Say Cheese

I love Thanksgiving. While the food is incredible at my family gathering, it's not what makes it my favorite holiday. I love everything about it, from the food to the beginning of the Christmas season to football. This year I wanted to take something different to my family Thanksgiving. I've never made a cheesecake but have always wanted to try, so when I saw a Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe in a magazine recently, I went for it. It turned out delicious and I will definitely be trying more cheesecakes in the future.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

For the crust:
1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

Combine ingredients and press into spring form pan.

For the cheesecake:
3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temp.
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 TBS flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Beat cream cheese in mixer until smooth. Add pumpkin, eggs, sour cream, sugar and spices, flour and vanilla. Blend well. Pour into into crust. Bake 1 hour. Remove and let sit 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours. (Recipe from Food Network.)