Nom nom cheesecake

This Thanksgiving almost didn't happen. My mom didn't want to spend all day cooking and after last Thursday, I don't blame her. Thankfully, Thanksgiving happened and I'm really glad. I offered to help cook which my mom was very happy about.

The first item I made was an apple-pecan cheesecake. I baked it Wednesday night and let it set in the fridge all night long - trust me it makes a difference. The recipe was fairly easy. I started off with cream cheese and brown sugar.

I tackled this mess with a regular baking spatula. See we don't own a pretty mixer, like those KitchenAid Stand Mixers. We have a blender and a whisk. I didn't want to use either because I was afraid the cream cheese would just get stuck in there. So after about 15 minutes of mixing and using a bigger bowl, it finally looked like this...

Sooooo much better. The next step was adding eggs, which I didn't document...nothing too exciting about that. I set the batter aside and started making the apple and pecans that would top the cheesecake. I peeled and chopped 3 red apples. Side note - these apples were the prettiest ones I've ever seen. After the apples, I chopped the pecans and mixed them in with the apples along with a little big of brown sugar.

The crust was really easy. All you have to do is crush graham crackers and mix it with melted butter. As soon as I laid the crust down, I poured the cheesecake and top it with the apples and pecans.

I baked both cheesecakes for about an hour and let it cool and set overnight. Here's the final look - please refrain from drooling on the keyboard. ;)

This was my first attempt at making cheesecake and I must say, it was a big success. Everyone loved it and I had about 6 pieces alone. I might even make it again for my office holiday party or my Secret Santa exchange.