that I like best is confidence; they demonstrate how much fun it can be to throw simple stuff together to create good food.

And it doesn't have to be complicated. In these days when lots of folks aren't that sure-footed in the kitchen, it takes just a little effort to win a pinch of culinary recognition within one's circle of friends. Just start cooking. Take a plate of homemade brownies to the office (really homemade, not from a box-- there is almost no difference in terms of workload between the two but you'll enjoy higher-volume kudos for homemade. In fact, here's a link to a brownie recipe that looks pretty impressive) Have a little dinner party and make everything yourself, even the pastry crust for flaky quiche tart appetizers. This is not such hard work. And because so many people you know probably do not cook at all these days, ever, except to heat up leftover take-out, it doesn't take a lot of chops to earn a neighborhood reputation as a foodie. It is easy for those of us who enjoy cooking to impress those who do not. Therein lies much of the fun.

Part of the reason I've come to enjoy cooking more is that it does get a lot easier with time. Take Aunt Katie's lemon cheesecake, for example, which I'm taking to a dinner party tonight. I remember baking this in high school and thinking it was kind of a drag to grate the lemon peel and get a graham cracker crust distributed evenly in a pie pan, and clean everything up afterwards. Now I love the process, the delicate scent of lemon juice and peel on my hands, the flavor of sweetened cream cheese on my wooden spoon, how beautiful such a dessert is, and for so little effort.

Nora Ephron is one of my heroes, partly because she comes across in her writing as a truly joyful cook. Nonetheless, she says in her new book, "I Feel Bad About My Neck," that one of the rules she lives by is to never make a pie crust. I so disagree. I wouldn't even buy a ready-made graham cracker crust, and you won't either once you've tried this dessert:

Aunt Katie's Lemon Cheesecake

Crust:
Mix 1-1/4 crushed graham cracker crumbs with 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Reserve 1/4 cup for top of cheesecake. Press rest on bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate. Chill until set.

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 9-inch graham cracker crust

Cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and whole egg. Mix well. Add flour, then milk. Stir in lemon juice and peel. Pour into unbaked graham cracker pie shell. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees (325 degrees if using convection). Cool 10 minutes. Top with sour cream topping.

Sour cream topping:
Mix 1 small carton sour cream with 3 tablespoons sugar. Spread over cheesecake. Bake 10 minutes longer at 350 degrees. Chill before serving.