A Few of Our Favorite (Fast) Foods

Around 1750 the Earl of Sandwich put some meat between two slices of bread and gave fast food a good name. It was several hundred years before American ingenuity came along to ruin its reputation.

But fast food doesn’t have to mean a hapless piece of meat or produce that’s been fried to a frazzle, wrapped in layers of paper and plastic and sold for the cheapest possible price. Fast food can be made from scratch, served with pride and consumed with pleasure. The following recipes, a few of our favorites, prove the point.

Say Cheesecake

This cheesecake recipe came from my sister, who lives in Mexico City. She makes her own graham cracker crust, but when I’m in a hurry I speed up the preparation with a ready-made crust from the supermarket.

For special occasions I like to decorate the top with strawberries or other fruit in season. And for a holiday dinner with lots of company, I’ll double the ingredients to get four cheesecakes with no extra effort.

EASY CHEESECAKE

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

4 eggs

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 (8-inch) graham cracker pie shells

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese until soft. Add eggs, 1 at time, beating after each addition. Add condensed milk, flour and vanilla and beat until smooth. Divide between pie shells. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 35 minutes or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream if desired. Makes 2 cheesecakes.