Sugar...mmm sugar

Can you believe you can order Custom M&Ms??!!
Also, they have different flavors. I'm fond of almond, or peach, or maybe cherry. Ahh consumerism...though I doubt you can get custom M&Ms with different flavors. How cool would that be?

Speaking of sugar, I baked my semi-almost-famous pumpkin cheesecake this weekend. The commissary didn't have standard canned pumpkin, only pumpkin pie mix, WHICH IS DIFFERENT! Also, I got chatty (a rare thing) and kinda sorta overcooked it. I took it into the office this morning, and those who had some seemed to like it. Oopsie, I forgot to package up the rest at the end of the day. Its still sitting on the breakroom table. That's not good.

For those who have requested the recipe (Mom), now would be a good time to get a pen and paper. I adapted it from a recipe in my favorite cookbook ever, Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Cookies. It was originally a bar recipe.

Crust
2 cups finely crushed gingersnaps
1/4 cup butter, melted

Punkin' fillin'
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (to taste)

Cheesecake fillin'
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar (or more, you'll feed this to other people )
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 dash of pumkin pie spice (for fun)
4 eggs

Set oven to 325.
1. Lightly grease pan (oops), I use a regular cheesecake pan, but 13x9x2 should work. Combine butter and gingersnap crumbs. Press into pan, a large spoon works for this. Bake crust for 10 minutes or until firm (bake?...maybe next time).
2. Combine ingredients for pumpkin filling, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, spice, and vanilla, beat some more (cooking is kinky that way). Add each egg one at a time, beat until combined (i'm getting kinda hot).
4. Pour about 1/4 of the cheesecake batter into the pumkin mixture and mix until smooth (and yummy). Pour remainin cheesecake mixture into the pan. Spoon the pumkin mixture in dollops over top, and use a knife tip (i like chopsticks better) to gently swirl into a pretty pattern.
5. Bake until the end of time. Really, it always takes me forever, but at least 30 minutes. Its done when a toothpick or fork comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for an hour, then move to fridge 24 hours. If you try to cut it before 24 hours, DISASTER SHALL STRIKE YOU!!!!!! (no really, it'll suck)

I love October.