Fall, Fall, Fall...

I do the celebration jig every time the first day of fall comes. Arizona's transition takes a little longer than let's say, Boston, Virginia, or New York but it comes none the less.

We spoke to Alex last night, and we have decited to have him come out for Thanksgiving instead of Christmas. He will be here about a week, which is much more than he would be at Christmas. His Christmas break is only from December 23rd to January 1st. He is excited to come, and we are excited to have him here. We are going to start a tradition where on the first of Novemeber we are all given a piece of paper that we can write '100 things I am grateful for' on. Alex is all up for it, and Emery and I are too. I asked Alex what his FAVORITE thing to eat at Thanksgiving was, and he replied: Ham. What a silly kid!!!! I was totally expecting to hear pie, or mashed potatoes! I actually don't think I have ever eaten Ham at Thanksgiving before. Alex, YOU ARE A HAM, a ham that we love very much!!! We are so blessed with SO much!






Enjoy some of my 'favorite things' below!


Pumpkin Cheesecake ( a little tedious, but WORTH IT!)

Serving: 16
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours plus chilling

Crumb Crust:
1 cup graham-cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

Pumpkin Filling:
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 can (16 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin-pie mix)
3/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs

Sour-Cream Topping:
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In 9" by 3" springform pan, with fork, stir graham-cracker crumbs, melted margarine or butter, and sugar until moistened. With hand, press mixture onto bottom of pan. Tightly wrap outside of pan with heavy-duty foil to prevent leakage when baking in water bath later. Bake crust 10 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

2. In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese until smooth; slowly beat in sugar until blended, about 1 minute, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula. With mixer at low speed, beat in pumpkin, sour cream, bourbon or vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

3. Pour pumpkin mixture into crust and place in large roasting pan. Place pan on oven rack. Carefully pour enough boiling water into pan to come 1 inch up side of springform pan. Bake cheesecake 1 hour 10 minutes or until center barely jiggles.

4. Meanwhile, prepare Sour-Cream Topping: In small bowl, with wire whisk, beat sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until blended. Remove cheesecake from water bath, leaving water bath in oven, and spread sour-cream mixture evenly over top. Return cake to water bath and bake 5 minutes longer.

5. Remove cheesecake from water bath to wire rack; discard foil. With small knife, loosen cheesecake from side of pan to help prevent cracking during cooling. Cool cheesecake completely. Cover and refrigerate cheesecake at least 6 hours or overnight, until well chilled. Remove side of pan to serve.