By Terry's week. Day one was Sunday. She slept hard the first night. Monday morning Hannah and I made her breakfast — eggs and bean bread and bacon, the way she likes it. She ate slowly. She sat in her kitchen chair at our table. After breakfast we sat on the porch. The dogs were at her feet. She said: I forgot how the trees sound. I said: it's the cottonwood. She said: it's like rain. I said: yes Mama.
Monday afternoon I took her to the workshop. She had not been there. I walked her in slowly. I had cleaned the bay. The memory project pieces were on a workbench — not the originals but the copies I had been making for the family. She picked up the bone needle. She held it. She said: this is the kind your grandmother used. I said: yes. She said: you made it. I said: yes. She said: from drawings. I said: yes. She held it for a long time.
Tuesday I cooked. She helped from her chair. We made fry bread together. She rolled. I fried. She tasted the first one. She said: too much salt. I added water and rolled out a new batch. She tasted the second one. She said: there. She said: that's right. The whole afternoon was correction and conversation. By dinner we had a stack of fry bread that was the closest to her recipe I have ever made. She ate three pieces.
Wednesday she napped most of the day. The week is taking what the week takes. Wednesday evening Caleb came over. He sat with her on the porch. They talked for two hours. I don't know what about. I didn't go out. Hannah didn't go out. The two of them needed the porch. They got the porch.
By the end of the week I wanted to give Terry something sweet — not complicated, not showy, just something that said: you were here and it mattered. These Cherry Cheese Cupcakes are what I made the morning after Caleb’s long porch visit, while the house was still quiet. They’re creamy and simple and the cherry on top feels a little like punctuation — a small bright finish to everything the week had been.
Cherry Cheese Cupcakes
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 1 hr 40 min (includes chilling) | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 12 vanilla wafer cookies
- 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Prep the oven and pan. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.
- Place the base. Set one vanilla wafer cookie flat-side down in the bottom of each liner. Press gently so it lies flat.
- Make the filling. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar together with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add eggs and flavorings. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract and lemon juice until fully combined. Do not overmix.
- Fill and bake. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over the wafer cookies in each liner, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake for 22–25 minutes, until the centers are just set and no longer jiggly.
- Cool completely. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour before topping.
- Top and serve. Spoon 2–3 cherries with sauce from the cherry pie filling onto the center of each chilled cupcake. Serve cold.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 290 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 33g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 180mg