Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups gingersnap crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine crumbs, pecans and butter; press onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven.

Filling:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 lg. eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla extract, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Set aside 1 cup of batter. To the remaining batter add sugar, pumpkin and spices; mix well. Spoon pumpkin and cream cheese batters alternately over crust; cutting through batters with knife several times for a marble effect.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. Remove from oven and loosen cake from rim of pan with a knife; cool before removing from pan. Chill for several hours.

Serves 12