Peach Cobbler Cheesecake

Since I'm in Okinawa, the land of perpetual summer, I started thinking about what I missed about summer time in Oklahoma.  One thing that says summer to me, probably even more so than watermelon, is the peach. 

I grew up with several peach trees which were always loaded with peaches.  I just love a peach, fresh from the tree and still warmed by the hot Oklahoma sunshine.  Our horses loved peaches too and they would stretch their necks as far as they could reach to pick peaches direct from the tree which was just on the other side of the fence.  You could guarntee that there would be no peaches on that side of the tree.  They would chomp those peaches whole with peach juice dripping off their lips and then the seed would fall to the ground as they reached for another juicy sweet fruit.

Summer time in Okinawa is about has hot as Oklahoma, only with more humidity.  However, there are no fresh peaches here.  The only resource I have for peaches is the freezer section of the commissary.  I'm sure those peaches are from South America too!   I purchased some frozen peaches the other day when I was in the commissary.  I had planned to make peach cobbler with them. 

Then last night the thought occured to me that I should make peach cobbler with a cheesecake base.  Now, that would be just over the top!  Oh, and for another twist it has to be gluten free!

So, here it is!

Peach Cobbler Cheesecake

1 box gluten free yellow cake mix

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla divided

3 8 ounce packages cream cheese softened

3 eggs

3 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar (or splenda)
peaches diced in about 1/2 dice.  I used 1 bag frozen VIP peaches.  If you're gonna use fresh I would say it's probably 3 good sized peaches. 
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine cake mix and chlled butter with pastery blender until the cake mix resembles coarse meal.  Add 1 tsp vanilla.  Reserve about 1/2 cup and press the rest of it into a 9 inch spring form pan.  Bake the crust in the oven about 10 minutes to get it to set.  My gluten free cake mix rose up about an inch.  As soon as I took it from the oven it fell.  I wanted it to be like a sugar cookie crust. 

Next, mix the cream cheese, 3 tsp cream of tartar, and 3/4 cup sugar until creamy and no lumps remain.  Then add the 3 eggs and mix until combined.  Pour batter over the partially baked crust.

Combine peaches, brown sugar and remaining 1 tsp cinnamon and then evenly place the peach mixture over the cream cheese mixture in spring form pan.

Sprinkle the remainng crust/butter mixture over the top of the peaches and bake at 350 F for 50 minutes.  At the end of 50 minutes turn the oven off and leave it in there for an hour.  This prevents cracking of the cheesecake.  After the resting time in the oven is complete chill the entire cheesecake in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

Slice and enjoy!

Still Trying To Find My Place On This Rock!

I  have not written in this blog for quite some time.  I’m not sure why.   I enjoy expressing my thoughts in the written word. 

Once, a long time ago, a friend told me that places you have been to before will never be the same once you leave and then return.  That is so true.   In my memory Okinawa was a great place.  We had so much fun here.  We had great friends.  We had the ocean and sunny days.  But, that was then.  This is now.

Now, it just doesn’t seem to hold the same luster it held before.  We still have sunny days and the ocean.  However, I have not found anyone, friend wise, that I click with.  There are probably several reasons for this.  I’m not a 20 something any longer.  Now, I’m in the dreaded 40 something age group.  I don’t have children and nearly everyone I know does.  So, I can’t relate to them in that way and honestly, I don’t want to.

Many people assume that Marc and I don’t like kids and therefore we don’t have any.  That is simply not true.  It never happened for us. There was a point when we thought we would like to have a kid or two.  That point has come and gone for us.  Oh sure, we could adopt.  But, honestly we are not even interested in raising children of our own at this point.  The truth is, we are too spoiled with the way our life is without children.  We can decide on a whim that we want to go scuba diving and not have to worry about finding a sitter.  If we want to travel, we do.  If we want to stay up all night and then sleep all day, we can do that too.  We’re just set in our ways.  We do, however, enjoy other families children.    

So, in all of the effort of trying to find my place in Okinawa, once again, I have decided to go back to school and earn a Masters of Science Management/Accounting.  This is going to be a huge undertaking and will certainly keep me busy for the remaining time I have here.  In my linear way of thinking I have already planned out exactly what classes need to be taken and exactly what term I will take them in.  Of course, determining what classes need to be accomplished was easy.  The University of Maryland has determined that for me. 

In addition to the graduate level courses I need to take I also have some undergraduate accounting courses that I will have to accomplish.  I will be taking Accounting II this summer, as well as a graduate level research course.  The graduate level research course is sort of like library science and every graduate student has to take this course.  I plan to take intermediate accounting I the first part of the Fall semester and then intermediate accounting II the second part of the semester.  On top of that I will also work on Cost Accounting this fall.  Additionally I am going to take a graduate level management  course titled ”Organizational Theory & Behavior in a Global Environment”.  I took a course similar to this during my undergraduate studies.  So, I am very much looking forward to it.  This course is a 6 hour course.  So, the total of college credit hours for the fall semester will be 15 hours.  Because I have nothing but time on my hands anyway I should not have a problem accomplishing all of this course work.   

I must give credit, however, to my wonderful husband.  He has decided to allow me to use his GI Bill in order to finance my education.  The “new” GI bill allows service members to transfer all or part of their benefits to family members.  This will be a huge help for us as the graduate level courses are close to $1200 each.  Although it’s not clear, I may also receive a $1000 per year book stipend.

  

   

Roasted Pork Loin, Chunky Baked Apple Sauce and Broccoli

While at the Kadena Commissary the other day I found a great deal on a smallish pork loin roast.  At just under $3.00 for a 2.28 pound pork loin I couldn't just go off and leave it there!  I always check the meat bargain bin when I'm at the commissary.  I know some people have an aversion to purchasing "bargain bin" meat.  But not me!

They can only leave the meat on the shelf for 2 days.  If it is not sold, they freeze it and reduce the price.  Since I'm going to bring the stuff home and put it in the freezer, I don't see a problem with reduced price meat. I've been doing this for years and never ever had a bad piece.  Sometimes there are great deals in there for awesome cuts of meat such as a package of 2 Ribeye steaks for $6.00 and ground beef for $.90.  How can I leave that stuff there and pay full price for something that I'm just going to bring home and stick in the freezer anyway.

So, back to the pork loin.  Here it is.

After reading a friend of mine's post on Facebook about her choice of BBQ Pork Loin for dinner I decided that we would also have pork loin for dinner.  I gathered my ingredients and and began the preparations.

Here are the ingredients I used.

Pork Loin

2 or 3 cloves garlic pressed or minced.  Use the real stuff, the stuff in the jar comes off sweet.

1/2 teaspoon course salt

1/4 teaspoon course ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (or poultry seasoning if your out of sage like I was)

1/4 teaspoon rosemary

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 - 1/2 olive oil

1/2 onion cut into ribs length wise.  Put this in the bottom of your roasting pan to rest the roast on.

I start out by setting the oven to 325 degrees.

Cut that onion up and put it in the bottom of the roasting pan so that your roast is not sitting directly on the bottom.

It's a good idea to tie the roast to ensure even cooking.  So, if you have cooking twine, tie that baby up.  If not, don't worry about it,.  I've done it both ways and it's been okay.

In a small bowl combine the garlic spices and olive oil and then rub it all over your roast.

Place the roast in the roasting dish, on top of those sliced onions, with the fat side up.  Put it in the oven on a middle rack.  Roast to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.  My roast was done in 1 1/2 hours.  I have an instant read thermometer and I checked the temp in the center of the roast at about 1 hour.  We were at 110 degrees Fahrenheit at 1 hour.  I checked it 30 minutes later and it was right at 150 degrees Fahrenheit.  At this point I switched on the broiler for about 5 minutes to give it a bit of color.

Be sure to let it rest for about 15 - 20 minutes before slicing.  This ensures that the juices remain in the meat and not on the cutting board.

Marc has always told me that pork makes his stomach hurt.  He said he has really bad stomach cramps about 2 or 3 hours after he eats it.  I remember hearing, or reading, that if you eat apples with the same meal you consume the pork that the apples will aid in digestion.  I decided tonight would be the time to test this theory with Chunky Baked Apple Sauce.

After I got the roast in the oven I started working on my home made chunky applesauce.  This sounds difficult, but it's not.

You will need a couple tart apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.

2 tart apples

3 Tablespoons brown sugar (or white sugar)  If you have sweet apples you might reduce the sugar a bit.

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in a small bowl.

Peel the apples and remove the core.  Chop the apples and place in a small baking dish.  Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top and cover and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 - 40 minutes.

I baked mine along with the pork loin.  Therefore, they were in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour.  When it's finished mash the apples with a fork to create the sauce.  Try not to stand at the stove and eat it all before dinner!

Before I started on the broccoli I made a sauce with the pan drippings and some chicken stock.  Start by discarding those onions that are on the bottom of the pan.  Add about a cup of chicken stock or water with bullion dissolved in it.  Scrape all the brown bits off and place the liquid in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Thicken with 1 Tablespoon corn starch dissolved in about 2 Tablespoons water.  Add this gradually to achieve the thickness of sauce you desire.  When it's time to plate the food just drizzle it over the meat.

Now for the Broccoli!

I found this recipe a few month ago and it can't be beat!

Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews.  

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped salted cashews

I like to steam my broccoli in the microwave with those steamer bags.  Unfortunately I am out of those and I have not picked up any more.  So, I just put it in a gallon size ziploc type storage bag.  Close the zip top on the bag leaving about 1 inch open so that steam can escape.  Put it in the microwave and cook on high for about 3 minutes.  Turns out perfect!

While the broccoli is doing it's thing in the microwave melt the butter in a small sauce pan.

Add the other ingredients except the nuts.  Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat.  Add the chopped nuts at this time.  I was out of cashews so we used peanuts.  Marc measured out the nuts but I forgot to tell him to chop them.  So, we had big whole peanuts in ours.  You could easily leave out the nuts.  

When the broccoli is finished carefully remove it from the microwave and put it in a bowl and drizzle the sauce over it.  

I always plate our food in the kitchen.  If I allow Marc to fix his own plate there will be nothing left for me.  So, we try to practice portion control by me plating the food and him waiting for it to be done!

Wanderings of a Jet Lagged Mind

After the long trip from Japan to Oklahoma City, and a couple days that I don’t even really remember, I am finally starting to recover from the jet lag.  We arrived in the USA on Tuesday morning.  After spending all day in airports and airplanes we finally got to OKC at 5 pm.  My brother in law, bless his heart, was there to pick us up.  After a little confusion on the meeting place we finally found each other. 

The first day was bad.  I barely remember Wednesday.  I think I fought drowsiness and the urge to take a nap all day long.  My mom was off work and we hung out at her house with our kitties.  They were a little happier to see us.  Tuesday evening they punished us with the cold shoulder.  Wednesday evening we went to our good friends home for a brief, but nice, visit.  Again, there was confusion as they thought we were spending the night and I had already told my sister that we would be coming back to her house.  I hope I didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings.

 

Thursday was a little better.  Although, I was awake at 6 am.  Marc and I ventured into town.  Our first stop was the dive shop.  We brought our equipment for inspection since we have been told that the equipment technicians in Okinawa are questionable.  From there w  went to the health food store for some gluten free items and then Petsmart for some kitty items and then finally WalMart.  I was pretty drowsy  as we pulled in to the parking lot at Walmart.  I’m sorry to report that we didn’t encounter any photo worthy “people of walmart.”

  

By the time we arrived back at my sister’s house my drowsy episode had passed.  I pulled out my sister’s 30 year old Kitchen Aid stand mixer and set to making a French silk pie.  It turned out well and they seemed impressed.  I also made chicken fingers, mashed potatoes and gravy and a green salad with homemade ranch dressing.  Also, least I forget, I made Texas toast for everyone but myself.

 

This morning I awoke again just before 6 am.  Marc was also awake.  After fighting with him all night long for space on the bed I was ready to get up and start moving around.  I came into the kitchen and made a pot of coffee and decided that some left-over chicken would be a great choice for breakfast.  Soon after my sister came through the kitchen with her morning ritual of trying to get her three boys up and ready to leave for school.  Every morning it’s the same.   One of them is almost impossible to get up and get going.  The others aren’t so bad.  But, they lollygag around wasting time and she is just this side of late getting out of the house. 

 About 8 am I got a message from my sister that in the chaos of the morning she had left her lunch in the freezer at home.  I told her I could bring something up to the school.  It has been 21 years since I have been a student at Little Axe.  While it has changed in appearance, to some degree, it’s basically still the same.  I arrived just a few minutes before the lunch bell rang.  I elected to wait in my car until I saw kids coming down the sidewalk.   As soon as I saw them bustling through the doors I thought it was safe to make my way to her room without interrupting any serious learning.

After lunch was over I headed back out to my car and made my way home.  On the way home I drove by the lake.  It’s cold and cloudy today and there was no one at the lake, just me and the waves and the breeze and a group of ducks out on the water.   I sat there and shuffled through all the summertime memories of time spent at the lake.  Those memories go way back to my childhood.

 

It’s funny how the mind works.  I sat there and looked out across the water and thought about being at the lake on my dad’s boat and being at the lake on our boat and all the times we went fishing and played in the water.   I thought about the time that I took Marc out there to go fishing at night and we dropped the car keys in the water and we had to search for them in the dark.  I thought about the time I slipped on the algae on the ramp and fell under the boat trailer.  I thought about the time my sister and I were sitting on the dock and a beaver swam under our feet and we both screamed.  I thought about the way the lake looked a few years ago when there was a drought and the water level dropped so low that the dock was no longer floating.  I thought about the following year when the rains came and the lake was so flooded that there was only one boat ramp open and it looked like the dock was going to float away. I thought about just this past summer when we were out there with all the kids and we towed them around on the newest inflated toy.  I thought of all these things all at the same time.  My mind just kind of lumped it all together and played it back to me. 

On the way home I discovered something about myself.  Something that I think I have always known.  I hate chaos and disorder.  I like order and schedules.  I like to make plans and follow through.  I don’t like to be late, or too early.  I prefer to be right on time.  I really don’t like the fact that I don’t really know what I’ll be doing for the next four years.  At this point, the only thing I can say for sure is that on December 8 I’ll get on a plane and go back to Okinawa.  After that I don’t have a clue!

Galbi - Korean Short Ribs

     This recipe is more about the marinade than it is about the meat.  I think this marinade would be phenomenal with just about any cut of beef that you would normally cook on either a charcoal grill or gas grill.  The flavors are bold and stand up well against the bold taste of beef.  I used beef flanken style ribs, or Korean Short Ribs, for this recipe.   If you are going to use the flanken style ribs be sure to wash them well first.  They can sometimes have small slivers of bone stuck to the meaty areas.  A quick rinse will remove that and you won't have to worry about it.  

 I think I may try it with flank steak or skirt steak.  I think it would also work well with Ribeye or even those cheap chuck steaks that are usually tough as shoe leather.  
     The secret ingredient here is the Asian Pear.  This baby has the power to tenderize meat.  It's a large piece of fruit and closely resembles a large yellow apple.  I have seen them in Wal-Mart in the produce section. So, you shouldn't have a problem finding one.  Unless you are planning to double the recipe, you will only need 1/2 the pear.  That leaves the other half for snacking.  Snacking is good!  Get you a nice piece of sharp cheddar to go with it.  :-)

     Here is the list of ingredients: 
1/2 Asian Pear, peeled and cored.
1/2 medium white onion
1 bulb garlic (not the cloves, the whole thing)
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar (you can use regular vinegar)
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon black pepper
1 bunch green onion sliced 1/4 inch or smaller.
3 lbs beef flanken ribs or flank steak (or other cut of beef of your choice)


Remove the papery skins on the garlic cloves and discard.  Place all ingredients, except the sliced green onion and meat, into a blender and pulse on high until it is finely pureed. 


Place meat into glass dish, or plastic bag for marinating.  Just don't marinate it in a metal bowl/dish.  Pour the pureed mixture over the beef and then sprinkle green onions over it.  Make sure all surfaces of the beef are covered with the marinade.

Let it marinate for 4 - 24 hours.  I wouldn't let it sit for more than a day.


When you are ready, fire up the grill and cook to your preferred level of doneness.  I like mine cooked medium which takes about 3 minutes per side depending on how thick your meat is cut.  

Shopping in the Local Okinawan Grocery Store.

     Today I decided I wanted to make Kalbi, or Galbi.  It seems to have two different names.  It’s basically Korean Short Ribs.  A couple weeks ago I saw some beef flanken  ribs at the meat counter in the commissary.  I picked them up not knowing what I would make with them. 

     Then, in the bargin bin, there was another package of beef flanken ribs.  Now, go ahead, call me cheap.  What kind of person shops for meat in the bargin bin?  I have a friend who is a firm believer that if something is on sale there must be something wrong with it.  For the record, the meat counters at the commissary are only allowed to keep the meat in the “fresh” bins for 1 day.  Anything that doesn’t sell by the end of the day goes to the bargin bin, which happens to be in a freezer compartment.   The way I see it is that I was going to bring it home and stick it in the freezer anyway.  Plus, I can save 50% by letting them freeze it for me.   I have never had a problem purchasing items from the bargin bin.

     I decided that I wanted to make Kalbi, before that little bargin bin explanation.  There are various versions of Kalbi.  The version that I wanted required Asian pear and green onions among several other items.  The problem, I had neither of none of these items.

     I could easily go to the commissary here on base and fight the horrible parking lot only to find that they didn’t have what I want or that it was in horrible condition.  Sometimes their produce isn’t the best in the world.  My other option is to go off base to one of the local Okinawan markets and find all kinds of good things. 

     With this in mind I decided that I would go to the San-A.  San-A is a really nice market with ample parking in a parking garage and also on the roof.  They have a department store on the second floor and the grocery store is on the first floor.  They usually have anything you might need. 

    I grabbed my camera and headed out.  I like to park on the third floor parking garage.  They have these cutesy little paintings on the wall so to help you remember where you parked. 

       

     When you walk in the doors you are greeted by the ubiquitous vending machines.  They have soda, tea, coffee machines, cigarette machines and toy machines.

These toy vending machines are in every shopping venue on the island.  I know my sister's kids would love them.  But, I'm not sure which to buy.  Maybe I'll just go in there and buy a something from a few different machines and see what the kids have to say about them.  

To get into the grocery shopping area you have to take the escalator down to the first floor.  Upon stepping off the escalator you find yourself immediately in the produce section.  Everything is so fresh and bright.  It all looks like it was just picked this morning.  I purchased a couple stalks of the broccoli in the photo below.  Also bought a couple of those beautiful red tomatoes.    

     In the photo below you can see that they have all kinds of different spouts, celery, goya melon and other items.  

     The fall brings persimmons.  I have never really been a fan of persimmons.  I'm not sure what they use them for, but they seem to be on sale!

Mushrooms anyone?  In the photo below you can see all the different kinds of mushrooms available.  

This next photo is a little blurred.  Sorry about that.  Remember I was sneaking around taking photos when I shouldn't have been.  They don't like photography in the shopping environment.  So, the photo below is bean paste.  At least that's what I think it is.  I'm not buying it to find out.  We'll just leave this one a mystery.

     You can find sushi just about anywhere here.  They make it fresh daily.  Marc loves to get these for lunch. The prices on these ranges from 250 Yen to just under 400 Yen.  So, if you are craving sushi you can have a nice lunch for under $5.00.  What you can't see in this photo is above the shelf the sushi chef is preparing these boxed lunches.  I'm sure as I write this someone is chowing down on a sushi lunch!

     This is a first for me.  I didn't know that anyone ate Butterfly fish.  They are cheap too. You can get 3 of them for about two bucks.  

Okay, moving on. I'm not really crazy about the fish section.  It smells pretty fishy!  

Below is a photo of some cake rolls.  These look wonderful and if I wasn't going to get sick, I'd sure buy one and bring it home with me.

     Panko breaded shrimp!  Need I say more?     Marc and I used to buy these all the time.  I can't eat it anymore.  You can get two trays of them for 500 Yen.  Where else can you get that much shrimp for about $5.00?  Granted you'll have to cook it.  But, that's half the fun.   

     In the photo below I have a close up of the extra fancy sushi.  These are larger pieces and I must say it looks really good.     I'm kind of funny about sushi.  I will only eat it in Japan.  I've had it in the states before and it is just not as good.  I don't know if it's due to the fact that the fish is not as fresh or what.  It's just not the same.  

     Here is the liquor aisle.  I'm not sure if this is sake or awamori.  

     Okay, I saved the best photo for last.  In the spice aisle I found these containers of pepper.  From what I can tell these are the hot ones!  I'm guessing that the red container is so hot that it will make you crazy.  The black one is so hot that it'll make you cry.  I have come to this conclusion based on the artistic rendering of the chili pepper on each container.  This right here, folks, is why Japan is so much fun!

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Walnut Crust

     Pumpkin Cheesecake!  There is something about this time of year that just makes me want stuff made with pumpkin.  I used to make pumpkin rolls every year to bring to work for food days.  Then, there is pumpkin bread, that I converted to gluten free.  Pumpkin spice coffee, you make my heart sing.  Pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes.  Pumpkin pie!  I love pumpkin pie.  I also love cheesecake.  
     My sister used to make this pumpkin layer cheesecake stuff.  She probably still makes it, I just don't remember it because she doesn't make it gluten free.  
  I was plowing through the pumpkin pie recipes on all recipes.com and then started thinking about cheesecake and then thought of my sister's layer pumpkin cheesecake.  Then I found a pumpkin cheesecake.  Not a layer cheesecake with pumpkin pie stuff on top of it.  This was a pumpkin cheesecake.  
     This one had a strange sour cream layer on the top.  Not sure I really want to go that direction.  I'll just take a dollop of whipped cream instead.  Maybe cinnamon whipped cream, or cinnamon cream cheese whipped cream.
  So, I set out to create my pumpkin cheesecake.  It's a compilation of several different recipes.  You know I can't leave anything alone!


Walnut Crust
1 1/2 cups walnuts
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons white sugar or splenda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Place the walnuts in the bowl of food processor and pulse until they are ground in to very small pieces.  Add the butter, sugar/splenda and cinnamon and pulse until all combined.  Should look like this:

Press this into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Although if you want to use this crust for something like a cream pie, or French Silk, you could use a pie plate.  Since I'm making a cheesecake I'm putting it into the bottom of my springform pan.  Be sure and press it down with your fingers or use a silicone spatula sprayed with a little canola oil.  

Pop this baby in the oven at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.  


The beauty of this crust, other than the fact that it's totally gluten free, is that you can use any kind of nuts you want.  I've made it with almonds, pecans, and walnuts.  I'm thinking that it will be spectacular with macadamia nuts in a French Silk pie.  Can you tell that I've been thinking about making another French Silk Pie?  Oh, and be absolutely sure to use real butter and be sure that it's unsalted butter.  
     Okay, so now onto the pumpkin cheesecake.  You'll need the following items in this order:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese at room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar or splenda
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar or the splenda blend
1 (15 ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning (I added this because I felt like it needed something more and I didn't feel like cinnamon was the answer)
2 large eggs slightly beaten


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Now, take the springform pan that has your crust in it and wrap the bottom of it in heavy duty aluminum foil.  Get another pan, I used a 12 inch oven proof skillet, and place the aluminum foil wrapped springform pan inside it.  Then, fill the outer pan with water so that it comes about 2 inches up the side of the springform pan.  This is to create a "water bath" for the cheesecake.  This will keep it from cracking down the middle.
     In your mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar/splenda, and brown sugar until fluffy.  
     Add pumpkin and evaporated milk and beat until fully combined, then add the cornstarch and spices beating until combined.  


If you have a paddle for your mixer put that on.  If not that's okay.  Add the slightly beaten eggs to the mix.  Be very careful to not over beat them or your cheesecake will be dry and crumbly.  Mix the eggs just until everything is combined.  
     Next, pour it into the springform pan and place in the preheated oven for 55 minutes. As soon as the 55 minutes have passed turn off the oven.  Do not remove the cheesecake.  You can look at it, but do not move it.  Leave that bad boy where it's at.  Let it sit there until the oven is completely cooled off.  I'm serious!  Leave it there for about 3 hours.  Then, take it out, take the foil off and put it in the refrigerator.  Cheesecake is best if it's left alone for about 24 hours. 

     Here is what it looked like when I took it out of the oven after the cooling period.  See what I mean about the water bath.  Just make sure you use the extra wide aluminum foil so that water doesn't get into the bottom of the spring form pan.  

Look at how light and fluffy that turned out!  I can't wait to try it.  

     Be sure to run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing the spring form.  
     For the topping I'm going to make Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting with a hint of cinnamon.
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese room temp.
1 cup white sugar (I'm going to use splenda)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream.


Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form, set aside.
In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth.  
Fold in whipped cream.


     You can omit the cinnamon depending on what you're going to use it for.  It think the cinnamon will be awesome with the pumpkin cheesecake.  I have used this frosting for carrot cake and I can say it's really REALLY good.!