Martha Freakin' Pumpkin Stewart Cheesecake

I did it! I managed to successfully make a cheesecake - a pumpkin cheesecake no less! No cracks, no mushy inside, homemade crust, this is restaurant quality stuff here people. After hearing how difficult it is to make cheesecake I was weary but I soldiered on and by god, won the prize. It tastes amazing, cheesy not-too-pumpkin-y goodness.  This could easily sit alongside one of my mother-in-law's homemade goodies.  

The recipe can be found here courtesy of the happy homemaker, Martha Stewart. She may not be able to manage her finances legally, but she sure can cook!  

I concentrated so hard while making it I thought my eyes would fall out. I painstakingly read each and every direction again and again to get it right. Patience and fortitude paid off because I got a Martha Stewart Cheesecake. Sorry Martha, I know it is your recipe but I'm taking all the credit for how this puppy turned out!

I even made my own graham cracker crust!

I said the cheesecake was a success, but I didn't claim it was sans mess!

There she is in all her un-cracked glory!

Tell me this beauty couldn't be in a bakery somewhere

So much for my diet...

Thanksgiving, Part 1.5

Frankenstorm hit, but luckily it did not cause too much disruption to my immediate area.  The same cannot be said for places such as NY and NJ.  My heart goes out to all those who lost things, people and their lives in that storm.

Considering the devastation of Hurricane Sandy I did not feel right cooking up an entire warm, cozy Thanksgiving meal as a test run.  It felt wasteful and unnecessary in light of the recent events.  I did make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies however. (recipe can be found here). 

The first batch came out great (to my surprise!), the second batch, not so much (typical).  Maybe it was because the batter sat there while the first batch cooked?  Or maybe I made bigger cookies by accident and they needed longer to cook than the first batch, I'm not sure, but the first batch was great nonetheless.  Actually the cookies got better with each passing day.  The flavors seemed to meld together or something.  

Look at that ooey gooey goodness!!