Pumpkin Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Dressing (A White House Recipe)

This pumpkin cake recipe is straight out of the White House Pastry Kitchen - how lucky am I?  This dessert followed the Beef Bourguinon I made for dinner on Christmas Day.  I can only hope that Barack, Michelle, Sasha, and Malia were enjoying this cake while on their Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

Anyway, as you can imagine, this cake is legit and might become a family tradition for years to come.  If you decide to make it, I'd recommend checking the cake while it cooks to ensure it's not over cooking.  While the recipe calls for baking for an hour at 340 degrees, mine was a bit over cooked.  I'm sure it has to do with the oven, and of course it still tasted wonderful, but I think it can be improved over time.

Christmas Eve Dinner: Beef Bourguignon

For me, Christmas Eve is one of those rare nights when all seems right with the world.  It's peaceful, spiritual and a time when I feel love is all around.  The last few months have been particularly difficult for me but I'm quite fortunate to have parents who support and comfort me through the best and the worst of times.  I wish I could return the favor to them tenfold - and while it's a lot to live up to - I thought making a meal that requires a lot of love would be a good place to start.  That's where the Beef Bourguignon comes in.  It may seem silly to think that a meal could even begin to equate to my family but, really, it's just a small token of my gratitude.

Also, some background:  This dish isn't as daunting as it sounds.  Just know it must be made over a span of two days; unless, of course, you're willing to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to start the process.  I love cooking...but not that much :)

Holiday Sugar Cookies (a/k/a Fun with Instagram)

My friend Annie and I are marathon runners, so it's only right for us to have a marathon cookie making day, right?  Right.

Well, perhaps there is not a direct connection other than the more miles you run, the more cookies you get to eat, but we shared a wonderful Sunday afternoon into evening baking about 60 sugar cookies.  We even made homemade icing and used our "artistic" abilities to decorate the cookies.  And yes, the word artistic is used loosely...it's the taste that counts :)