It's Almost Thanksgiving and Have I got a Recipe for You!

OOH LA LA!!!

A pictured is worth a thousand words, n'est pas?! So, take a long minute and feast your eyes on the stunning beauty above that I created for Thanksgiving just for you...well, alright, not just for you, but with you (and me!) in mind. Forgive me for being redundant, but isn't she gorgeous?

Her name is Pumpkin Cheesecake with Marshmallow-Sour Cream Topping and Biscoff Cookie Crust. While the name may not fall trippingly off the tongue I guarantee you 100% that this creation of mine will make your taste buds sing with delight, shout from the mountaintops and say Hallelujah, Amen!

I dreamed this baby of mine up after looking at all the recipes for pumpkin cheesecake that I had recently accumulated in the whirlwind of Thanksgiving treats that was flooding my favorite magazines and blogs. I simply took the best of three recipes (one for the crust, one for the cheesecake, one for the topping), tweaked them a bit, added pecans as a decorative touch and put them together...et VOILA a masterpiece!

I have nothing left to say...this posting is short and sweet (very, very sweet!)...except to say, go forth and bake this creation of mine...you will absolutely be the STAR BAKING DIVA of your Thanksgiving feast...family and friends will will applaud your brilliance and love you forever more...ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY!

Happy Thanksgiving each and every one of you...may your day be filled with love, laughter, joy and everything deliciously sweet that life has to offer...

xoxo Nanci

P.S. This recipe is not difficult at all but it does take time due to the overnight chilling...so just start a day early, take one step at a time and savor the fun...

Pumpkins, Cranberries and Maple, Oh My!

Yes, yes, yes FALL is in the air. As much as I love the spring and summer (they really are my favorite seasons) with an abundance of sunshine and beach days not to mention fruit desserts galore, ice cream and lazy days reading I also love the fall for its bounties...spectacular colored leaves (at least back east!), cool breezy nights and the beginning of more hearty foods to eat. I mean who doesn't love, love, love all things pumpkin, cranberry and maple?! HELLO Fall, Happy Halloween and Happy Thanksgiving...

So, if you haven't already started baking some glorious fall delights let me entice you to do so with these beauties...

Grandma Rose and Aunt Irene's Pumpkin Bread...this is by far my most requested and beloved recipe. Quite simply it is the most moist and delicious pumpkin bread I have ever tasted and apparently many others agree! You can make it in loaves, mini bundts or muffin form...whatever suits your fancy. You can also add chocolate chips, nuts, cranberries and/or a dollop of fresh whipped cream...just don't tell my Grandma or Aunt...they were purists and only liked it plain!

Orange Cranberry Cornmeal Cake...a Zoe Nathan/Huckleberry Bakery and Cafe (Santa Monica, CA.) recipe...this cake is to die for...you will not be able to stop eating it...consider yourself forewarned!

Maple Walnut Layer Cake with Fluffy Maple Frosting...a Magnolia Bakery (NYC) recipe and one of the first things I made when I began my obsessive baking odyssey almost three years ago. This cake is so over the top wonderful you will not believe that, in fact, you made it your very own self!

Alright, mes belles, start baking and let me know how it all turns out!

xoxo Nanci