Can you believe another December and holiday season is here?

In many ways, I’m feeling as if not much has changed over the past year and so much has changed!

This year, we expanded our office to a bright new home at the Saybrook Junction in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. We’re now located at 455 Boston Post Road, Suite 205. Our phone number (860-664-5695) and my email address (elena@elderlcp.com) remain the same.

If we haven’t connected in awhile (and it has been awhile for a lot of you!), please stop in and say hello! Give me a call or shoot me an email. I’d love to hear from you & reconnect this holiday season or into the new year.

This past year, Elder Life Care Planning has also begun adding new team members to our growing business! We are so grateful for all of the support we’ve received in growing our business. We are beyond blessed for our professional partners and all of you who support us in supporting our passion to serve Elders. None of this could be done without the help of our incredible staff.

Barbara brings decades of experience as an executive assistant. Emilyn supports our Life Care Planning and Title XIX clients. Caroline, our Geriatric Care Manager, is a God-send, and again, a seasoned professional. Pam, our Operations Manager, wears many hats and supports Elena not only as a family member, but also as an experienced management advisor.

For now, I’d love to introduce you to Pam. She has been a wonderful addition to our business and we are delighted to share Pam’s mother’s New York Cheesecake recipe below.

I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying her cheesecake many times, as Pam’s mother was also my sweet Aunt JoAnn. After all, it’s all about family. Scroll down to see our beloved Aunt JoAnn’s New York Cheesecake recipe.

photo of elena and pam

Meet Pam, ELCP’s new Operations Manager

In the coming months, we’ll be hiring a few additional team members to help us continue to serve our Elder clients and families with holistic life care planning, coordination of care, and Title XIX Services. Stay tuned for those introductions and more about our growing team.

Dedicating our lives in the service of supporting Elders and their families, we realize the importance of kindness. A simple gesture, listening with compassion, and a warm embrace may seem insignificant to us and be the world of change for someone else.

I created the Elder Love Matters Facebook Group originally as a place where our everyday joys & experiences in addition to random acts of kindness you encounter in the world could be shared and celebrated. In 2022, I want to continue that mission!

If you’re not a member yet, please take a moment and join our group! Beginning in January, we’ll start sharing uplifting & positive content and creating a deeper space in which we can all celebrate the kindnesses we see in the world – and especially with our Elder loved ones. Join by clicking this link!

I’m thinking of all of you fondly and sending tons of blessings your way throughout the holiday season and into the new year. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Until 2022,

Elena

photo of New York Cheesecake

Aunt JoAnn’s New York Cheesecake 

Ingredients: 

  • Graham Cracker Crust
  • 1-1/2″ cup Graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • Cheesecake Batter
  • 4 (8oz.) packages of Philadelphia cream cheese-softened
  • 16 oz. sour cream
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 4 heaping tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Mix graham cracker crust ingredients well and press into the bottom and up sides of buttered 10″ springform pan, set aside.
  2. Beat cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and eggs well. Add alternately, milk, flour, and vanilla. Pour into buttered 10″ springform pan over graham cracker crust.
  3. Bake at 350º for 55 minutes. Turn oven off. Leave in closed oven 30 min. then open oven 30 min. Remove from oven and cool completely. Remove from spring pan onto a serving plate and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with fresh raspberry sauce and fresh strawberries or raspberries and fresh whipped cream.

Recipe Notes & Helpful Hints

True New York cheesecake is made without the graham cracker crust. My family likes the crust, so I make it that way more often.

My cheesecakes always crack, no matter what I do to prevent it. It is said that cheesecake will crack if it cooks too quickly, hence the steps of leaving it in the oven, etc.

For Chocolate Cheesecake: Use a double boiler to melt 8 squares of unsweetened chocolate. Add to completed cheesecake batter and mix well. Follow the remaining directions above for cheesecake.

This recipe makes more batter than what will fill a 10″ springform pan, so I usually put a little crust and batter into a pie plate with the remnants of what does not fit in the springform pan.

Do not overfill the springform pan or it will raise and fall off into the oven and burn.