Unexpected Recipe Exchanges

Pumpkin cheesecake is so good it is almost sinful. This recipe was giving to me sixteen years ago when we were stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. Funny, it does not seem like it was that long ago!

 A week before Thanksgiving, our duty station, had a fund raising bake sale. This squadron was mostly young, unmarried sailors, and to get them to open their wallets for charity; you had to offer sweets in return. I made my peanut butter cookies, which turned out to be a huge hit. Towards the end of the bake sale, one of the female officers came in looking for them and they were all gone. I did not think too much about it, since there were others who came also looking for the cookies.

 A week later, my husband handed me a recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake. I was puzzled when he handed it to me; he then explained about me the officer who I had spoken with. She was his division officer.  After I left the bake sale, she hunted him down and found I had brought some cookies just for his shop. She was attending culinary school at the time and in exchange for my peanut butter cookie recipe, she gave me her Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe.

Pumpkin Cheesecake:

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 ½ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

3 Tablespoons white sugar

6 Tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

1 ½ pound of cream cheese

1 1/2cups brown sugar

2 Tablespoon flour

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 ½ cups solid pack pumpkin

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Pan, 9” springform

Crust:

Mix crust ingredients together

Press mix firmly into the bottom of 9” springform pan

Filling:

Whip cream cheese until very smooth and NO LUMPS remain.

Blend in brown sugar and sour cream, until smooth

In separate bowl mix the spices together and add to mixture above

One at time, blend in eggs, scraping sides of bowl after each addition ensuring no lumps

Blend in vanilla and pumpkin

Pour into prepared pan and bake one hour or until the cake is set and top is dry.

Chill well before serving