It's Pumpkin Season

That's right...Fall is the best because it's the best time to eat pumpkin sweets.  Every year around this time I turn into a baking queen.  I think it must have something to do with the cold weather and not wanting to be outside, instead I eat sweet tasty baked treats. 

What does this have to do with riding your bike Courtenay?  It doesn't, I just wanted to share with you some tasty treats.  As I am writing this I am waiting for my Pumpkin Cheescake to cook!  Instead of going home to Seattle for Thanksgiving I decided to stay in Bellingham with Chris (he has to work).  His fire station is celebrating Thanksgiving together, so I thought I would join them and begin my baking escapade by bringing in a Pumpkin Cheesecake, Sweet Potatoes, and Green Bean Casserole.  Today I am making the Cheesecake.  Here is the tasty recipe.  I have made it for the past 2 years and brought it home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I usually don't have much left over.  I will write the original recipe, and then some things I change.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

**My changes include:

• 3 8 ounce packages of cream cheese (this year I am trying 2 packages of neufchael cheese and 1 regular cream cheese). 
• I make my own graham cracker crust to stay away from trans fat that is put into the store bought ones.  I will include that recipe at the bottom. 
• I love spices so I don't measure them out, I just pour those spices in until I think it tastes spicy-licious. 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

**My changes include:

• I have a gas oven so I am cooking it at 300 degrees
• I used about 1.5 cups for the base of just the cream cheese without the pumpkin.  That way you can get a little bit more of the plain cheesecake.  Otherwise it's a lot of creamy pumpkin on top.
• You have to bake this for longer than it says (closer to 1 hour).  It turns into a lot of cheesecake.  I also bake it in a Springform pan placed on top of a baking sheet with a bit of water on the bottom to prevent any cracking in the cheesecake.  That way it stays beautiful. 
• I would also recommend letting it sit overnight, that way all those tasty flavors blend and you can enjoy the flavor more!

Then Ta-da!!!!!!  If you love pumpkin and cheesecake as much as I do, you will LOVE this recipe.  It's SO good.  It just reminds me of Fall and those orange, red, and yellow leaves and the cold breeze. 

Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.
2. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Cool. If recipe calls for unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour.

** No changes here, other than the obvious, watch the crust take it out around 6 minutes. 

Cheesecake is very easy to make, I promise.  You just have to know when to take it out of the oven.  When it jiggles like jello is a good indicator of when the cheesecake is done.  It can be tricky. 

Good Luck!!!