DOUBLE LAYER PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE Serves 8 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (and at room temperature) ½ cup sour cream 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs (at room temperature) 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust 8 oz. can pumpkin puree 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 pinch ground cloves 1 pinch ground nutmeg 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Fold sour cream in. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust. Bake in a water bath at 350 for 1 hr (till the middle jiggles like jello), then turn off the oven, prop the door open and let the cheesecake sit for another hour, I promise you it will not crack at all. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving. ---- PUMPKIN AND CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS Yields: 24 muffins 8 ounce(s) cream cheese 3 eggs 2 1/2 cup(s) sugar 2 1/2 cup(s) flour 1/4 cup(s) pecans, roughly chopped 3 tablespoon(s) butter, melted 2 1/2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt 2 teaspoon(s) baking powder 1/4 teaspoon(s) baking soda 1 1/4 cup(s) solid-packed pumpkin 1/3 cup(s) vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat two 12-cup standard muffin tins with oil and set aside. Mix the cream cheese, 1 egg, and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Toss 5 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup flour, pecans, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon together in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the remaining sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining cinnamon in a large bowl. Lightly beat the remaining eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour the pumpkin mixture into the well, and mix with a fork just until moistened. Evenly divide half of the batter among the muffin cups. Place two teaspoonfuls of cream cheese filling in the center of each cup and fill with the remaining batter. Sprinkle some of the pecan mixture over the top of each muffin and bake until golden and a tester, inserted into the muffin center, comes out clean -- 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks. PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE CREPES 6 eggs 2 cups milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups cornstarch 4 tablespoons sugar 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree Ingredients for the Cheesecake Filling: 8 oz. Cool Whip/Thick Cream 1 lb. cream cheese, softened 1/3 c. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice 2 tsp. vanilla extract Optional: caramel sundae sauce and pecans for topping Whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, cornstarch, sugar, and pumpkin puree. Set aside. Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the cream cheese until it’s smooth, without lumps. Cream in the sugar, salt, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix in the cool whip until fully incorporated. Set aside. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick spray, and pour 1/4 c. batter into the center of the pan. Lift the pan by the handle and rotate so the batter spreads in a large thin circle. Let cook for 1-2 minutes until the edges and top look dry (not like cracking kind of dry, just so you can tell it’s obviously not loose batter anymore). Give it a quick flip with a spatula, let it cook for a few seconds on that side and then remove from pan. Repeat with the remaining batter. Remove pan from heat in between each crepe for a few seconds. This will keep the pan from getting too hot and burning the crepes. Fill each crepe with the cheesecake filling, top with caramel sauce and pecans. PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST BAKE Sweet and spicy pumpkin french toast is made the night before for an easy, early-morning preparation. Serves: 10 One 8 oz loaf French or Italian bread – crusty, whole grain is best 7 large eggs 2 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1/4 cup pumpkin BUTTER (or 1/2 cup pumpkin puree) – double this 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar for topping Nuts, like pecan or walnuts (optional) Cut any kind of bread into 1-inch cubes. Fill a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish with bread cubes. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin butter and pie spice until well combined. Pour over bread and push down with a spoon or your hands until it’s all soaked and mostly covered. Cover with saran wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and top with brown sugar, additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts (optional). Bake for 35-45 minutes or golden brown and no longer wet. Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar. Notes For the bread cubes, just use as much bread as it takes to fill the bottom of your dish generously, plus up about 1 to 1.5 inches. If you’ve added too much to soak up the liquid, just remove some. And if it looks too wet, add some more bread. I HIGHLY recommend using pumpkin butter as it has a concentrated pumpkin flavor and is much sweeter than puree. But if using puree instead of butter, it’s important to compensate the flavor by adding a bit more puree, pumpkin pie spice, and a little agave nectar, brown sugar or maple syrup to the batter. Otherwise, it will lack that delicious fall, pumpkin flavor you’re going for. PUMPKIN PANCAKES 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1 cup milk 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 egg : Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl. Whisk together the milk, pumpkin, butter and egg in a separate bowl. Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and cook approximately 3 minutes per side. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

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I read 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's - 3 Stars - easy to read and helpful tips, much of which I already knew anyway, but also a good reminder. MY RATING SYSTEM 5 Stars Fantastic, couldn't put it down 4 Stars Really Good 3 Stars Enjoyable 2 Stars Just Okay – nothing to write home about 1 Star Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

Leslie's 4 Fast Miles.

Link to new thread.

New thread. Please post your workouts here. Everyone welcome. :)

Just wanted to add that it was an excellent workout with the absolute best music. :)

Crunch Pilates Yoga

Classical Stretch - Season 4 - Maximum Flexibility

Thank you for this. Just seeing it now.

Only time for stretches and other moves this morning. Hope to have time for a swim later today.

Swam yesterday. It was lovely. Rebounding and am about to do a 5-Day Fit Lower Body workout.

Wishing you a lovely birthday.

20 minutes of jumping jacks and other cardio moves Stretching No, you're not. :)

Rebounding and stretching.

Link to new thread.

New thread. Please post your workouts here. Everyone welcome. :)

Thanks for this very helpful reminder. We've decided to probably wait until our next trip. Getting a new mattress is not that urgent and we'd rather be there in person. Saw some gorgeous, natural ones in a really delightful store in Canada last winter. Those mattresses were like a dream.

After a horrible night of pain (most of it thankfully gone now - thanks to Advil ), I did a shorter than usual session of rebounding. It's all I could handle at the moment. Have to slowly build up my strength again. Hope you feel better soon also. The sore throat part is the absolute worst. Hope you get to have rest and chicken soup. Thank you for your kind thoughts. Yes, two workouts a day would be my absolute ideal. Sometimes I manage to do it, but it's rare these days. I know that I'll be able to someday, hopefully sooner than later.

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Tam, I don't think I ever read The Stories of Eva Luna. I just added it to my wish list. That was weird. I thought I'd pretty much read all of her books other than her most recent one. I hope that you will soon have far less stress in your life with your youngest's medical issues. :grouphug:

Nothing for me yesterday or today. I've come down with a bad case of the flu.

Denise Austin: Body Burn with Dance & Pilates - I'm not the most coordinated and not a good dancer. I've decided to just replace the dance part with rebounding. The pilates part was great. :grouphug: I fully agree with what Faithe says. I don't think you should be hard on yourself.

Thank you. I guess I'll have to do more reading. This, I never knew and it's very helpful. Thank you.

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