Pumpkin, anyone?

Urrrgh. We're back from the first Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the next generation. My sister did Thanksgiving this year – the first year my mom hasn't cooked in, like, ever. The fact that her kitchen has about the same square footage as a special-edition postage stamp didn't seem to faze her much. I'd have been systematically chewing my fingernails down to the third knuckle.

I'm always amazed at the sheer quantities of food that we prepare for this one meal – and the amount of canned pumpkin involved. (Hint: it's a LOT.) The new family tradition: pumpkin cheesecake. Not as difficult as you'd expect, with the following caveats:

1. Be prepared, if you have small children around, for the inevitable clamoring to see what you're doing, and demands for "Taste! Taste!" Beth probably ate a whole graham cracker while my mom was crushing enough of them to make the oh-my-gosh-this-is-good graham cracker crust.


2. Read the directions...and whip the cream cheese before adding the rest of the ingredients. Otherwise your long-suffering husband (the one who reads directions before replacing a light bulb) ends up running the whole mess of goopy pumpkiny cheesecake batter through a strainer to get the cream cheese lumps out.

Happy turkey day, everyone. I have a lot to be grateful for...and I'll bet you do too.