Pumpkin cheesecake

This is a variation of a recipe I originally found in Gourmet magazine in I believe, 1990.
The first couple of times I made this cheesecake I followed the recipe exactly, until I had to make a cheesecake for a work function and couldn't locate it, so I decided to fall back on my culinary roots and improvise. That led to the development of what I call my "basic batter" recipe that can be tweaked to create all sorts of different cheesecakes.
I've included a link to the original here - Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Sourcream topping.

Andrea, I have no way of knowing whether you're going to enjoy cooking as I do - regardless, it's honestly going to be a few years before you're going to want to tackle this, as the first couple of times, it's an honest to God pain in the ass to make.

Should you want to make a variant, I'm going to also give you the recipe for what I call my "basic batter" - it works as a stand alone, but it also lends itself to the addition of everything from fruit to chocolate.

The basic recipe:
4 packs of cream cheese, allowed to come to room temperature.
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
(note: to make a New York style cheesecake, add 8 oz sour cream)

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth. (I use a hand mixer, but if you're lucky enough to have my dream mixer, the KitchenAid, you'll find it goes much easier)
Add any other ingredients you want, such as frozen fruit, chocolate chips, etc, and pour into the springform pan that you've prepped with a crust.
Bake at 350 for at least an hour to an hour and a half, or until the center is set.
Turn off the oven, crack the door and let it cool for an hour before removing, then let cool further on the counter before putting in the refrigerator.
Let it set overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

That's it.
I promise over the years, you'll have the chance to sample this many times, and I hope I'm lucky enough to be around when you try to make this yourself. I love you!
Oh, and one other piece of advice - don't let Grandpa Don in the kitchen when you're trying to make this. He just gets in the way.