Pumpkin Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Holy its Thanksgiving week! How is it that Fall always seems to pass me by and now it feels like winter practically.  Oh wait now I am just confused...it's 70 degrees outside?!?  Just last week though it was in the 30's though for days.  I just don't know what to do...I mean last week I was all soup with toast for lunch and now I want to be grilling out burgers for dinner and throwing my flip flops on.  It is Thanksgiving week though and this year for the first time I will be spending Thanksgiving with Charles' immediate family, and now my family.  I am super pumped and excited to be contributing some pies this Thanksgiving to the feast. 

To get into the spirit of Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago, as well as to send treats to Charles office I made these pumpkin cranberry white chocolate chip cookies as my first recipe out of Joy the Baker's new cookbook Homemade Decadence.  These cookies were so freaking good and I can't wait to make them again.  They are sift and fluffy with great fall pumpkin flavors and the tart fresh cranberries and white chocolate chips add great depth of flavor.  They would also make some seriously delicious whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting in the middle....hmm maybe next time.  You should definitely give these a try though, because the are SO good!  Enjoy!

Before heading off to Laguna aka my happy place a couple of weeks ago now, I went to my very first Scotch tasting with Charles.  It turns out I kind of like it...wouldn't beat out Bourbon right now, but I don't hate it.

The Ultimate Carrot Cake...no really it's seriously delicious

Okay, okay, I know its only Thursday, but can we please talk about the weekend?  About sleeping in and mornings lazing around with a good book and a giant cup of coffee.  I see this in my future. Sometimes I feel like weekends in DC really start on Thursday even when you do have to work on Friday.  Fridays in my office are always just a little bit more fun...in the fall and winter they involve flannel...no really its a thing.  In the spring and summer they involve flip flops and florals.  It helps to change things up a bit and is definitely better than Mondays.  I am really excited for this weekend, because it is going to be all about good food.  All about enjoying the simple things...dinner with friends at a great restaurant; waking up on Saturday with no plans and nothing to have to rush off to.  Plus, a little baking to wrap up a nice Sunday with some great fall light sneaking through the windows.  The light I can't catch baking in the early morning hours or after work now.  Hopefully I can catch a few good shots.

Recently, I have been writing about trying to see things from different perspectives.  Paint Nite really showed that we all perceive the things we see differently.