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It’s National Cheesecake Day!

Fill Your Plate

07.23.2014

Don’t miss out on tasting one of these delicious cheesecake recipes to celebrate National Cheesecake Day! (photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com)

National Cheesecake Day, which is unofficially celebrated on July 30, is your chance to celebrate this deliciously dreamy dessert featuring soft creamy cheese. Join other cheesecake lovers around the country to celebrate one of America’s favorite desserts. Whether you like it plain, covered with fruit, swirled with chocolate, or filled with exotic flavors, don’t miss out on the one day a year this creamy dessert is the star of the show. To help you celebrate, here are some ideas for making National Cheesecake Day a fun event for your family and friends and some great recipe ideas for time-tested traditional cheesecake and fancy foodie cheesecake.

1. Have a Contest to See Who Makes the Best Cheesecake on the Block

National Cheesecake Day provides a great opportunity to get friends, family, and neighbors together for some quality time and some fantastic cheesecake. Ask everyone to bake or make their favorite cheesecake and then have a blind taste test where everyone gets to vote on their favorite entries. Offering prizes like “Creamiest”, “Most Unusual”, “Most Like My Mom’s” lets more people win and spreads the fun around.

2. Have a Cheesecake Raffle for Charity

Ask friends and family to donate cheesecakes, homemade or store bought, and then set up a table at a local church, community center, or community event and raffle off the cheesecakes. Just remember to plan ahead for a way to keep those cheesecakes that need to be refrigerated cold. You might take pictures of each cheesecake so that potential raffle ticket buyers can see what they are trying to win without risking any spoilage. You could also keep the cheesecakes safely stored in a refrigerator until it is time to start raffling them off.

Raise money by selling entries to a drawing to be held at the event or later in the day. When it comes time to draw the winners, start drawing names and let each person pick the cheesecake they want when their name is called. You will need to decide up front if people must be present in order to win. If not, make sure you know how you will handle choosing, storing, and delivering cheesecakes to winners who are not there at the time of the drawing.

3. Make a Special Treat for those Who Need it Most

Another great way to celebrate National Cheesecake Day is to work with a local homeless shelter or food bank to see if you can donate enough cheesecake for all of their recipients to have a slice with their dinner that day. Then ask friends and family to donate cheesecake and even come with you to help serve up this special treat on National Cheesecake Day.

4. Use Fresh Arizona Ingredients

If you are looking for a great way to celebration National Cheesecake Day in true Arizona fashion, try these recipes that feature fresh Arizona ingredients from the local farmers market.