It's Sunday and two weeks til Christmas..

Saturday at work was amazing.. We had Allatoona High School's Band, Chorus and students shopping in the store with underprivileged children..Santa was there and had a couple Elves helping out.. It was so great.. The kids were very well behaved and talk about what the spirit of Christmas is about,  they exemplified the love that we all should be sharing everyday,  but especially at this time of year.. it renewed my spirit.. and if you work or have ever worked retail,  that is HUGE!!!   Passed out last night around 7:30,  and it was a crazy Sunday.. went into work at 4am and didn't get home until after 3pm.. We got busy pretty early and I didn't feel like I stopped until I got in my car and made my way home.. came home and put on my warmest, fuzziest clothes and chilled for a while,,  then went into the kitchen and made dinner..  

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage

 1 tablespoon olive oil
 1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
 4 cloves garlic, chopped
 1 medium onion, chopped
 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
 4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, chopped
 2 c vegetable stock
 1 c canned pumpkin
 1/2 cup heavy cream
 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
 salt and black pepper
 1 pound rigatoni cooked to al dente
 Romano or Parmigiano, for grating

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Add the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender, add bay leaf, sage, and 1 c of the vege broth to the pan. Reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add remaining vege broth and pumpkin, stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.
drain pasta and add to the pan with the sauce.. stir well and sprinkle with parmesan cheese..   Serve with a green salad and crusty bread..

This is the cart well where we set things up for the kids from the High School.. loved every second of it.. 

Linda our HR whiz..  she's the best....