patrícia furtado

I returned to my trip to New York with a serious addiction to cheesecake. While there, I couldn’t have enough of it. Once I was back, I started having serious withdrawal symptoms, I craved for that dense creamy heavenly dessert night and day.

I really had to try to bake one, but the occasion always seemed to escape. If I didn’t have a party or dinner to take it to, or some friends over to share it with, I would easily have ended up eating a whole cheesecake on my own. And we all know why that would be a bad idea!

Addiction is a powerful thing, though, so in the end, I decided to create a miniature New York cheesecake, just for one. Technically, it’s still quite a big portion, so you can share it… But do so at your own risk, as you may end up fighting for the last bite.

The main challenge was to find a mini springform pan. I decided to go all McGyver and improvised by wrapping the bottom of a 9cm metal cooking ring in foil and holding it with a string. It worked out quite nicely.

Mini New York Cheesecake

Top it with strawberry jam, or simply sugared strawberry puree, and sour cream.

When I saw Manhattan for the first time, I have to confess, my eyes teared up. As the Puerto Rican shuttle driver brought us out of the Lincoln Tunnel, I pinched myself. The wait was over, my heart was racing: what had been a lifetime long-distance romance was now a real love affair. Silly, I know.

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Back in Lisbon, in front of my mac, after spending two wonderful weeks exploring New York on my own, attending Wordcamp NY and the amazing Shift conference. Phew! So much to tell you all about!
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After four crazy days in Manhattan, walking up and down like a lunatic, and a Friday night of comedy and booze, Saturday was begging me to slow down and do something more relaxed. Managing to escape the touristic frenzy that the weekend would probably add to the city, I hopped on a train to Brooklyn and went… to the beach.
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There are no words to express how tired I feel right now. Exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe it, I’m totally knocked out, aching all over, falling apart. I feel like two weeks of this may be enough to kill me.

What’s the rush, I keep asking myself, why the eagerness, why the impatience? I don’t know, it’s stronger than me. New York is out there, it’s spectacularly huge, and although I’m here for two weeks, the clock is ticking loudly in my head and doesn’t allow me to waste time. Walk, walk, walk!

Greenwich Village and SoHo are adorable and quirky. Much more relaxed than the big avenues, as people seem to slow down and enjoy life in a different way. It’s so interesting to see the different moods of this city.

The system of fast and slow trains on the subway seems confusing, but it’s not that hard to get used to it. New Yorkers don’t drive much. And as the cabs and limos get stuck in the gridlocked traffic, the subway really is the fastest way to move around. That’s why you find every kind of people down there, even the high powered suited executives.

Everything needs to be fast around here. Including the food, of course. But that’s a whole other story!

After watching so many films and tv shows set in New York, being here for the first time has this wonderful and weird feeling of familiarity. Two days passed and I still feel like I’m dreaming.

New York city is beautiful, as expected, but I’m also loving the New Yorkers I keep meeting and the way the city keeps changing from block to block. If you go down Broadway, from the Upper West Side to Times Square, you have the feeling you’re shrinking as the buildings get taller and taller, and the crowd gets bigger, and the lights get sronger.

Central Park is a cliche on it’s own. There are incredible numbers of joggers, some left at the entry of the park by their limo drivers, dark skinned nannies prancing around the rich blond babies they look after, professional dog walkers, with a cloud of different dogs on leashes - how I wonder how they keep war from starting with such a crowd!

I still haven’t been south of 34th Street - except for the ferry ride to Staten Island - and I feel like I have walked more in these 2 days than I have in the rest of the year! I’ve been wandering around with no purpose, just going where I feel like at a given moment, and it’s a worderful thing to bump unexpectedly into landmarks: hey, look, it’s the Rockefeller building!

I still have plenty of time to explore, I know. Still, I feel like I can’t lose a second, like New York will slip right through my fingers if I don’t grasp it all. So, off I go, lower Manhattan is waiting!

Decisions, decisions… In the city that never sleeps, how fancy does the accommodation have to be? With all there is to see, I don’t intend to spend much time in bed anyway.

In a few years time, I’ll surely be flying to New York first class and staying at the Waldorf Astoria. But for now, seeing as I’m not swimming in a pool of dollars (yet), should I splash out on an ensuite private bedroom, or save my money for shopping?

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