What Are You Thankful For? Me? The Community I Live In And Caramel Apple Cheesecake!

This year has been a tough one for me, as I lost my dad, and this will be the first Thanksgiving without him. But I always try to keep in mind, that I still have blessings in my life. 

This year, I am thankful for the community I live in.  I moved here 4 years ago from Elmhurst.  I had lived in Elmhurst and the area surrounding my whole life so moving out to Yorkville was a big change for me. 

I immediately joined the and the and have met some of the most amazing, caring people I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  This community knows how to pull together for those in need and even when they themselves might be struggling, they still continue to give back to others who may be worse off.  For that I am thankful and proud to say that I am a member of the Yorkville community, and proud to call many of these giving people my friends!

With that in mind, I thought we would celebrate the Thanksgiving blog with a Caramel Apple Cheesecake recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (21-ounce) can apple pie filling
• 1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup caramel topping
• 12 pecan halves, plus 2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Reserve 3/4 cup of the apple filling; set aside. Spoon the remaining filling into the crust. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add the eggs and mix well. Pour this over the pie filling.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center of the cake is set. Cool to room temperature.

Mix the reserved pie filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan and heat for about 1 minute, or until spreadable. Spoon the apple-caramel mixture over the top of the cheesecake and spread evenly. Decorate the edge of the cake with pecan halves and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.