more than cheesecake

I recently learned that Abby Mandel passed away. It isn't something that I sought out, it just appeared in an RSS feed. Even though I don't live there, I still read Gaper's Block as it is the best insider's guide to Chicago. They had a link to the news as Abby Mandel started the Green City Farmers' Market in Chicago about a decade ago. This was news to me.

I learned of Abby Mandel back in 1984. My Mom bought a condo on the west side of LA, and we pretty much got to go to town in terms of furnishing it. Even though I was in high school, I really wanted a food processor. We were out one day at a department store, and the Cuisinarts were on display. They were offering a promotion where if you bought the food processor you got a cookbook to teach you how to get the most out of it. I sold my Mom on the idea, and we came home with Abby Mandel's book.

My Mom liked to entertain, although she had long given up on cooking (she was a great cook, she just didn't like the work). That was my job now. I don't know how I picked the recipe for the cheesecake - it is in the back of the book and doesn't even have a photo of the finished product - but it is the first recipe I made, and it was an instant success.

We had a couple of friends of my Mom's over to the house. It was a couple, both from New York, and the husband said he hated cheesecake. Of course, no one knew this when I was planning the menu, so it was out of my control.

His wife said that it would hurt my feelings if he didn't at least try a bite of it. I don't think it would have, but he was glad he did. He found the first cheesecake he liked, and had two slices. And no, I don't think he was placating me. He was rather opinionated and would have had no problem telling me he didn't like it.

I don't know how many times I made that cheesecake, but it was always a hit. Maybe it was the sauce? It had kirsch in it, along with strawberries and raspberries. The whole cake usually disappeared before whatever gathering was over. Occasionally people would get to take home the extra, but that was only in cases where it was a small group of people.

When my Mom moved to San Francisco, after losing her home but not quite hitting bottom, she promised to give me the decade old Cuisinart and the cookbook. Alas, in the process of her move it got stolen along with her antique mantel clock, and my yearbooks. I was so disappointed.

I searched everywhere I could for the cookbook. By this point I decided I could buy my own Cuisinart and really wanted to make that cheesecake again.

A few years later, when I was living in Austin, Texas, I mentioned this cheesecake and the cookbook to my friend. It turned out that her Mom was the queen of garage sale hunting, and often brought home rare cookbooks for pennies. She believed she might have a copy in a box in her garage that her Mom gave her, and sure enough a few days later, the book was in my hot little hands.

Of course when I heard the news the first thing I wanted to do was make cheesecake. My cookbook is in Chicago. The good news is a search at the library, found a copy. And a search of the ISBN found a like new copy on Amazon for under $20 with shipping. After the holiday, I will make cheesecake!

Thank you Abby Mandel. You taught me much more than how to make a mean cheesecake. You added to my love of sharing good food with people. Your legacy will live on.



on the night stand :: Abby Mandel's Cuisinart Classroom