Placid Jamie could barely contain herself, waiting for the Lovely Bea to arrive at the Amen Corner. She had something she wanted to give us, and was very mysterious about it.

Old Jim leaned over to me at Willow, pushing his Bud long-neck aside to get closer.
“I want to talk about yams.”

“What about them,” I asked suspiciously. “Nasty things. They are orange, you know.”
“No, I have ben asked to provide a Halloween dish for the big feast that Chanteuse Mary and I are going to attend.”

“Oh, that is easy. For a Halloween recipe, you don’t want to cook them. That way they still have a solid mass when you throw them at the trick-or-treaters.”

“I meant Thanksgiving, you jerk. The holidays are all starting to run together.”

“I can’t believe it either. I put up a wreath today. I never put up decorations before Turkey Day. It is like I feel like a retailer with the compressed number of shopping days between the feast and Christmas.”

“I just need a recipe that is simple, not too spicy, and easy to put together.”

“Let me think.” I looked over at Jasper behind the bar, and asked him if I could borrow one of the several pens he had clipped to the open neck of his black shirt. He lid one out, with a white paper napkin, my usual Willow stationary.

I was still jotting notes when Bea made her customary entrance, kissing us all, as Jon-without dragged a stool over for her. Once she was seated and had ordered The Usual, Jamie produced several little gray silk bags and slid them down to bar to us. Chanteuse Mary was the first to open hers, and laughed out loud when she saw what was in it: a Christmas tree decoration for 2013. On the front was the year, and on the back was the inscription “The Amen Corner.”

She had one for me, too, and I marveled at it. “Where did you get these done?” asked Jim.

“ShutterFly did the whole thing. All I had to do was upload the photos.”

“Technology will never cease to amaze me,” I said, looking at the montage of pictures and we talked about the days each one was taken.

“Best Christmas decoration ever,” I said. “Does this mean I have to get a tree?”

Jon-Without said he might actually do that, and The Lovely Bea just beamed.
When exactly enough Happy Hour white had been consumed, I slid the sweet potato recipe over to Jim.

“Bon appetite,” I said. “Yams on parade.”

“Asshole,” he responded.

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, divided
Cooking spray
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Place the sweet potatoes in a Dutch oven (No, not the one when you pull the overs over your head to trap vile gases to surprise Mary, a heavy cook pot), and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until very tender. Drain; cool slightly.
Place potatoes in a large bowl.

Add sugar and next 3 ingredients (through vanilla). Mash sweet potato mixture with a potato masher. Fold in 1/4 cup pecans. Scrape potato mixture into an even layer in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup pecans; top with marshmallows.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until golden.

Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303