3 words: pumpkin. mousse. cheesecake.

 

Thanksgiving was awesome, and not just because we got to see a ton of family. In the morning, hubs and I ran a 5K, and my brother-in-law came along for good measure (but totally smoked our time by like 13 minutes. ouch). he and his wife came back to my in-laws, where we picked up stenni and headed home to cook. for dinner, my folks, my sister and my in-laws came by, then later on my grandparents and hubs' cousin and his wife came by for a bit. it was a nice, steady crowd of people all day, and even though i completely forgot about the cranberry sauce and neglected to put out the napkins until we were halfway through our meal, it was really, really perfect.
but like most things in life, the best part was dessert. ok, maybe dessert was the second best part. the best part was hubs carving a turkey in his lederhosen apron with his beer stein oven mitts. for serious. don't  believe me? see for yourself:



At any rate, what I want to talk about right now is dessert. I wanted to add an extra dessert to the menu just in case we had extra people show up, and I'm pretty glad I did. But it had to be something ridiculously easy, because I had enough on my plate that day (so punny, right?). I wanted something pumpkin. But I also thought people might riot if there was no cheesecake of any type on the table. (My family is a riotous bunch.) Hubs said, "so why don't you make a pumpkin cheesecake?" and I almost made out with him on the spot because of his brilliance. after looking through a million cookbooks and websites, I found this one at skinnytaste and altered it very slightly to fit my needs and use what I already had in the kitchen so I didn't have to go out food shopping 100 more times. And it was awesome. oh, did i mention i had dieters coming over and that a slice is only 6 weight watchers points plus points? because it is, and that rocks. here you go, friends:

Pumpkin Mousse Cheesecake

• 1 8-oz tub reduced-fat whipped cream cheese or neufchatal
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (a little more is just fine if you want more pumpkin flavor, but don't go crazy because it'll make it heavier and more pie-like than fluffy)
• 1 tsp really good vanilla (or, if you really want, skip the vanilla and add about 1 Tbsp. of dark rum. it ups the spice factor but probably the WW points as well. but since I don't count points, I also don't care and I really like rum)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves, if you're too cheap to shell out $6 for like an ounce of pumpkin pie spice, like I am)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
  
• 8 oz-tub of fat free whipped topping, thawed
  
• 9-inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, whip together cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar for a 4-5 minutes, until super fluffy. Add whipped topping and whip until smooth. Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours until firm.

Original Recipe: Pumpkin Spice No-Bake Cheesecake @ Gina's Skinny Recipes

What was your favorite recipe this Thanksgiving? Didja try anything new? Tell me tell me tell me!

make yourself useful and...

 

host a cookie exchange.
it's not only useful, it's totally awesome. plus its an easy excuse for holiday mingling. all you need is a clean-ish house, some appetizers and maybe a few (possibly adult) beverages. it's like a cocktail party with a purpose. that purpose is making sure you have a ton of different kinds of cookies for platters that you can use at work parties, family get-togethers or as last-minute or hostess gifts. oh, and everyone loves cookies, especially homemade cookies. seriously. go ahead and try to prove me wrong.
i promise that this is one of the easiest holiday parties you'll ever give (the only hard part is making the cookies. but you can do that beforehand). here's how:
first, pick a few friends, family members, co-workers, or other people that you at least kind of like. every year, my mom and my sis and i get together with a the ladies of a family we've known forever. one is stenni's Godmother, her mom is my sister's Godmother, and her sister and daughter are also friends that we consider family but don't get to see nearly often enough. so it's us, the same core every year. 7 of us in total, so each of us makes 7 dozen cookies so that we can share a dozen of each kind and keep a dozen for ourselves.
then, invite them to your house at a time you know they're available. don't wait until Christmas eve, or a busy weekend evening. pick a "school night" so it's easier for everyone to schedule, and hold the party around 7, after dinner.
then pick a cookie recipe and cute packaging. i usually make a drop cookie or a spritz, something easy. i learned my lesson after i made 7 dozen cream-filled florentine lace cookies one year. while it might be a time to let your baking prowess shine, it's also time to be realistic. it's the holidays. everyone's busy. don't go the florentine lace route. there's nothing worse than getting frustrated, because then it becomes a chore instead of a joy. then bake the cookies and package them nicely, so that they can be given out as a gift.
lastly, put out the snacks and wait for everyone to come over. remember, this does not have to be formal, and in fact it's better if it's pretty casual. you don't even need any kind of activities (our group actually does Christmas trivia sometimes, but it's not competitive or anything, and if we're in the middle of something, we don't bother). the most important activity is distributing the delicious cookies! this time of year everyone's overdoing everything. you want yours to be the one get together that everyone enjoys because they don't feel rushed or pressured.
so that's it. remember, the party can be short, as in 2 hours or so. we're all tired this time of year. don't push anything. but maybe you'll want to linger with friends around a cup of coffee, and that's alright too. there are no hard and fast rules for hosting a cookie exchange, except that you have to exchange cookies. that's it. do what comes naturally.
looking into the future: my next cookie exchange will take place in the middle of December. I'm not actually hosting this year, so I can use a little more energy on baking! in the past i've done the aforementioned florentine lace cookies as well as some classic oatmeal raisins, snickerdoodles, and some miniature chocolate whoopie pies, among others. some of the other ladies have made pignioli cookies, mint chocolate chip cookies, macaroons, double chocolate cookies, and even oreos wrapped inside chocolate chip cookie dough! it's getting harder and harder to pick my cookie recipe every year, but i've narrowed it down to  zimtsterne (German cinnamon stars), pfeffernusse (German spice cookies), or maybe even gingersnaps. what do you think? have you ever hosted or attended a cookie exchange?

hubs' birthday, or Tedtoberfest...

will be held this saturday evening at my house.

so what does this mean? well, i know he gets father's day as a reward for being such a terrific dad, and on our anniversary we reward each other for being awesome spouses to one another (i assume. i'm always awesome, but i can't imagine i'm always the best spouse). but the most fun husband-related day? his birthday, because we get to just celebrate him. so i want it to be as fun and super-rockin as possible. this year i am throwing what i've tentatively termed "tedtoberfest" and we will be doing all sorts of fun oktoberfest stuff like playing drinking games and masskrugstemmen (go ahead and check it out. i didn't know what it was until a few weeks ago either!) and pretzel-making and whatnot. and possibly listening to oompah music. i think i'll have to throw that in there if i can. it just seems like such fun and make sme wish i owned a tuba.
i will also be making him his favorite birthday treat: a funfetti cake with pink strawberry icing. yeah, a pink cake, for serious. this is a strapping young bearded luimberjack-looking man. he will be eating a pink cake and loving it. i love it too. 
when hubs was a kid, they didn't really throw birthday parties after you turned like 5 or something. but then again they also didn't go on vacation. proof positive that in-laws are totally insane and live what are possibly joyless lives. but that means that a party is always something exciting and fun for him, whereas in my family, it was kind of expected and not quite as awesome. when i threw his his first surprise party a few years ago, he was totally shocked and didn't suspect anything at all. now around his birthday he always kind of looks at me sideways because, he explained, if i got away with throwing an elaborate destination surprise party without arousing his suspicion at all, what else could i be doing that he doesn't know about? (nothing exciting, really)
anyway i'm really excited to throw this party for him. anyone got any good german party food recipes? i'll be trying my hand at sauerbraten for the first time, but if that doesn't work, we'll still have bbq chicken, ribs, handrolled pretzels, german sausage and plenty of beer!

today, i'll be attempting to...

make a blueberry cake, make these
cupcakes (but inside they'll look tie-dyed...i hope!!), and i'll also be prepping burgers and maybe even decorating by the pool at my folks' house for stenni's 2nd birthday party! i can't believe that i have a two year old. it's astounding to me. also, we might get that subaru that we wanted today. who knows?