Instructions: I am not a big baker as I have a husband who is rather talented in that field. But my family all wanted very traditional Thanksgiving dishes (No chiles in anything Chris!) and my culinary fingers were itching, so I tackled desserts. This cheesecake recipe came from the Nov 97 Bon Appetit and was excellent! Thought someone might need a Christmas dessert idea... See my notes at the end.

For Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Blend first 3 ingredients in processor until nuts are finely chopped. Add butter; process until moist crumbs form. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9 inch diameter springform pan with 2 3/4 inch high sides. Bake until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. Cool. Wrap outside of pan with double thickness of heavy-duty foil.

For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat first 4 ingredients in large bowl until smooth. Add pumpkin; beat until blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. Transfer to crust. Set in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of springform pan. Bake cake until top is golden and begins to crack and center is set, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Remove from roasting pan. Cool. Chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.)

My notes: I chopped the crust ingredients by hand with no problems. I used Neufchatel cheese (low fat cream cheese) with no problems. As usual for me, my hand with the spices is heavy. I like the flavors so I added a tad extra.

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