Patience is a virtue...at least that's what mom used to say!

I was so excited when Utah Valley Magazine asked me to participate in their November/December issue by submitting an original dessert recipe. It took me a few days to decide what I was going to make. I finally settled on my Cranberry Orange Cheesecake. It's holidayish and really delicious. But as my luck would have it, cranberries aren't in season yet, and no where to be found in Utah. I had to special order them online, I even paid extra for overnight shipping. But again as my luck would have it, they didn't arrive for over a week. I was getting nervous. I hadn't made this recipe for several years and wanted to practice it once before the final dish.

Well they finally arrived last Friday, so I spent Saturday making my practice version. On Sunday we invited some friends over for a taste test. I even distributed pieces to several of my neighbors, for their opinions. I got overwhelming approval and was feeling pretty good about my choice.

So yesterday I set out to make the final "photo-ready" perfect cheesecake. I should have know it wouldn't go as smoothly as I would hope. First of all little "R" would not go down for a nap. I had planned to make the cheesecake while she was napping. It would have been so easy. But no...little "R" had to be my helper. From sticking her hand in the sugar, then the flour, and trying to eat the oranges whole; little "R" was anything but a helper. But I finally finished and was just about to the put the final cake in the oven and it hit me...GASP!!! I forgot to add the flour. I had been so distracted with a 1 year old literally crawling up and down the counter top! What to do??!!

Deep breath! I can handle this. I removed the cheesecake batter from the pan, being very careful not to scrap any of the crust into the batter. I then added the flour and mixed carefully, trying not to mash all the cranberries. I did however have to remake the crust. It was a lost cause. So after remaking the crust and fixing the batter, the cheesecake finally made it into the oven and little "R" finally went down for a nap.

The end result...Perfection! Lesson learned...sometimes an imperfect path, can lead to a beautiful destination!

Unfortunately you'll have to wait for the Nov/Dec issue of Utah Valley Magazine for the recipe! Patience is a virtue.