Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

I haven't had Christmas Day yet. My sister and her husband have an "every other" arrangement with my parents and his side of the family. We had our Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving Day so Christmas this year isn't on Christmas Day.

In previous years, it has been within a day or two, so it really hasn't felt much different. But this year, it's a whole WEEK later.

I took the week off of work to help my mom prep for our celebration, but we're pretty much already done! Now, I'm going a bit stir crazy and my sister won't even be in town until Tuesday.

I was busy on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day with holiday prep -- carrying gifts to my parents so my cat wouldn't destroy them, expertly rolling peanut butter balls for my mom's Buckeyes, googling "Chinese restaurants open on Christmas day" so we could have something to eat -- you know, the usual.

But I didn't have any plans today. I was going to clean my wreck of an apartment, but I mostly just goofed off and caught up on some of my DVR, including Ratatouille -- hands down my favorite Pixar movie -- while I folding mounds of laundry.

Dinner was also an old favorite -- Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce. OK that's not the actual name of the Rachael Ray recipe, but the title is annoying so I renamed it because it's my blog and I can do what I want.

I have tried this recipe many times and tried to lighten it with evaporated milk, 1/2 and 1/2, etc. with varying amounts of success. Heavy cream is the way to go. Trust me. I use less oil and less pasta and use the parm sparingly. Plus, I use whole wheat pasta. Plus, in my warped mind, the nutrition on the pumpkin cancels out the cream.

And... it's not like I make this every week or even every month. A little cream definitely belongs in a healthy lifestyle.

I first made this a two years ago and have been hooked on this ever since. I don't make many savory pumpkin dishes, but this is a keeper. The cinnamon and nutmeg aren't overpowering and it has just a hint of a kick. Did I mention is has cream? Yum!