.

Growing up, I had always thought that making cheesecake was hard and time-consuming. So when I started doing my own cooking I’d use a box of the no-bake Jello crud and call it dessert. It wasn’t until I was married and decided to devote a little more time to figuring out the “hard” things (lasagna, stuffed shells, etc) that I realized cheesecake is a piece of cake.

My standard cheesecake recipe is really easy, but because I make it with sour cream and strawberries I consider it more of a summer recipe, so this weekend I decided to hunt down a fall cheesecake, and found a yummy pumpkin one from a magazine.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake
originally from spreadphilly.com

38 ginger snaps
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup melted butter

4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 Tbs pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Heat oven to 325°. In a food processor, pulse the pecans until finely chopped, and add ginger snaps. Process until fine and drizzle butter in. Pulse a few times until mixture is crumbly but not sticking together. Press onto the bottom and one inch up the side of a 9-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in mixer until blended, be sure to scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla, mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, until each is blended. Pour into crust.

Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until center is almost set (use a clean knife into the center to check). Remove from oven and let cool on a rack before removing pan rim. Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

Serve with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

 Print this recipe!

If only more things in life could be as easy as roasted pumpkin seeds! The girls carved their Halloween Jack-o-lanterns this morning (out of school for Nevada Day), and Mike happily took care of cleaning and rinsing the seeds (the part I hate).

Make sure they’re as rinsed off as you like them (some people don’t even do that) and dry as well as you can. You can let them air-dry for up to 24 hours ahead of time if you want. I just dump them on a towel, fold the towel over and pat them dry. I’m not picky. Dump them into a bowl.

Melt two tablespoons of butter and pour over the seeds, and add a teaspoon or so of garlic salt. If you don’t like garlic salt, use regular table salt. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put in a 300° oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. You may need to rotate the pan in the oven if some spots are getting too brown.

That’s it!