Feast of kings

The highlight of thanksgiving for us. Make it. Trust us. It will be the best tasting cheesecake you've ever had.

Pumpkin cheesecake with marshmallow-sour cream topping and gingersnap crust:

For crust:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (about 9 ounces)

1 cup pecans (about 3 1/2 ounces)

1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For filling:

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups sugar

1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin

5 large eggs

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

For topping:

2 cups mini marshmallows or large marshmallows cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Grind cookie crumbs, pecans, brown sugar, and ginger in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter; using on/off turns, process to blend. Transfer mixture to prepared pan; press onto bottom and 2 inches up sides of pan. Bake crust until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating on low speed to incorporate each addition. Add flour, spices, and salt; beat just to blend. Beat in vanilla. Transfer filling to cooled crust. Bake until filling is just set in center and edges begin to crack (filling will move slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Run knife around sides of pan to release crust. Chill cheesecake uncovered in pan overnight.

Topping:

Stir marshmallows and milk in medium saucepan over low heat until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt. Cool marshmallow mixture to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Add sour cream to marshmallow mixture; fold gently just to blend. Pour topping over cheesecake and spread evenly, leaving 1/2 inch uncovered around edges. Chill to set topping, at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Cheesecake can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Read more: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pumpkin-Cheesecake-with-Marshmallow-Sour-Cream-Topping-and-Gingersnap-Crust-350478#ixzz16o9P8AVC

Here's the delicious cheesecake before:

And if you don't have a springform pan and choose to use a pie pan, this is how much filling you will have leftover. (It's OK, right now we have a throw-together graham cracker crust, cheesecake with candied leftover pecans [which went in the original gingersnap crust] bars in the refrigerator, cooked in a brownie pan. WORTH IT.)

And....after! This stuff went quickly. An amazingly light way to end a heavy dinner (well, light in feeling, not calories, haha).

Coos Bay is (was) a snowglobe

So the Oregon Coast got snow. It was about an inch, but it was awfully pretty. Everyone was freaking out. People at work were saying things like, "glad I don't have to leave for awhile," and "I'm glad I'm not going to lunch, I can't drive in this," and running to the window saying "wow, it's really coming down out there!"

And it was, actually. But it certainly wasn't sticking. It hasn't been cold enough to freeze the ground, making it impossible for the roads to become treacherous. But residents were a little too excited to think there's no way the snow stays around, and yes, Coos Bay schools canceled classes Wednesday early on Tuesday afternoon.

I can play in it? Mommy?

No, maybe we'll just cuddle on the blanket. It is cold after all, and the humans won't turn the heat on.

Ozzy, you've got a little somethin'...

Always cold and wet and sniffing hands awkwardly.

OK, seriously, why is he laying on me? Can you move him?

Actually, he's pretty warm. Maybe I'll just lay here awhile...

As I'm writing this, there's basically no snow left. And yes, Coos Bay gets off school tomorrow. Lucky jerks. It is going to be "cold," i.e. going down to like, 23 degrees, so they said it was because it would be cold and "icy." Geez.

Probably the last snow I'll see until we end up moving! And remember, this storm that stretched all the way up to Washington is probably heading easterly, so heads up Midwest.

:)

A cat's life

Life is hard. A cat's life isn't.

Seriously, how did they get so lucky? I mean, right this second, they're both curled up next to each other on the couch, Ozzy in his nest and Hendrix in a yoga position.

Ozzy's major obsession is this blanket made by my friend Michelle — and in his defense, it's super warm and soft. So he often looks at it — pleading — until I form it into the perfect nest-like structure. Then he'll climb inside and sleep for hours at a time.

The highlight of his day. Aside from d-i-n-n-e-r.

Maybe we can trade lives one day.

Of course, it's telling that I'm home at 3:26 in my pajamas, and have been for hours. Lay off, I worked for about 9 hours on Saturday sitting at a volleyball tournament while I was deathly ill. And I didn't get home until 10 p.m. last night.

A cat's life, mine isn't.

Pining

Around this time last year (actually it was closer to Halloween, since I vividly remember laughing at costumes roaming the streets), we were right here, enjoying the fall weather in Newport.

For some reason, the changing of seasons makes me pine for traveling. We live in a state that I like to call "the best state for weekend trips." Seriously, where else can you drive three hours and get to Crater Lake, drive a few hours south and hit California, drive north and take in lighthouses and adorable coast towns, and drive inland to check out volcanos and high desert?

Or we could sit next to an icy cold creek near a campground at Crater Lake...

Or show off your tan lines after getting stranded on Wizard Island...thanks hiking boots. The tan line is still there, by the way, a wonderful reminder that Oregon doesn't get enough sun to make it go away. I may have it forever.

Either way, I want to welcome the season. Fall sports makes life hard for me. I work nearly every night of the week, and Fridays are especially tough. With the long days and difficult work, weekends are becoming lazy and blah for me. I don't. Do. Anything. Because sooner rather than later, Monday will return. Everybody's weekends start around 5 p.m. on Friday. Mine starts Saturday morning when I roll my dead body out of bed.

And the best part? The weather has been awesome. Unprecedented even. As I look out the window right now (in my pajamas as I wait to suit up to cover a soccer game at 7 p.m.), the sun is shining, there's a crisp breeze, wispy clouds accent the bright blue sky and trees are changing colors, though barely.

Yet, here I sit, just knowing I've got to go back to work all night. Then get up early again tomorrow.

As soon as this fall season is over, we're out for a weekend. See, I don't want to take a real vacation when I only have 10 days of those to give, and I'd like to get home in the next fiscal year. But in Oregon, day trips are easy. And cheap.

I'll go anywhere with a yurt. Soon it will be too wet to use our tent, but the yurts will be well prepared! Most people want to sit around in fall, but I want to welcome it with driving all over this beautiful state, seeing how different climates prepare for cooler weather.

In the meantime, we're going to make an apple pie and make some yummy, slow-cooked food. I've got to celebrate the seasons changing some way, since pumpkins on a shared balcony isn't exactly the best idea. We need our own porch, big time.

But I'm pining to drive through the Willamette National Forest to take in the short window of leaf peeping we have here in Oregon. On the other side of the forest? Bend. My current obsession of travel. I must get there.

I must learn to nordic ski. I must take a starlight canoe tour given by a group that serves desserts and hot chocolate and teaches about constellations. Or snowshoe, I could do that by snowshoe, too (yes, Bend tour guides offer both those options for a great price). I must visit the obsidian flow at the Newberry Crater. I must eat at the Deschutes Brewery, and taste-test their craft beers we can't get in Coos Bay. I just want to see the Three Sisters in person.

Go ahead and google image search Three Sisters Wilderness. I'll wait. Jealous? Me too.

All this? Spurned simply by being over-worked, under-compensated and pining to hit the trails.