Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Just before Thanksgiving I saw a Wholefoods' recipe for Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake.  Not being a fan of pumpkin pie because I don't care for all the spices, I thought it would be nice to try something a little different.  However, I forgot to buy the cream and had to postpone the attempt.

Yesterday, I finally decided to make my own pumpkin pie cheesecake.  Because I wanted to be a bit quicker and wanted the recipe to be a little more to my tastes, I made a few adjustments.  My husband, who had been skeptical of the original recipe's potential, even had to admit that my take on it turned out quite well.

So here's the recipe for a quick and easy pumpkin pie cheesecake.

            Ingredients
1 graham cracker crust (I bought mine from the store, but you could always make your own.)
1 cup pumpkin purée (I used homemade)
1 (8-ounce) package Neufchâtel or cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
toasted pecans, finely chopped (optional)
grated chocolate (optional)


           Directions
In a large bowl, beat together pumpkin, Neufchâtel, 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth and creamy. Pour evenly over crust; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream and 2 tablespoons brown sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread it evenly over the pumpkin mixture. Cover and chill for 8 hours, or overnight.

Top individual slices with a choice of chopped pecans, grated chocolate, or sprinkled cinnamon.

Pumpkins Galore!

A couple of weeks before Halloween, I bought two large pumpkins for the girls to decorate.  I'm too nervous to carve them, so I let them color them...  I figured we'd roast the seeds, make some pumpkin chip cookies (we have a great recipe from The Kids' Table where the girls take cooking classes), and bake a Thanksgiving pie with them when Halloween had passed.  A few days before Halloween, however, in Bumble's words I "spilled" Yaya's pumpkin.  Unbeknownst to me it had begun to rot.  When I realized it, I picked it up to throw it away, lost my grip, and it went SPLAT all over the living room.  I wasn't terribly worried about losing one pumpkin because I had gotten them dirt cheap at the fruit store.  Now, I'm thrilled it spilled because I am overwhelmed with pumpkin.  Just after Halloween I cut up Bumble's pumpkin.  It took over two hours to do it!  I pureed part of it and used the puree to make 3 batches of pumpkin chip cookies, and one large pot of Mexican pumpkin soup (some of which is still in the freezer).  Plus, I still have about 2 cups of puree and a medium container of pumpkin cubes to use, and by the way, I thought I would run out of pumpkin before getting to the Thanksgiving pie, so I bought one more small pie pumpkin.  Oh yeah, and Yaya took a field trip to a farm for school and came back with a souvenir pumpkin!

The girls and Daddy are already sick of the pumpkin chip cookies and the leftover soup, so I've been trying to think of ways to use the rest of the pumpkins. I did a search, and I am so thankful for the internet!  I never knew there were so many ways to cook with pumpkin.  And some of them don't use the traditional pumpkin spices (I hate cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc), and some of them are great for fasting periods.

So, here are some of the ideas I'm planning to try over the next few weeks:
pumpkin rigatoni
coconut pumpkin soup
pumpkin bean soup
pumpkin chili (I was thinking of ditching the meat & cheese and substituting veggie broth to use this one soon)
pumpkin brownies
pumpkin stew
pumpkin and peanut curry