Thanksgiving at our House

Lavin and I enjoyed an intimate Thanksgiving dinner, just the two of us. I was on the fence for a while about whether I should make a turkey or not, since it was only for 2 people, but I ended up going for it. Lavin recreated his amazing pumpkin cheesecake which we have been enjoying each night since Thanksgiving! The recipe comes from Cooking Light so it's not as fattening as traditional cheesecake, but the flavor is as rich as the full-fat version. And, the sweety that he is, even made the crust gluten free for me!

Here's our meal: Roasted turkey, sweet potato casserole, green beans, stuffing and a croissant. Yum!


Lavin carving our cute 10lb turkey


My husband's masterful pumpkin cheesecake creation

Cooking Light's Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

• About 8 ounces Mi-Del gluten-free ginger snaps
  
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) blocks fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 2 (8-ounce) blocks 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash of allspice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare crust, place ginger snaps in a food processor; pulse 2 to 3 times or until finely ground. Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

To prepare filling, beat cheeses with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and next 8 ingredients (granulated sugar through vanilla), beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin; beat well.

Pour cheese mixture into prepared crust; bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours or until almost set. (Cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when pan is touched.) Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around outside edge. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill at least 8 hours.