You can't go wrong with lemon cheesecake. It's simple and classic - can be eaten on its own, savored bite by bite, or piled high with delicious toppings, fresh fruit, compote, caramel, lemon curd.
Because his family is a true-to-the-bone pancake family, I really wanted him to share with me the secrets to making a good pancake, thin and delicate, perfectly browned on the outside, soft on the inside. He gave me a recipe, one that he has memorized. A set of very specific instructions, the right temp, the right amount of time for frying. I followed it to a tee, and sure enough, the pancakes came out the way I had always dreamed they would.