Today I have a pumpkin pas de deux. As elegant a moment as you will ever see here at SippitySup. Because, as promised, I am presenting Thanksgiving standards in two ways every day. And I know you know that pumpkin is the Thanksgiving Gold Standard!

Now if you are unfamiliar with the pas de deux, let me enlighten you. In ballet, a pas de deux (French, step/dance for two) is a duet in which ballet steps are performed together. Popular pas de deux appear both in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. There was even a gorgeously animated outer space pas de deux in the movie WALL-E. It was every bit as stunning and thematically correct as any I have ever seen on stage.  So who says robots can’t be artists?

Of course the obvious thing about a pas de deux is it takes two. I could have said it takes two to tango because in fact a tango is a form of the pas de deux, with out some of the rigid standards the ballet version requires.

The Italian city of Trapani, on Sicily's westernmost tip, has an identity all of its own. That is because geographically speaking it is closer both in distance and topography to Tunis than Naples. In fact it’s closer to several African ports than it is to any part of mainland Italy.

It owes much of its heritage to the sea and its importance to the ancient trade routes. Trapani flourished as the center of Phoenician trading because it was a navigationally necessary port during the middle ages. With out Trapani, links between Tunis, Naples, Anjou and Aragon may have been impossible at that time. These facts helped Sicily’s foods to develop separately and distinctly from the rest of Italy. Its hot, dry, predominately flat landscape seems more reminiscent of North Africa than most parts of Italy, and is another determinate factor in its culinary past.

...it just means I need time for myself.

It’s a perfect Saturday afternoon.

I live in Los Angeles, one of the most exciting, glamorous cities on the planet.

The options of leisure activities are nearly endless. I could drive to the beach or to the snow in equal amounts of time.

I could shop at world-class boutiques in Beverly Hills.

There are parks, and activities. The bird migration is in full swing. I like my birds.

There is always a food-festival somewhere. Be it Latin flavors in East L.A., or some other event in Little Tokyo, Korea Town, or the traditionally Russian areas of West Hollywood. I could go to my local Buddhist Temple where the sell excellent Thai street food for almost nothing (just remember to take your shoes off when you go inside)!