Dessert battles. Really.

Saturday night we're having dinner at some friends' house. They're old, dear friends, in fact if you've been following me for long you may have read about their wedding.

Their original invite said to just come, don't worry about bringing anything, etc., but really, that's never ok in my book.

So I volunteered to make an Angel Food cake with European Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze, right out of Joy of Cooking. I've been wanting to make this for awhile, and this couple is a perfect audience - they love good food, they appreciate the art of dining and so they're perfect to share something like this with.

What I was thinking of making

So we had a plan.

Except then hubby started *'suggesting' that I make cheesecake with cherry topping that I make from our own cherries. That happen to be abundant right now. *Note: hubby is a Taurus, and really stubborn by nature. And a Taurus. And he really really likes cheesecake with cherry topping. Really. So 'suggesting' amounted to a protracted series of comments revolving around how absolutely delicious my cheesecake with cherries is and how we're so fortunate to have trees producing both sweet and sour cherries and how fresh is so awesome when creating great dishes, and so on and so forth until I finally looked up at him and said, 'Have you blown yourself out yet? You're exhausting me. I get that you'd like me to make cheesecake with cherries from our yard. I do.'

Which is logical except I was set on making an Angel Cake. With European Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze. Right out of Joy of Cooking.

So I clammed up, then said, 'Honey, I realize how much you love that cheesecake cherry thing, I really do. But I feel like all I ever do is make peoples' favorite stuff. I want to stretch my dessert crafting skills, use my creativity, you know, just let myself go a little, once in awhile, when it comes to stuff like this.'

He looked at me like I had a third eye. And then he, wisely, wiped that look right off of his face and became Unreadable Man, but inside I could tell he was confused that I would NOT do the logical thing and use the fresh fruit from our very own trees in a time-tested, crowd-pleasing dessert like cheesecake with cherries.

Being the bratty bitch  immature, snotty single child that I am at times, I let him simmer overnight.

What I'll actually be making.

But before bed I texted my friend K, explained that hubby had a special request for the cheesecake with cherry topping thing. And she consulted with her hubby, then responded with a 'that sounds lovely.'

So we're picking cherries. And pitting cherries. And I'm making the sauce. Then making the cheesecake, which is best if made twelve hours in advance, then chilled. So probably tonight I'll be doing that.

'Cuz apparently in our house? It's all about obliging requests, albeit begrudgingly.