My mother taught me to appreciate the beauty in the old, the stories in the vintage, and the potential in the castaway items. However, over time, I allowed too many of these stories and collections to gather around me rather indiscriminately. Clearing space, both physical and mental, took on a daily, Sisyphean feel.
In need of a compass, I turned to an expert. I began reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, and immediately, I felt a shift in my thinking. Many magazines and well meaning folks will advise to divide one’s abundance into piles based on the last time an object came into use. If it was more than a year, pitch it. However Marie Kondo, the book’s author, poses this question, “Does this ______ bring me joy?” In the end, this pursuit of tidiness and clarity is really the pursuit of happiness.
If the sweater or the jeans or the book no longer brings (or never brought) joy, send it to a new life, but send it with gratitude. This last bit, the gratitude, has made all the difference in my process towards less. Thank you handmade shirt sewn by my mom. Thank you mom, for creating with your hands when I was an impressionable child, for showing me the value and joy of making something from scratch.
Perhaps this is why I gravitated toward baking. Cakes, pies, breads, all made with care and intention, are but temporal objects in our hands. Yet the gatherings, the vague memory of a flavor, the way a room smells when an oven is warm… we carry these memories and cherish the sentiments long after the plates have been cleared.
Here’s a recipe for sharing joy and gratitude deliciously, just in time for Thanksgiving!
Quelcy
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger Oat Crust
About This Recipe: Oats, spices, ginger and dates combine to make a wholesomely sweet crust, and each layer of this cheesecake is laced with Wigle’s Landlocked Spiced. Made with local, buckwheat honey, Landlocked Spiced is the distillery’s interpretation of rum and a flavorful ode to Pennsylvania’s many apiaries. If you’re landlocked and can’t get a bottle, substitute your favorite spiced rum, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I did receive product in exchange for this post, but all opinions are my own! I love a brand that supports the honeybees!
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Ginger Oat Crust
yield: 9-inch cheesecake
Ingredients (9-inch cake):
melted butter or coconut oil for pan
Crust
1 1/2 cups organic gluten free oats (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 cup pecans
16 Medjool dates, pitted
~1-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons Wigle Landlocked Spiced (or rum)
1 stick organic unsalted butter, melted
Filling
16 oz (2 packages) organic cream cheese, softened
1 cup organic light brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature (organic/local/cage-free)
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, from a roasted pie pumpkin
2 Tablespoons Wigle Landlocked Spiced (or rum)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Directions
Preheat oven at 350°F. Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan with melted butter or coconut oil.
Combine all the crust ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the ingredients start to stick together and clump.
Press the mixture onto the bottom of the spring-form pan.
Bake crust for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Turn down oven temperature to 275°F.
Beat the cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix for 2 minutes.
Pour in pumpkin puree, Wigle Landlocked, vanilla and spices. Blend for another 2 minutes, until well combined.
Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Tap the pan on counter a few times to release all the air in the batter.
Position rack in the center of oven and place cheesecake on it. Place a shallow pan full of water on the lower rack in the oven.
Bake for an hour, or until the edge of the cheesecake is puffed but the center is still wobbly and wet looking.
Turn off the oven with the door slightly opened, let the cheesecake sit in the oven to cool completely, at least an hour.
Remove from the oven. Chill overnight.
Whipped Topping
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups organic heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-3 Tablespoons Wigle Landlocked Spiced (or rum), to taste
Directions
In the chilled bowl of a stand mixer, whisk whipping cream and powdered sugar on medium speed until soft peaks form.
Add the vanilla and Landlocked Spiced, and increase the mixer speed to medium-high and continue to whisking until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Keep chilled until ready to use.
Assemble
Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag and decorate the top of the cheesecake.
Cover and refrigerate the cake before serving.
Enjoy!
