Mac n Cheese && Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Okay so I told you that I would post the recipes that I made for Thanksgiving.. I tried to take pictures of everything, but this is my first blog like this so hopefully it works out!!

So here we go!

I'll start out with the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake :

So you're gonna need about 40 Gingersnap cookies .. I just used Kroger brand because I liked the intense ginger aftertaste they left on your tongue.

You want to crush them until they are fine. We couldn't find my grandme's meat mallet at first so I was using the potato masher/mixer thing. It was pretty amusing.

Finely chop a 1/4 cup of pecans.

Mix the nuts into the crushed gingersnaps and stir in a melted 1/4 butter.

Press the crust into a 9 in cake pan.

Beat 4 softened packages of cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar until smooth.

Add in a can of pumpkin, 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp vanilla and 4 eggs until well mixed.

Pour into your crust and bake at 325 for 1 hour and 25 mins. Then remove from the oven and refrigerate for 6 hours.

And you're done!

And now for the Mac n Cheese. If you already know how to make it or you have a family recipe and you just want to change it up, switch to my cheese. I made this recipe up as I went along. I had never made mac n cheese before but knew the general components. Dustin gave me the idea for the Havarti and the rest just fell into place. I love this mac n cheese and I know that you will too! So here we go!!

Melt 1/4 cup butter

Add in 1/4 cup flour, salt, and pepper

Boil the water for your pasta

Add 3 1/2 cups of milk. I use whole milk because I wanted it to be creamy and thick. Stir until there are no clumps.

I grate my own cheese. So I use White Cheddar and Havarti with Dill. They will need to be cold to grate well.

Cook your pasta al dente. I use Cavatappi pasta for no other reason than just because I love it.

Put your milk mixture on the stove and bring it to a simmer. I cube goat cheese as well and melt it into the milk.

Drain your pasta and add it to the milk mixture. Add in your cheese and stir until melted.

Put everything into a casserole dish, top with a little remaning cheese and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Finished! I hope you enjoy making this as much as I do!

Xo-
jay <3.