the world is as soft as lace...

...and i don't love anyone.

soundtrack: itunes christmas radio

"'Whereof we cannot speak,' says the great philosopher Wittgenstein, 'we must be silent.' But it is also true that, whereof we cannot speak, we dream, or tell stories." Leonard Michaels said that in his essay "The Story of Jonah". It sticks with me; reciprocity. Tell me a story and I will tell you a story. Dream. I will dream with you.

"Events become meaningful as they become -- at some amazing turn -- stories, just as notes become meaningful, retrospectively, in a melody. The moral, like the melody, is open to interpretation." Food, like stories: reciprocity. Passed down through my family, our time. In retrospect, the repetition attains meaning. Eating is an agent of history.

"'One portion of being is the Prolific, the other, the Devouring,' said Blake, a great storyteller."

Yes, devouring.

"Modern stories are hardly ever retold," Michaels once said, also.

Here is a story worth repeating.

Smooth as Silk Pumpkin Pie (from Smitten Kitchen)

You Will Need:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup drained candied yams from 15-ounce can (regular canned yams can be substituted)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon table salt












To Make:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Whisk cream, milk, eggs, yolks and vanilla together in medium bowl. Combine pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in large heavy-bottomed saucepan; bring to sputtering simmer over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer pumpkin mixture, stirring constantly and mashing yams against sides of pot, until thick and shiny, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Whisk in cream mixture slowly, until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl, using back of ladle or spatula to press solids through strainer. Re-whisk mixture and transfer to warm pre-baked pie shell. Return pie plate with baking sheet to oven and bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees. Continue baking until edges are set (instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 175 degrees), 20 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature, 2 to 3 hours. (The pie finishes cooking with resident heat; to ensure the filling sets, cool it at room temperature and not in the refrigerator.)