I used to make Martha Stewart’s pumpkin cheesecake because my oldest son loves it. I made my own pumpkin purée from a pie pumpkin, but haven’t made it lately because it’s lots of work. I saw this recipe recently in my NYT recipes email, and thought it sounded good and a little different. I’m not making it for Thanksgiving but might try it at Christmas when I have more time. https://www.richmond.com/food-drink/recipes/pumpkin-pie-reaches-its-gingery-peak-spiced-pumpkin-pie/article_31c71217-886c-59ed-a8ef-b6565350295b.html

Dave, I haven't tried that particular recipe yet, but I do know that Lars has experience as a pastry chef and so I'm not surprised at all that it was good, although somewhat unusual with the cottage cheese. I'm glad it turned out well. Annie

I'm not a big fan of apples, but I love pears. My favorite dessert of all time is this Pear Maple Cobbler from Epicurious. I don't usually make individual cobblers, I just make it in a 9 inch square glass baking dish because that's what I have. I usually skip the whipped cream too, because my family likes it warm with vanilla bean ice cream. Homemade if they can get it! PEAR MAPLE COBBLER Filling 3 pounds ripe Barlett pears, peeled, quartered, cored 2/3 cup pure maple syrup 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon (generous) ground nutmeg 1 1/2 tablespoons butter Topping 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 9 tablespoons half and half 9 tablespoons pure maple syrup 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Melted butter Sugar Ground nutmeg 1 cup chilled whipping cream Additional pure maple syrup Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut pears crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Combine in large bowl with maple syrup, flour, vanilla extract and ground nutmeg. Divide among six 2/3-cup custard cups of soufflé dishes. Dot tops with butter. Bake filling until hot and bubbling, about 18 minutes. Meanwhile, Prepare Topping: Mix first 3 ingredients in processor. Add 6 tablespoons chilled butter and cut in until mixture resembles fine meal. Transfer to large bowl. Mix half and half, 6 tablespoons syrup and vanilla in another bowl. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Working quickly, drop batter in three mounds, 1 heaping tablespoon per mound, atop hot filling in each cup. Brush topping with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg. Immediately return cups to oven and bake 8 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375°F. and bake until toppings are golden and just firm to touch, about 14 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes. In medium bowl, beat 1 cup chilled cream with 3 tablespoons maple syrup to soft peaks. Serve cobblers warm with whipped cream. Drizzle additional maple syrup over. Second on my list would be a Pumpkin Roll, I'm not a big fan of pie crust, although I love filling. My pies are always deep dish, LOL. Grandma used to bake pumpkin pie filling for me in a custard cup, so everyone else got pie but I didn't have to pick apart the crust... Annie

I've not made pumpkin pie in a few years. I found an organic can in the pantry so may put that on the menu. My recipe, here somewhere, though I bet it is in my vintage issues of Thanksgiving FoodandWine,....is a bit more like a custard. My dad prefers the original. My recipe has heavy cream, less sugar, (brown), and extra egg yolks... Keep in mind Libby's changed the recipe last year after 75years. Reviews are mixed but most like it. 25% want the original. The new recipe on the can calls for a can of sweetened condensed milk. Adds more sugar and a bit more volume, doubles the cloves.. Close to 1500 more calories in the can vs 3/4 cup. And some comments say it is more like a custard. Creamier. Makes sense that adding another canned good increases their holiday sales.