recipes: autumn indulgence

this pumpkin cheesecake has become an instant classic and soon-to-be thanksgiving staple in our household. it has the consistency and tanginess of cheesecake with the flavor and spiciness of pumpkin pie. to cut calories, i made this with half low-fat cream cheese and half non-fat cream cheese. the initial high-temp cooking phase seems to help limit cracking, and bringing all the ingredients up to room temp helps a lot too. i was not a big fan of the pecan-graham crust (be very careful - that crust burns FAST at 500 degrees!), so the second time i just made a regular graham cracker crust (1 pkg (1 1/2 cups) graham crackers, finely crushed; 1/4 cup sugar; 1/4 cup butter, melted; combine, press into pan and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes). i also did not make the pecan praline topping, mostly because i was too impatient, but i think i prefer it simple with just whipped cream (and, really, pumpkin cheesecake isn't rich enough already?).

the big problem with this cheesecake is that it takes 5 hours to prepare - 2 hours to dry out the pumpkin, about 30 minutes of actual prep, and 3 hours of baking... PLUS the usual overnight chilling for any cheesecake. i found it worthwhile, but it definitely requires some planning. in the future, i will probably make two at a time and spread the wealth. it is a lot of effort for just one cheesecake, and pumpkin often comes in 29 oz cans, whereas the recipe only calls for 15 oz. i did find a quick alternative, but i haven't tested it yet. it is really quick - no bake, in fact. my guess is that it will be more like pumpkin pie and less like cheesecake.

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babylegs!

we recently took our first family outing to the pumpkin patch at circle s farms. we went with two other families, which have 5 children combined, so i learned a few things on our trip. first, when playing in the hay barn, children must (1) make sure that other children are clear of the slide before going down and, failing that, (2) keep their mouths closed when face planting in the hay, otherwise a parent may end up having to try to catch vomit while making their way out of the hay barn. children should also change clothes after the hay barn and before entering the house, unless you want to spend hours picking hay out of the carpet.

but my favorite tip of the day was a new way to keep kids warm: babylegs! these are exactly what they sound like - baby/toddler size leg/arm warmers. they are perfect for keeping little legs toasty, especially when you are holding your child and his/her pants ride and expose half of each leg. they can be easily stashed in a diaper bag and used on the go, are not as bulky as adding a layer of long underwear, and keep diaper changes easy. the website also suggests putting on babylegs and letting your babe run around commando-style to help clear up especially bad cases of diaper rash. i found a couple of good sales on babylegs at best dressed tot and my tots travel (also a great site to help you travel light with kids!).

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