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Pinch of freshly ground white pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

FOR SERVING:

Whipped cream

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Take the pie shell out of the refrigerator, coat it lightly with nonstick cooking spray, line it with two or three coffee filters, and fill the shell with dried beans (to prevent the crust from puffing). Bake the shell for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden. Remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. Remove the beans and coffee filters and discard them.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300ºF.

To prepare the pie filling, combine the pumpkin purée, eggs, egg yolk, heavy cream, brown sugar, and maple syrup in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, white pepper, and salt.

Pour the filling into the cooled pie shell, and bake until the filling has set but still jiggles in the center, approximately 1 hour. Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool. Slice, and serve the pie with fresh whipped cream.

Photographs by Sara Remington

Photographs by Sara Remington

December

Christmas Eve

Winter Debt

Profile: Marilyn, Bean Counter

Seared Ahi Tuna with Mixed Baby Lettuces and Seafood Dressing

Roasted Striped Bass

Salmon Trout Wrapped in Prosciutto

Grilled Oysters with Champagne Mignonette

Shrimp Bisque with Basil Toast

Beluga Lentils with Marinated Beets and Parsley Sauce

Mont Blanc

Dresden Stollen

Photographs by Sara Remington

Christmas Eve

At home, we’re not Christmas people. We don’t put up a tree or hang stockings. We avoid shopping unless we must. But at the Bakery, we make up for it tenfold. Inspired by our Catholic guilt (not to mention our access to the catches out of Monterey Bay), we host a yearly Fishermen’s Feast on the night before Christmas—a meat-free, multi-course meal featuring the freshest seafood Phil can get his hands on. To add to the Christmas spirit, we build gingerbread houses and decorate the restaurant with local bay and holly. Sometimes we even have a friend play Christmas carols on a cello, which makes the restaurant feel like it’s straight out of a storybook, with handmade garlands hanging from the rafters and the room full of friends and customers enjoying our feast.

Early on Christmas Eve, Erik and Michelle drive out to Pfeiffer Ridge and prune bay trees, stuffing the Jeep full of fragrant cuttings. Back at the Bakery, we make cocoa and take orders from Erik for the next two hours, climbing up ladders, hanging ropes from the ceiling, and carefully attaching our bay and berries as Phil preps food in the kitchen. Then, right before the guests arrive, we light the candles—and the festivities begin.

While the guest lists are often the same, our Christmas feast has a totally different atmosphere than Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving we serve huge portions family-style, at long tables set up to make people feel like they’re at home. For the Fishermen’s Feast, we do a prix-fixe menu served in small courses. This year, we started with wood-roasted oysters that Phil steamed in the shell until they were just slightly warm and incredibly plump. Each person had just one—enough to whet their appetite for a thick shrimp bisque flavored with the shells and paired with sweet, meaty Dungeness crab. After a seared tuna salad came the choice of roasted wild striped bass or salmon trout wrapped in prosciutto. And just before everyone was filled to capacity we presented dessert: candy-cane bonbons and mont blancs—meringues topped with rum chestnut purée, eggnog ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and shaved chocolate. Anyone who still had room finished things up with a thin slice of stollen.

Putting together a meal like that wipes us out, so we take Christmas Day off. We go to a beautiful cabin in the woods and invite friends to bring potluck. There, still recovering from the excesses of the night before, the only food we make is our morning coffee.

Photographs by Sara Remington

Photographs by Sara Remington

Winter Debt

For much of America, December is a season of giving