Thanksgiving recipes

I've been meaning to post these for several days, and now that the holiday is practically upon us, I figured I'd better get it done! These are the two recipes I make every year for our family Thanksgiving dinner. People demand the Pumpkin Cake Roll, which is a recipe I got from my friend Lisa, who got it from her mom, in college. I admit I make the Ricotta Spinach Pie mostly for myself, because it is AWESOME, but other people do enjoy it. Even Hannah likes it - I just tell her it's "cheese pie," conveniently forget to mention that it has a vegetable in it, and she eats it up.

Pumpkin Cake Roll
3 eggs
1 c. white sugar
2/3 cup solid pack pumpkin puree
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 c. chopped pecans (optional, but definitely better with)

Filling:
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. butter
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) cream cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a jellyroll pan (large cookie sheet, with sides).
2. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs on medium to high for 5 minutes. Gradually add white sugar, pumpkin, and lemon juice. Add flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and ginger. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle with pecans on top and press lightly into batter.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until it springs back when touched. Loosen edges with a knife. Turn out onto a dishtowel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up cake and let cool for about 20 minutes.
4. To make filling: Mix powdered sugar, vanilla, butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
5. When pumpkin roll is cool, unroll and add filling. Re-roll and wrap with foil. Refrigerate until serving.

Ricotta Spinach Pie
1 refrigerated pie crust (Pillsbury is my favorite)

Filling:
10-oz. pkg. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 egg
16-oz container ricotta cheese
8 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp. butter

Stir all filling ingredients EXCEPT the butter together and put into the pie shell (a 9-in. pie pan works best). Sprinkle more parmesan over the top; cut up the 1 tbsp. butter into small pieces and dot the top of the pie with it. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 min. to 1 hr. until top is golden brown.

It's really better to make the Pumpkin Cake Roll the night before you plan to serve it, because it gives the filling plenty of time to set.

Happy Thanksgiving!