I WENT TO BAKE A particular cheesecake for Thanksgiving. It’s a very special cheesecake that my mother used to make. You see, my mother’s cheesecake won rave reviews among all the family, and we looked forward to it each time she made it.

So I reached for the recipe, the one my wife had made a verbatim transcript from my mom. You could say that this recipe is the gospel for mom’s cheesecake.

The main ingredient is cream cheese, a must for any cheesecake, but I’m not making just ANY cheesecake, I’m making mom’s.

She also called for melted butter, but I’m trying to lose a few pounds, so I decide to substitute margarine. She also wrote that graham cracker crumbs are a must, but I didn’t have any so I used saltine crackers instead. It’s similar, and she isn’t here to say I can’t.

The recipe calls for 3 eggs, but I only have 2. That shouldn’t make much of a difference, especially if I add just a bit more sour cream. As long as we keep the liquid about the same.

I mix it all together, following the instructions precisely, and put it into the 10” skillet (I can’t find our spring-form pan). Continuing to dutifully follow the instructions, I baked the cheesecake as directed.

Taking it out of the oven, it didn’t smell quite like I remembered, but it looked very similar to the way mom made it. I let it cool and placed it in the fridge for my wife to find. I couldn’t wait for her to taste it, she’ll be so thrilled to see the cheesecake that mom used to make.

Her excitement was just as I expected upon seeing that cake. She carefully removed the first piece, and I anxiously awaited her first bite. The look on her face was priceless and she said, “That’s NOT how your mom used to make it.” And that’s when the fight started. Of course this story is a bit of fiction, or is it?

“…and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:17

“Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”  (KJV) [Jeremiah 42:6]