Make the filling: In a large bowl, beat 1 1/2 pounds softened cream cheese, 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1 egg until very smooth. Add 3 additional eggs, 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup heavy cream and continue beating until very smooth. Pour the mixture into the chilled springform pan and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for one hour and 15 minutes. When done, turn off the oven and allow the cake to cool in the oven for one hour. Then remove the cake from the oven and place it on a wire rack until completely cooled. Refrigerate for about two hours. Remove the sides of the springform pan and sprinkle the top of the cake with 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar before serving. Luscious!
- Polly
Dear Polly: Here's my idea for an attractive party appetizer. I buy a large round red Gouda cheese and slice off the top. (Leave the red wax on the rest of the cheese.) Then, I scoop out cheese with a grapefruit spoon or knife until I'm left with a hollow shell of cheese. I mix the cheese that was scooped out with cream cheese, a bit of cream, butter, Worcestershire sauce and perhaps a bit of blue cheese in my food processor. Then I spoon this cheese spread back into the hollowed-out shell. Placed on a platter surrounded with crackers and raw vegetables, the stuffed cheese looks beautiful and tastes great!
- Nita
Dear Polly: If your ears are sensitive to metal of any kind (including gold), and you love to wear clip-on earrings, put clear nail polish on the part of the earrings that touches the ear. This can also be done on the posts for pierced earrings. The nail polish, when it hardens, will keep the acids in the metal away from your skin.
If you need an extra long zipper for slip covers or pillow cases, use two instead of one. Stitch the two zippers into the opening with the open ends facing each other so they will zip open in opposite directions. When the zippers are both closed, the zipper pulls will meet in the center. Works like a charm.
- J.L.
