"Stuffed" Rolls (Homemade Kolaches)

Up until this past weekend, I had never eaten nor even heard of a kolache. When my son and daughter-in-law came from Ohio for Thanksgiving, they stopped in Indianapolis at the Kolache Factory and purchased a dozen different kolaches for us to try on Thanksgiving morning. I fell in love with them immediately and knew that I'd have to try to recreate this delicious little stuffed sandwich in my own kitchen.

In every aspect, these homemade kolaches were crafted from leftovers. I used Frieda's dinner roll recipe for my Thanksgiving dinner rolls and had leftover dough balls in the freezer. The roast beef and caramelized onions were from a French dip pizza I served during the game on Saturday, and the stuffing, gravy and turkey were of course leftover from Thanksgiving.

This is not an actual recipe but more of a method, and by knowing the method, you'll be able to use whatever stuffing combination you'd like to make your own kolaches.

I made two different types this morning. Stuffing, turkey and gravy kolaches, and roast beef, caramelized onion and gruyere cheese kolaches. Imagine ones stuffed with sausage gravy or scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese. YUM!

It is important to note that your stuffing materials should be mixed well and at room temperature before stuffing the dough. Here you'll see my two different stuffing combinations.


Using your favorite bread dough recipe, make dough and let dough go through its first rise. Punch dough down, then portion dough into 2 1/2-3 ounce portions. (This is a little bigger than a golf ball.)

Using rolling pin, flatten each dough ball into about a 5" round.

Place a heaping tablespoon of filling mixture in the middle of each round.

Bring edges of dough together and pinch to seal.

Place prepared rolls, seam side down, on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until nicely puffed, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place rolls in oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until nicely browned. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack. Brush with melted butter. Serve warm.

Once kolaches have cooled, they can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated. To reheat, remove from plastic and wrap in a paper towel. Microwave for 30-45 seconds.

I have not tried freezing these, but I imagine that they would freeze nicely. Once frozen, remove from freezer as needed and let thaw (wrapped) before microwaving.

Do You Like Michigan?

(Turn up your sound.)

Ohioans like to brainwash teach their children at a very young age what is truly important in life.

Go Bucks! Beat that team "from up north!"

Creamy Turkey Noodle Soup

While the rest of you sorry souls are out stiff-arming shoppers or sleeping off yesterday's stuffing, I've been up for hours making use of my turkey leftovers.

Nahhh... I can't lie. I made this soup two weeks ago when I made my turkey broth and I posted this on auto-post earlier in the week. Hey, I'm no better than the rest of you. I'm still in bed as you're reading this. I need time to recover from all that turkey and stuffing too! However, you'll NOT find me at the malls today. I'd rather take 50 lashes with a wet noodle.

Creamy Turkey-Noodle Soup

2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 medium carrot, small diced
kosher salt and pepper
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken or turkey stock
8 oz. egg noodles
2 cups cooked turkey, diced
1/2 cup half & half or whole milk
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

In soup pot, heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and carrot. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Add bay leaf. Saute for 6-8 minutes, or until onions soften and become translucent. Add garlic and thyme and saute for an additional minute. Sprinkle flour over all and cook for two minutes, stirring to prevent garlic and flour from burning. Add turkey stock and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the egg noodles and simmer for another 15 minutes or so, depending on the thickness of your noodles. Add the turkey and simmer for another minute or two. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf and stir in the half & half and the parsley.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours.

May your day be filled with family, friends and prayerful thanksgiving for all the blessings God has bestowed upon you. And know that when I count my blessings, I include all of you. Thank you for supporting my crazy little blog. It means the world to me.

With thanks and love,
Mags

"Day Before" Mashed Potatoes

Yep, those are the mashed potatoes I'll be serving tomorrow. Done. Done. Done.

I think of all the stressful things about putting together a Thanksgiving dinner, the mashed potatoes cause me the most stress. It's the whole timing thing. Everything is done at once and I'm over in the corner getting a potato steam facial while I'm frantically trying to get them ready.

It wouldn't be such a huge deal, but I have one particular family member who holds my holiday mashed potatoes on a pedestal. She tells me they beat out her own mother's and both of her grandmothers'. (How's that for a complement..... and added pressure!)

I always use a ricer when I make mashed potatoes. It really does make a difference in the fluffiness factor. You could also use a food mill if you have one.

Please keep in mind that these are my "holiday" mashed potatoes, so you'll be more inclined to forgive me for the inordinate amount of fat that I'm adding. It is Thanksgiving after all.

I have these potatoes in a covered crock pot in the fridge as you're reading this post. (You're wondering, does she ever sleep?) Tomorrow I will remove them from the fridge and let them come to room temperature before turning on the heat. The main idea is to gently warm them without recooking or burning them. You made need to add a little extra half & half to fluff them back up again and always remember to put that big pat of butter on the top before serving, just cuz it makes them look gorgeous.

"Day Before" Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs medium- sized russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled
kosher salt
1 stick butter (cut into 8 tablespoons, room temperature)
1 cup sour cream (room temperature)
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4- 1 cup half & half (room temperature)

Place prepared potatoes and garlic cloves in a large pot of cool water. Bring to a boil, season with a moderate amount of salt, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, 18-20 minutes. Drain.

Rice the potatoes and garlic into a large bowl. Add the butter, sour cream and cream cheese. Stir well. Slowly add in the half & half, whipping the potatoes until desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt if needed. Place potatoes in crock pot and let cool before covering and transferring to refrigerator. On the day of serving, remove crock pot from fridge and let come to room temperature before turning heat on low and reheating potatoes.

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

I'm not a cranberry sauce person. Does that surprise you given the fact that you all know my aversion to fruit? My mother was the only one in our entire Thanksgiving bunch who liked cranberry sauce so we always made sure to have a "can" of it ready to open for her on Thanksgiving. It did the trick... and then the leftovers were thrown away the next day.

I only recently discovered that my daughter-in-law likes cranberry sauce. And here's why she likes it. Late at night after Thanksgiving dinner, she likes to make herself a "Thanksgiving sandwich." This is composed of a leftover dinner roll topped with turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. The cranberry sauce is her sandwich spread. So like a good/great/fantastic/best-ever mother-in-law, I made cranberry sauce for her this year. She's an easy going person, but made it clear to me that she can smell cloves a mile away like skunk spray on a warm summer night, so I avoided adding cloves at all cost. I opted to add a little heat with the chipotle spice and I have to tell you that I actually love this cranberry sauce! It must just be the canned versions that I don't care for. Lesson learned.... from now on I make my own sauce!

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
1/4-12 tsp ground chipotle powder (you can also use 1-2 tsp of chipotle canned in adobo sauce, pureed)
1 (12 oz.) bag of fresh cranberries
juice of 1/2 lime

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, sugar, cinnamon stick, ginger, salt and chipotle powder. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved. Add the cranberries and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, remove cinnamon stick and stir in freshly squeezed lime juice. Let cool.

Thanksgiving Roundup

I'm sure I don't need to remind you that Thanksgiving is a mere three days away. Most of you already know how you're going to cook your turkey (I STILL don't know how I'm going to do mine.) However, if you're scrambling for some side dish recipes, here's a list of some of my personal favorites. And if even one of you finds a recipe here to round out your Thanksgiving menu, I'll feel my work here is done. However, please note that I still have a few tricks up my sleeve for this week, including a fantastic cranberry sauce recipe and "day ahead mashed potatoes" that are going to take away your Thanksgiving day stress. Well, some of it anyway. Stayed tuned!

The best, easiest, quickest and tastiest dinner rolls (Thanks again Frieda)


Thanksgiving noodles

Twice baked chipotle sweet potatoes (just in case you hate those "marshmallow" sweet potatoes)

Sourdough stuffing

Zucchini casserole "to die for"

Green beans with mushrooms, onions and almonds

Zucchini corn bake

Roasted sesame-glazed sweet potatoes

Holiday Greeting Cards

It's that time of year again when we're all directing our thoughts towards holiday greetings. Nothing puts me more in the mood for Christmas than when I receive holiday cards from my family and friends. I'm particularly fond of photo cards and am more apt to save them and display or frame them than I am traditional, store bought greeting cards. I'm a huge fan of Shutterfly and have ordered Christmas cards from them in the past.

I've also ordered photo books from them. (You'll notice a similarity.)

This year I'm helping my son and daughter-in-law spread their own family holiday cheer by placing this photo of their family on a Shutterfly holiday card. (Don't you just want to eat Gavin up?)

Perhaps this one?


Or maybe this one? What do you think?


I may even order a calendar.


Or a mug.

Stop me short if I order an apron.... but it can be done! (and you know what? It really would be appropriate since I do cook!)

Share your family warmth this year with a photo card from Shutterfly and know that you'll earn a place on your family/friend's refrigerator, underneath their favorite magnet (yeah, they have those too.)

If you are a blogger and are interested in participating in this offer, click here.

Disclosure: In exchange for writing this post, I will receive a promotional code for a package of 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly. All opinions are my own.

Chief's (a restaurant review)

I'm a firm believer in supporting the businesses of one's own community and if at all possible, hubby and I try to buy from local merchants and eat at local restaurants. That said however, I'm not above traveling out of town if by doing so I can eat a fantastic steak. We used to travel an hour to Bloomington, Indiana to eat at Little Zagreb just because we couldn't find a comparable steak locally. That all ended this past summer when we decided to give Chief's of Greencastle, Indiana a try. What I discovered was a ribeye steak that was seasoned and cooked to perfection. I went back a second time and ordered the same thing, just to make sure that it wasn't a fluke. No fluke. It was exactly as I'd remembered it the first time. The third time I visited, I finally broke down and tried something different, although my first instinct was to again order my beloved ribeye. I ordered catfish and was blown away by the flavor. It too was delicious!

Why am I writing this restaurant review? Because Chief's in downtown Greencastle, Indiana is located just 10 miles north of 1-70 between Terre Haute and Indianapolis and if you find yourself traveling that stretch of interstate sometime in the future, it would be well worth going a few miles out of your way to eat some of the greatest steak you've ever had.

Oh, and while you're there, ask for Indy and see if you can finagle the recipe out of her for the potato salad. Just don't tell her that Mags sent you.

Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake (Treats For Co-Irkers)

Since next week is Thanksgiving and there will be no treats for the co-irkers, I decided to pull out all the stops this week and make them a pumpkin cheesecake. Rumor has it that they (the co-irkers) would gladly settle for cheesecake each and every week, but we all know that cheesecake is reserved for special occasions, right? With that in mind and thankfulness in heart, I happily made them this rich and decadent holiday cheesecake to show them my gratitude for making my hubby truly enjoy his job. He really is a different man than he was before starting this job almost three years ago. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you co-irkers, for welcoming him and treating him so kindly. It definitely takes the stress off of me having to treat him kindly at home. (HEE!)

Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake (adapted from VeryBestBaking)

CRUST
1 1/2 cups crushed shortbread cookies (This was one sleeve of Lorna Doones for me)
2 tablespoons butter, melted

CHEESECAKE
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 can (15 oz.) pure pumpkin
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

TOPPING
8 ounces sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup crushed milk chocolate-toffee pieces
Caramel ice cream topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" springform pan with cooking spray and place on baking sheet.

FOR CRUST: Combine cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press onto bottom and 1-inch up side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes (do not allow to brown). Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

FOR CHEESECAKE: Beat cream cheese and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, cream, eggs, cornstarch and cinnamon; beat well. Pour into crust. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until edge is set but center still moves slightly. Remove from oven.

FOR TOPPING: Combine sour cream, granulated sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well. Spread over warm cheesecake. Sprinkle with milk chocolate toffee pieces. Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes in pan on wire rack. Gently run a thin knife between cheesecake and pan and allow to cool completely. Cover cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan. Drizzle with caramel topping before serving.

Stuffin' Cups

Stuffin' Cups. Does that name mean anything to any of you? Or was I the only one with that nickname back in Junior High. Moving on.........

Let's discuss Thanksgiving stuffing (or dressing, for any of you who prefer that term.) It's a traditional Thanksgiving dish that is built on bread, broth, and butter.... with some sauteed veggies and spices thrown in to please your own personal palate.

Can it be a healthy dish? I'm sure it could be if you put your mind to it. I mean part of the bread I'm using for these little stuffing cups is filled with whole grains and flax, and I am adding in some veggies sauteed in olive oil, but I can assure you that the quarter cup of gravy that I'm going to dump on my "healthy little stuffin' cup" is going to totally negate its healthiness. So take this recipe for what it's worth, and know that behind your back I'm dunking each bite of these delicious stuffing muffins in turkey gravy. However, I am no longer stuffin' my own cups, if that eases your mind at all.

Stuffin' Cups

1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP butter
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery (with leaves) diced
8 white button mushrooms, chopped
kosher salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 TBSP fresh sage, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
1 TBSP fresh thyme, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
8 cups cubed dried or toasted bread (I used a combination of my harvest grains stuffing loaf and some leftover focaccia)
1/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
2 large eggs, whisked
1 1/4- 1 3/4 cup chicken or turkey broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12-count muffin tin with cooking spray.

Place cranberries in a bowl and pour 1 cup boiling water over them. Let sit for 10 minutes while you're putting together the rest of the ingredients. Drain and set aside.

In skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and saute for 7-8 minutes, then add the garlic, sage, thyme and parsley. Saute for another minute or two.

Place bread crumbs in a large bowl. Add sauteed veggies, reserved cranberries and pecans. Stir well to combine. Add whisked eggs and stir again. Slowly add the broth until stuffing achieves the moisture you desire.

Divide dressing between muffin cups. (I used an ice cream scoop to do this.) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until browned.

Harvest Grains Stuffing Loaf

I've missed it every year since I've started blogging. But not this year, folks. It's National Bread Day and my presentation to you is this delightful harvest grains stuffing loaf.

Now being the highly intelligent lot that you are, and allowing for the fact that Thanksgiving is next week, I'm only going to give you one guess as to what I'm planning on using this bread for. Tune in tomorrow to see. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll crawl on your belly like a reptile. (Well, maybe you'll laugh.)

Harvest Grains Stuffing Loaf (adapted from King Arthur)

1 3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup Harvest Grains Blend
3 TBSP olive oil
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milled flax
1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup dry milk powder
2 TBSP vital wheat gluten
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 1/2 tsp salt

Combine boiling water with the Harvest Grains Blend. Allow mixture to cool to no hotter than 110 degrees. Add the olive oil.

In bowl of stand mixer, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Add the cooled Harvest Grains mixture. Mix well. Attach dough hook and knead dough for 6-8 minutes, adding additional water or flour to make a smooth, pliable dough. Spray large bowl with cooking spray. Transfer dough to bowl and roll dough around to coat with cooking spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to ferment until double in size, about one hour.

Spray 9X5 loaf pan with cooking spray. Punch dough down and shape into a loaf. Place loaf in prepared pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Let rise until dough has crested about one inch over the rim of the pan, 45 minutes to one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place loaf in oven and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until internal temperature registers 190 degrees. Remove from oven and immediately transfer loaf from pan to cooling rack. Brush with melted butter if desired. (I desired.)

Fontina Scalloped Potatoes

Mashed potato haters, there's always one in every Thanksgiving crowd. As impossible as it is to comprehend, those of us who are entertaining must take this into account and have another potato side dish available for said snooty eater. Your other option is to stop inviting them to your Thanksgiving dinner. Or you can tell them that you "forgot" that they don't like mashed potatoes (which for the record, works for exactly two years before they call you on it....spoken from experience.)

These fontina scalloped potatoes are definitely worth the effort and because they hold their heat so well and have a good 20-30 minute rest period before serving, you can pull them from the oven while you're baking your dinner rolls and/or your stuffing.

Fontina Scalloped Potatoes

2 lbs potatoes, peeled and sliced
4 cups whole milk
1 TBSP butter
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt and pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
8 oz fontina cheese, shredded
1/2 cup bread crumbs or crushed buttery cracker crumbs (I used Town House crackers)
2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.

In a large sauce pot, bring the potatoes and milk to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes, reserving liquid.

Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet. Add onion and peppers and season with crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Saute for 6-7 minutes then add the minced garlic and saute for another minute or two. Sprinkle the flour over all and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly so flour does not burn. Whisk in the reserved milk and bring to a boil. Cook for a minute or two, whisking until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and gradually add the fontina cheese. Stir until smooth.

Place potatoes into prepared casserole dish. Pour sauce over potatoes.

Combine bread/cracker crumbs with the parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the potatoes. Place dish in oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until bubbly and browned. Remove from oven and let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

Cream Cheese Cranberry Muffins (Treats For Co-Irkers)

These tasty little treats for the co-irkers were supposed to be posted last Friday, but I ran out of time! Please don't think I'm lazy. I work my tail off from the time I get up in the morning until the time I take my first nap.

I always get a little excited when I see the fresh cranberries appear in the store at this time of year and I usually snatch up more than I need, but it's always so nice to look in the freezer come February or March and see that I still have a stash to bake with.

Cream Cheese Cranberry Muffins (from Taste of Home Magazine)

1 cup butter, softened
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 baking cups with papers and spray lightly with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until moistened. Do not over mix. Fold in the cranberries and pecans.

Fill muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool pans on cooling rack for 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan to cool completely on rack.

Family Reunion In Columbus (sort of)

While my daughter-in-law and I watched G-baby and the OSU-Penn State game from the safety of her living room, hubby, my sons and other members of my family gathered in Columbus yesterday for a more "festive" celebration. I had a ball with Gavin (I got to see him sit himself up for the first time!) but my only regret about not being amongst the tailgaters is that I didn't get to see my brother and sister-in-law who were in town from Texas. Sorry I missed seeing you Ken and Janet. And I'll see the rest of you loonies at the family Christmas party in a few weeks.

By the way, those "I love boobies" coozies were sold by the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation and my hubs and sons are always so supportive.... *sigh*

Pumpkin Paradise Pie

What do you give to the love of your life after 32 years of marriage? If you're of the Victoria's Secret variety, you might find some sultry lingerie to fuel the forever fires of your passion. However, if your Secret is more Victorian, which means you might sleep in something more along this line...

... you decide to compromise and remember that his passion for sweets at this age is "almost" equal to his passion for Victoria, regardless of her secrets.

Hubby's card to me made me cry (as always...he's SO good at that)

So I retaliated with this Pumpkin Paradise Pie, which is my way of showing him how deeply I care about his need for sweets. I even made the crust from scratch. Allow me to repeat that just in case you didn't catch it the first time around. I EVEN MADE THE CRUST FROM SCRATCH!!!

Now you all see why I don't work for Hallmark. Guess I'll keep my day job.

This is another fantastic Bakerella recipe from Betty Crocker Fall Baking. The only two things I could find missing from this recipe are peanut butter and the kitchen sink. Rich and full of all your other favorite things: cheesecake, pumpkin, pecans and chocolate, you're going to love this decadent pie.

Pumpkin Paradise Pie (a Bakerella recipe from Betty Crocker Fall Baking)

Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup plus 1 TBSP shortening
2-3 TBSP cold water

Cream cheese filling:
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softenened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Pumpkin filling:
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup sugar
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup mini-semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 TBSP pure maple syrup

Directions:

In medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or by pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions,) until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle with the cold water, one tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1-2 more teaspoons of water may be added if necessary.) Gather pastry into a ball and shape into a flattened round. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

In small bowl beat cream cheese filling ingredients together with electric mixer. Refrigerate until needed.

In medium bowl beat pumpkin filling ingredients with a wire whisk until well combined.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll pastry on lightly floured surface using a floured rolling pin, into a circle that is two inches larger than the bottom of a 9 1/2 inch deep dish pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate and gently press again the bottom and sides of plate. Trim overhanging edge of pastry one inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under, even with the plate. Flute.

Spread cream cheese mixture into crust. Gently pour pumpkin filling mixture over cream cheese.

Cover edge of crust with 2-3 inch strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

In small bowl, mix topping ingredients. Remove foil strip from pie and sprinkle topping over pie. Return pie to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Cool on cooling rack for one hour. Cover, refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.