Regifting, um, I mean re-cooking?

My sister gave me a loaf of pumpkin challah (it's pronounced kha-la) just a couple days ago and *ding* the first thought that pops into my head is Pumpkin Challah French Toast. It's a cross cultural thing- Jewish bread, French style- complete yumminess! So if you're like me and have a random loaf of Challah laying around your kitchen, try this:

In a blender (I used the Magic Bullet same said sister gave me for Christmas 2 years ago) combine

3 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

a dash or two of cinnamon

Allow your sliced bread to soak up the mixture and then pan fry at med-high until toasty and golden. I made mine even, uh, healthier, by adding calcium in the form of whipped heavy cream, and syrup which I am sure has no nutritional merit that I can attribute to it. But, oh well. I never said gourmet was always healthy, just always delicious!

Christmas Cake

I love getting in the kitchen for the holidays. Sorry I didn't post for Thanksgiving, but here's my start on Christmas goodies: Chocolate-covered cake!  Take advantage of premade candy molds, or make your own as I did here for the tree bark. If you start with the chocolate shapes, you can then fill in with cake by cutting the layers to fit. Using a variety of sprinkles adds those small details that bring the look together.