white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake

and now, for some pumpkin cheesecake, as promised...

thanksgiving may be over, but christmas is just around the corner and this recipe is perfect to get you in the holiday spirit. it's like one giant slice of cheer.

white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake

ingredients:

• 4 8-oz. packages light cream cheese, softened
• 1 15-oz. can pumpkin 
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• pinch of cardamom
• 1/4 tsp. salt 
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 
  

graham cracker crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

preheat oven to 350 F. prepare spring form pan by spraying with cooking spray. start by preparing the crust. in a small bowl, mix the graham cracker, melted butter, and sugar. once combined, transfer to the springform pan and form into a crust by smoothing it out with your hands. press the crust about one inch up the side of the pan. bake in the oven for 12 minutes, until golden brown. remove from heat and let cool.

while the crust is cooling, beat together the cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer. once creamy, add the pumpkin and continue to beat until combined. next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well with each egg. add the bourbon, vanilla extract, and melted white chocolate. fully mix. finish by adding all the spices, salt, and flour [and then mix, of course]. pour the batter slowly on top of the prepared crust. bake in the oven at 350 F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. when you take it out of the oven, it should still be a little jiggly in the middle. let cool for one hour and then transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight, or for 8 hours.

to add  the white chocolate glaze, melt 1 cup of white chocolate chips with 2 tbsp. of cream. microwave in 20 second increments, mixing between each. once melted pour over the whole cheesecake, or each individual piece as pictured.

enjoy! :)

giving thanks

our thanksgiving day could not have been any more wonderful. well, maybe if i got to watch the parade  [my favorite part of the day!], but the boys were watching soccer. i'll catch it next year! 

scofield and i arrived at my parent's house late morning, and we cooked, lingered over conversation, and relaxed all.day.long. [okay, relaxed after the cooking] mom tried a new recipe for the turkey and had to get a little creative in the brining process. holidays..always an adventure in the king household...seriously. i remember one year when we sat down to eat thanksgiving dinner, only to realize my mom had forgotten to turn on the oven ;). never a dull moment. i would have more photos of the food but we didn't eat until about 6 pm and it was already dark. the lighting just wasn't working for me. but i did snag a few pictures of the pumpkin cheesecake....

^my new favorite hobby: setting the table. my younger self would never believe it...

^white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake! recipe coming soon...

^ still loving my west elm candles. they're perfect for the holidays.

our thanksgiving menu: blue cheese macaroni and cheese [hands down best mac&cheese i've ever had], sweet potato casserole, maple glazed brussels sprouts, pineapple casserole, sweet potato and rosemary biscuits, stuffing bread, broccoli casserole, and of course, turkey.

and because i can't help but blabber about all i'm thankful for, here it goes:

1. my loving husband and best friend. he fights for our marriage every day, pushes me to be the best version of myself, and makes me laugh all.the.time.

2. my family that is close by and always willing to help and support us

3. a church community where special friendships have been made and where i'm taught the truth every week, and every day [through my husband, who is poured into by his colleagues/boss and then pours into me]

4. the lord's provision in our life...he never fails... when i stop and think about it, i can't help but give thanks every day

5. this little life we're building and all that it consists of - our home, our routines, our new traditions...

pumpkin and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich

i made these little guys for my birthday. my mom was astounded...she was all " what, you don't want a birthday cake?" and "you want to make your own dessert?" yep. i guess i'm strange for that... but sometimes i'm not feeling cake, you know? sometimes you just need a cookie. so i followed this chocolate chip cookie recipe here. i also went out and bought some blue bell spiced pumpkin ice cream...which is the creamiest and most delicious ice cream i've ever had from the store. and wow, there were so many christmas flavors available, too. maybe i'll make another batch of these with a holiday ice cream soon. 

once the cookies were baked and cooled, i scooped some ice cream on half of them and topped them with the other half. then they went in the freezer for a couple of hours to really solidify. 

now, scofield isn't the biggest pumpkin ice cream fan, but he really loves these. success!

a day in the mountains, part 2.

     ^oh, hello handsome!!

i've been wanting to make it up to the blue ridge parkway since october. i was really hoping to see the mountains with all the colorful leaves, but we with our crazy schedules, we just couldn't get up there until now. i suspected all of the leaves would be off the trees [and they were] but it was just as beautiful. the day was chilly and overcast, so there weren't a lot of people out. it felt like we had the parkway all to ourselves. we stopped at a couple different overlooks, hopped on a few hiking trails, and just drove - listening to nickel creek, john mayer, and christmas music. it was a good day.

thank you for the best birthday, my husband! i love you!

a day in the mountains, part 1.

birthday number 23 sure was a good one. scofield and i were both off from work [whaaaat, that never happens!] which was a birthday present in and of itself. so we grabbed lattes from starbucks and drove up to brevard - the cutest little mountain town right off the blue ridge parkway. we spent a summer working here as camp counselors, so it brought back a lot of special memories for us...like how that was the summer i knew scofield was the man i was going to marry. [tender]

we ate lunch at a little restaurant called square root. we found this hot spot on one of our "nights off" when we were counselors and decided to go back. it was just as lovely as we remembered...

i order black bean soup and their sweet potato chips...yumm.

right across the street from the restaurant was a little chocolate shop. so, of course we decided to head in there after lunch.

so many choices! but i went with the pumpkin truffle and the dark chocolate lavender truffle. scofield ordered the coffee and dark chocolate truffle. we were in heaven...

and ohhh, the decorations around town and the little christmas shops got me so excited for the holidays. the most wonderful time of the year is just around the corner. eeek!

i'll share some more pictures from our drive tomorrow. hope your weekend was swell!

and a happy, happy weekend to you!

i don't know about you, but i am super excited about this weekend. my birthday is tomorrow [eeek!]. 23, baby. so we will be celebrating all weekend long...starting today. the husband and i are both off from work this afternoon, so we're packing up and going on a little mountain drive. tomorrow we're heading to dinner with my family, and then sunday we have thanksgiving dinner with our small group. i already know my heart is going to be so full come monday. and then thanksgiving is next week - life is good.

my current yoga playlist.

music can make or break my practice. i have tons of yoga playlists i've put together on my computer. but lately, i keep coming back to this one. these songs [paired with my practice] do wonders for my soul. maybe they'll do the same for you...

happy wednesday!

pictures by jessi

my sweet friend jessi recently launched her new photography business, jessi nichols photography. for her portfolio, she asked if i'd be willing to pose for a few portraits. of course, honored, i said yes. i mean, who doesn't love an opportunity to twirl around in a dress in the middle of a field. the weather was perfect and we caught the sun just in time. it wasn't even cold until the sun went down... a typical [but lovely] south carolina fall day...

you can check out more of her work, here. thanks for havin' me, jessi! you're the best!

a giveaway with esther & dorothy

i am super excited to bring you a giveaway today with esther & dorothy! esther & dorothy is a beautiful shop full of handmade jewelry made from unique vintage pieces. but instead of me telling you about it, i had esther [founder of the shop] answer some questions:

• how did you discover your passion for jewelry designing?
• "by coincidence. when looking for work in montreal (cananda) back in 2000 i looked also for a way to kill the free time. once, in walmart, I popped into the hobby & crafts section, bought some beads...and i was hooked. getting more beads and creating the first pieces on a small table in the computer room was my first designing experience. it was the beginning of an artistic road that is developing today..."
• what inspired you to start your business?
• "a situation in poland. once i moved from canada i discovered pretty fast that there is no such thing as a shop with beads in warsaw. so i opened one within a year, and soon after started developing my own jewelry design in a more professional and sophisticated way. really, it was to respond to the need of retail customers and my own need of creating. "
• how long have you been designing jewelry?
• "since 2000 or so, but i was painting before and studying some design art in montreal."
• where do you find your inspiration?
• "i always find inspiration from old pieces i work with...the vintage pieces. also colors, fashion, trends, nature. it is impossible to have only one source of inspiration. they come from different places and in surprising ways as well. i just keep my mind open to new ideas."
• what does your creative process look like?
• "well, keeping the mind open for new ideas, thinking 'what if i do this like that, or that this way.' sometimes i sketch. sometimes i design while working, as the piece changes its final look many ways in the meantime of designing. i am not restricted and in my case, discipline of design isn't working."
• how would you describe your style?
• "for sure it is called combination, or assemblage. meaning, it combines different styles and materials. i feel comfortable working with 100 year old pieces and contemporary. i struggled to define my style up to the moment when i realized that it is a concatenation of different ones."
• can you tell us a little bit more about your shop?
• "my web-shop isn't finished. i am working now on esther & dorothy home decor web-shop where i will sell handmade home decor items. the one for the jewelry will also evolve in design and functionality. yet, step by step, as rome wasn't build in one day."

for some more exciting news...all readers get a 20% discount. just visit the online shop here and enter the code: LAURENESTHER at checkout. in addition, two lucky readers will receive a free handmade eco bag. use the rafflecopter to enter below! all you have to do is follow love lola on bloglovin', instagram or pinterest. for a bonus entry, you can also tweet or use instagram to share the giveaway.
the giveaway will be open until friday. happy monday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

here's to a happy weekend!

i don't know about you, but it's been a long week over here. we are ready to lay back, kick up our feet, and celebrate with a little fall drink, so here's a recipe that i hope will help us do just that...

apple cider bourbon punch

ingredients:

• 1 2-L bottle diet ginger-ale
• 4 cups apple cider
• 1/2 - 1 cup bourbon (depending on how strong you like it)
• juice of one lemon
• half an apple, diced
• 
  

pour the first four ingredients into a large punch bowl and mix well. finish it off by adding the diced apples and serve. 

drink up, and happy weekend!

Ruche Sugar and Spice Holiday Cookbook

i am so excited to be a part of the ruche's sugar & spice holiday cookbook! it launched today, and you can find two of my recipes, along with a ton of other delicious ones, here. thanksgiving is just around the corner..so who knows, this little cookbook might inspire you to mix up your menu this year! [i know it did for me]

thanks for the feature, ruche!