Chocolate Chip Cheese Cake

Yesterday, I stopped in to see my "old" friends from my last job at the NYS Dept. of Health Nursing Home Complaint Hotline and Case Resolution Bureau and I brought them bagels, Irish Soda Bread and some Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.   Everyone was happy to see me and my food supplies!! 

There is an interesting phenomenon at State Agencies.  If ever you have food lying around the house and you don't know what to do with it, simply bring it into a State Agency and leave it unattended and, by the end of the day and possibly sooner, it will disappear completely and magically.  It is a marvelous thing for someone like me who can not throw out even a rusted paperclip.

I love to see someone appreciate the things I can't eat or can't use anymore.  It makes it so much easier for me to part with "my wonderful stuff".   I especially like to return things to their original or "rightful" owners.   If you sent me a letter in your youth or childhood, you may be seeing it once again.  It is not that I don't appreciate your letters or your words to me.  Rather, it is just that I consider them so precious and so priceless that I cannot, for the life of me, throw them out.   Maybe your kids will want to read them, or maybe you will want to read them again and get a glimpse back into your long ago past.  Whatever the case, if I do send you something that you gave me years ago, do not be insulted or offended.  Rather,  know that it means, simply and honestly, that I am getting up in years and since I can't take it with me to the great beyond, I do not want it to one day end up in the dumpster. 
So here is the requested recipe for the Cheesecake: 

Chocolate Chip Cheese Cake

Topping:

8 ounce package of cream cheese  ( you could try using a little more cream cheese to make it richer if you want)

1 egg, unbeaten

6 ounce package of chocolate chips

½ cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Beat cream cheese, and then add egg, sugar and salt.  Beat until well-blended. Stir in Chocolate chips and set aside.

Cake:

1 & ½ cups flour

1 cup sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp salt

1 cup water

½ cup vegetable oil (I use canola)

1 tsp apple cigar or white vinegar

Blend together all the cake ingredients. The batter will be rather thin (that’s as it should be).  Pour into an 8 inch square pan which has been generously greased and floured.  Drop the topping by spoonfuls over the cake batter and the spread evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Cut in squares after cooling.

I almost always have the all the above ingredients on hand at home (except maybe for the cream cheese which I then have to run out and buy) so this is a quick and easy, “from scratch” recipe that can be made for any number of occasions.  If you want to serve it as a dessert after a nice dinner, you can dress it up and make it more decadent by melting some chocolate chips with a tiny bit of milk in the microwave (cook for about a minute and a half on power level 6 or 7 and then stir to blend). You can even add a tsp or two of an orange liquor to add some special flavor to the chocolate.  Spoon the mixture over each serving and top with whipped cream from the can.  Boy is that good!