Happy Thanksgiving - Day 4

I'm thankful for these five. . .

1. My husband, my family, and Phil's family (who are also my family now). Enough said about that.

2. My Cricut (electronic die-cutting machine for those of you out of the scrapbooking loop.)

3. My friend Natalie. She called today, but I missed her because I had the volume on my phone turned off. I was so sad when I saw her missed call. Tomorrow just so happens to be her birthday, so I'm sure she's going to be part of my flashback Friday (which I missed last week simply because I was too dead-dog tired to write).

4. The soon to arrive wireless high speed internet. That's what was on Phil's Christmas wish list. We've had good ol' Net Zero for long enough. Tomorrow (if all goes as planned) we will be saying farewell to dial up and hello to wireless internet. We are so excited to be leaving this stage of the dinosaur age. We still don't have cable either. Baby steps. . .

5. I'm thankful for my faithful blog readers. And the list of people is growing. Thanks for stopping in to read my rants and ramblings.

Our feasting is over and we're back home from Phil's aunt and uncle's house. Phil's crashed in the bed (poor guy has to work tomorrow) and I'm getting ready to go scrapbook. Thought I'd share a picture of the cheesecake I made for today. It was really, really good. The sugared pecans on top. . .oh my goodness, so, so good!

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 1/2 c. crushed gingersnaps
1/4 c. butter, melted
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
5 squares (1 oz. each) white baking chocolate, melted & cooled
3/4 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Topping:
1/2 c. chopped pecans
2 T. butter, melted
1 T. sugar

In a small bowl, combine gingersnap crumbs & butter. Press into the bottom of a greased 9 inch springform pan; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs & vanilla; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in melted white chocolate.

Combine pumpkin & spices. Gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over crust. Place pan on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until center is set. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the topping ingredients; spread in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring twice. Cool.

Carefully run a knife around the edge of springform pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Transfer topping to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator.

Just before serving, remove sides of pan; sprinkle topping over cheesecake. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 12 servings.

My Tips ~ the recipe called for about 35 crushed gingersnaps. This wasn't enough to cover the bottom of the pan. I used about 15-20 more and mixed it with a couple tablespoons of melted butter. Be sure to not overbake the nuts. I had to redo that part because they got too brown. Next time I make it, I'm going to look for white chocolate chips. Even though it had a whole Godiva white chocolate bar melted in it, you really couldn't taste it. It's still good though.