Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you guys are having an awesome day, and spending time with people who are important to you.

I somehow cooked up the idea that I would host Thanksgiving this year and invite my family and Mark's. It's something I always wanted to do, but can't help but think I'll be in the fetal position in the kitchen or muttering under my breath all day. Or becoming a wino. Perhaps all of the above.

I hope it turns out half as good as Friendsgiving over the weekend. (pictured above) Our friend Colin used a smoker to cook the turkey and it was probably one of the best turkey dinners I've ever eaten.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Eat your heart out, Cheesecake Factory. For those of you who don't know, cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts. Being a sweet tooth and all, I'm never very picky, but I can have preferences, can't I?

Mark's mom makes me cheesecakes for various special occasions. The most memorable was when she made THREE cheesecakes for my wedding shower. It was pretty low key, but there was so much damn food it was a little crazy. That included the pumpkin cheesecake which I remade over the weekend.

We went to Friendsgiving on Saturday, so I felt ambitious and decided to try my hand at cheesecake. Mark and I got a springform pan for our wedding, and hadn't used it yet, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The cake was a bit more work than I was expecting, but the results were fabulous.

Maybe if you're stumped on what to bring to Thanksgiving dinner, maybe give this recipe a try. It's a great twist on the traditional pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Recipe courtesy of my mother in law, Debbie

Filling Ingredients:
• 4 packages (8 oz) of cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice

Crust ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions:
Crush graham crackers until fine. Stir in sugar, and then butter, until formed. Press down into springform pan, and press edges up the pan and inch or so. Bake crust for 10 minutes at 300 degrees.

While crust is baking, assemble filling in two mixing containers. Mix together canned pumpkin, flour and pumpkin spice. Set aside. In mixing bowl, combine both sugars and cream cheese, and mix for a few minutes until smooth. Slowly add eggs, one by one, continuing to mix, and then add pumpkin mixture.

Once crust is removed from oven and cooled for at least 15 minutes, add filling to pan.

Bake for 70 to 90 minutes at 300 degrees. When finished, turn off oven and crack open oven door for another half hour. Remove cake from oven, loosen edges, and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from springform pan and voila! An amazing cheesecake that everyone is ready to devour. :)

Optional toppings include caramel, pecans, bittersweet chocolate drizzle, among others. Mark and I opted for sprinkling some almonds slices on top to keep it simple and give the cheesecake a little more texture.

And a little somebody definitely wanted in on the fun. This little guy attacks us whenever we're in the kitchen making food, particularly when it involves milk-based products. (Say, for example... cheesecake.) It can be a little annoying sometimes, but he's too adorable to get mad at for long. Here's one of Waldo's signature beg faces:

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving/winter holiday desserts?

Ice Queen

Sigh. The snow has come upon us. I think it's easy to tell how I feel about it:

Honestly, the snow isn't so bad. It's just that, well, it's mid-November, and I'm not really ready for it to be 10 degrees every morning. It feels more like January right now. I'm all about the layering, wearing thick tights and cupping warm drinks, but not so much wearing winter coats, hiding my face in my scarf every time a cold breeze goes by, and slipping on ice while walking on the sidewalk.

Luckily, I've been inspired to mix it up lately, outfit-wise, and didn't want to dress in a completely dreary way. I've been in a bit of an outfit slump lately, usually doing my go-to riding boots plus blouse and cardigan for work, but that was getting old. I always feel so inspired by the people around me, with life, goals, fashion sense, etc. (with the people I meet while reporting and in the blogosphere) that it's almost overwhelming. I've been calling it a creativity hangover.

But instead of getting overwhelmed and shutting down like I usually do in stressful situations, I decided to experiment.

I've mostly worn this skirt in the summer, but it's thick enough to be part of a winter ensemble, too, which I totally love.

Here I am sans jacket and hat, pretending to look happy while standing in the season's first snow:

Outfit: Shirt and cardigan, thrifted; faux leather moto jacket, Wilson's Leather; skirt, Modcloth; tights and hat, H&M; flats, Famous Footwear.

And because I FINALLY have enough outfit photos on my blog for some repeat wears here, I thought I'd show how I've worn the moto jacket and maps skirt earlier this year:

     

RIP, Fall foliage and summer greenery. :( Until next year, anyway.

How are you all doing with the weather, in terms of dressing for your climate?