I probably can bet that some of you loyal readers do the Publishers Clearing House entries. This week I found out that my lifetime rewards from them has risen to $20.00. In the past few years I had taken in $15.00 so the recent $5.00 win has moved me up a bit. At that rate I am really going to have to step it up at a very rapid rate to make a living out of it. I have placed many, many entries in the $1,000.00 a week for life contest. So far they have not stopped to pick up flowers and greet me at my doorstep to start off the $1,000.00 per week program. They have the address right so it cannot be that they went to the wrong place. Maybe, it’s that I am just one of millions doing the same thing and dreaming that they will show up with flowers, balloons and a check.

Some would say it’s a crazy, impossible dream. I really do think we need dreams so that we can make it day to day, especially in this present day and age. We need to understand that dreaming something will not always make it come true. Dreams can be used for future goals or an escape from present life. I wish that there was a really good way or a good source of interpreting dreams. I have a very active dream mind to put it mildly. In my dreams I have written whole books and dreamt many impossible dreams. There must be a reason as to why I do so, it’s my big question. One dream that comes up every so often, all my teeth are falling out for some unknown reason. I felt brave enough to explore the question with my dental hygienist and she said it’s a fairly common dream for women but less for men, but she had no idea what it means. Okay, no answers but I now know other people are in the same boat!

This spring’s summer like weather has put the rhubarb into overdrive. We use our rhubarb mostly as a fruit but it’s really a veggie that has it’s roots in China almost 5,000 years ago. Marco Polo is said to have brought it to the western world about 2,000 years ago. The leaves are poisonous so discard them. And yes, you can pick rhubarb ALL GROWING SEASON. The “secret” is that you have to give it lots of water to keep it growing in the hot weather. There is no rhubarb god that will strike you blind if you harvest after July 4th. Rhubarb smoothies, lemonade, pickles and sorbet are a few different uses for this common veggie/fruit.

Want to be the first in your neighborhood to have a Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake? First, READ the whole recipe before starting. COMPOTE FILL-Money, ING: 3 tbsp SUGAR, 1-1/2 cups hulled and quartered strawberries and 1-3/4 cups chopped rhubarb. Cook in a medium sauce pan (stir) for about 15 minutes to become a paste. Chill overnight. DO THIS AGAIN to make the COMPOTE TOPPING. Cook the same amount of ingredients until just thick, chill overnight. CRUST: Preheat oven to 325. Spray sides of a 9 inch spring form pan. Combine 2-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, 2 tbsp sugar and ½ cup melted butter. Press into pan and sides. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool. CHEESECAKE: In a large bowl, beat 24 ounces of room temp cream cheese and 1-1/4 cups sugar until smooth; add the chilled compote filling and 1 tsp of vanilla, blend; then beat in 4 room temp eggs, one at a time. Mix in 1 cup of full fat sour cream. IMPORTANT: wrap the spring form pan with 2 layers of heavy duty foil. Now add the batter to the crust in the spring form pan. MORE NOTES: Put filled pan in a larger baking pan and put 1 inch of water in the outer pan. Fold a piece of foil in half and place on top of spring form pan to make a tent. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 50 minutes to 2 hours. If it’s just a little jiggly in the center, it’s done. Turn off heat, crack the oven door open, let sit for 2 hours. Remove and chill over night in refrigerator. To serve, pour the COMPOTE TOPPING on top but not over the edges. Complete with whipped cream. Yummy to the tummy!