National Cheesecake Day

July 30th is National Cheesecake Day and a good day to celebrate if you love cheesecake as much as I do. It's my all-time favorite dessert. I've never eaten a flavor that I didn't like, but my favorite is turtle cheesecake, followed by the ones with fruit toppings.

Cheesecake is actually older than I would have guessed. Some historians believe a form of the treat was popular in ancient Greece, and a Greek physician wrote a book on how to make them. The Romans adopted the instructions after they conquered Greece. The earliest recipe we still have is found in an English cookbook from 1390. 

Modern forms of cheesecake in the United States and Canada usually use cream cheese; in Italy, ricotta is used; and Germany, the Netherlands and Poland use quark. The cake is normally baked in a springform cake pan, sometimes in a water bath, to distribute the heat more evenly. Because cheesecakes are so dense, they often continue cooking for a while after they are taken from the oven.

There are lots of cheesecake recipes out there to try, and there're also some very good commercially prepared ones to buy. So, today is a good day to splurge, forget about the calories and fat content, and have a piece of your favorite kind to celebrate.

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* Notice *

In the four years I've been blogging, I've never taken a day off and always posted on schedule. However, my son, daughter, two youngest grandsons, and I are going on a cruise out of the country, and I've decided to take a vacation from blogging while we are gone. I will resume posting on Monday, July 30.

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Historicals or Contemporaries

Which type of novels do you prefer to read - historicals or contemporaries? Most of the authors' posts I see say that contemporaries sell much better than historical fiction does. I read and enjoy both, but if asked to choose which genre I prefer, I would have to choose historical. But then, history has always been a special interest of mine.

I also write both historicals and contemporaries. Of the twelve books I've published so far, five have been contemporaries and seven are historicals. As a history major, I even enjoy the research the historical novel requires, and I'm conscientious. I look up every questionable word to make sure it was used during that time period. But it's also fun to write contemporaries where there's not so much constraint.

Just recently, I realized that my historical novels are selling about three times better than my contemporaries. I don't know why it took me so long to see this, because I pay attention to the statistics. Maybe it's because all my novels have continued to steadily sell. I wish I knew the reason the historicals are selling better. My husband thinks it's because I do such thorough research. I wonder if historicals don't usually sell better as a whole. What do you think?
Do you enjoy historicals or contemporaries more?

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Father Serra Founds the First California Mission 

Father Junipero Serra

On July 16, 1769, Father Junipero Serra founded the mission at San Diego. The simple, original structure on Presidio Hill also served as the first church building. Yet early on, there were misunderstandings and problems with the local Indians. Even after the troubles calmed, the priest desperately wanted to see converts among the Indians, but after six months, he had not baptized a single one.

San Diego Mission today

The following January, an exploration expedition that had traveled north toward San Francisco returned exhausted and nearly starved, but they reported that the Indians they had seen appeared friendly and eager to learn about the gospel. Father Serra became excited and wrote to Mexico requesting more missionaries be sent to California. He was ready to seize the opportunity.

San Carlos Mission today

When a ship sailed into San Diego, Serra eventually sailed up the coast with them. They reached Monterey Bay in May. Here they established the mission San Carlos Borromeo. Thus went the California mission system which would dot the coast about a day's ride apart. Their main purpose was to convert the native population, but they would also provide accommodations to travelers up and down the California coast. Serra himself would found the first nine of what would be twenty-one missions. They not only played an important part in California history and also that of America.

Father Serra is often depicted with an Indian child
since he had such a heart for them

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Miracles


Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever (Hebrews: 13:8).

Do you really believe in miracles? Most Christians would likely answer, "Yes," but yet they're skeptical. Some might muster up belief in the miracles in the Bible, but they don't believe the same kind of miracles happen today. Yet, the Bible teaches us that the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The God of the Bible is our God today.

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King (Daniel 3:17).

I can remember watching a video on the life of Saint Patrick. As I watched him coming out of a hut fully engulfed in flames unscathed, I found myself thinking this could never happen. Then, I caught myself. Didn't Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come out of the fiery furnace unharmed? What was the difference?


For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Others try to find a logical answer for everything. The Red Sea parted because of this special kind of wind, Moses could have seen a clump of acacia plants over a vent for a volcano, the Star of Bethlehem was likely Venus in a path closer to the Earth than usual or planets aligned, Elijah's fire on Mt. Carmel came from anvil lightning, and the list goes on. Some of these explanations sound much more ludicrous than a miracle.

And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God (Luke 18:27).

The real answer to miracles is that nothing is impossible with God. Skeptics have tried to say that Lazarus wasn't really dead but just in a state that mimicked death. He had been in dead for four days in a hot climate. The body had a repulsive odor and had begun the process of decomposing. That's why Martha was so concerned when Jesus told them to open the tomb. Lazarus was dead. But Jesus brought him back to life, just as He can bring us to a new life when we are dead in sin. We need to believe it. God can do anything!

For with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:37).

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Meet Gail Cartee

I've found one of the benefits of going to a writers' conference is the people I meet there. I met Gail Cartee at the Carolina Christian Writers' Conference in Spartanburg, South Carolina in March; and she quickly became a friend. We have a lot in common - we have similar likes, we've both been teachers, and we're both writers. I would like to introduce you to Gail and her book.

Gail came to writing through poetry, which she loved to read and write. Then, teachers told her she had a talent for writing stories, too. She has some Cherokee ancestry, which led her to eventually write her children's book, Tsali. Although it's geared to older children, it's a book that adults can enjoy also. In the book, soldiers come to the Appalachian Mountains to remove the Cherokee to Oklahoma. The story is told from both Tsali's and his youngest son's points of view.

Gail is currently working on a children's book about heaven. She sees it as a current need because of all of the school shootings and tragedies children hear about. Her advice for new writers includes: Pray before you begin, organize a place to write and plan, join a critique group, and attend conferences. Her book is available for Kindle or in print. Check it out. It would make a great gift.

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Open Heart Surgery

Daniel Hale Williams

A widely noted open heart surgery was performed on July 9th in 1893. Daniel Hale Williams, an African-American surgeon, founded Provident Hospital in Chicago, which is where this medical breakthrough took place. The facility was the first unsegregated hospital in America, and Williams became the first doctor to perform the complete surgery in the United States, although Henry Dalton of Missouri had done a pericardial sac repair in 1891. Williams helped set the standard that was to save many lives.

Provident Hospital today (photo by Zol87)

The patient, James Cornish, had been stabbed through the left fifth costal cartilage. The emergency surgery was done without a blood transfusion, anesthesia, or penicillin to fight infection. Cornish stayed in the hospital almost fifty days to recover and then left. He lived for another twenty years.

Williams also established the first nursing school for African-Americans associated with a hospital. When he graduated from medical school, he opened a private practice where he treated both white and black patients. However, at that time, no black doctor was allowed to practice at a hospital. That's why he opened Provident Hospital. In 1913, he was elected as the only African-American charter member of the American College of Surgeons. This ground-breaking doctor is an important part of American history.

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