Y'all, if I did not make a fabulous dinner tonight, I simply knew I would perish. I was hellbent, HELLBENT!, on cooking for my T and then eating well together. He has been working awfully hard during the busy season. As an aside, the "busy season" appears, to my novice eyes, to span approximately 49 of each year's 52 weeks, but I am not in finance, so how am I to know.

#wifealwaysknows

Anyway, dinner. Because of a recent sale on Brussels sprouts, aka a direct-line siren song to my heartgutmind, I realized tonight that I was slightly inundated by them. Like, they were overflowing the crisper drawers and trying to free themselves from the too-full fridge. I roasted some last night but those didn't totally do it for me.

So tonight? My pasta with caramelized shallots, Brussels sprouts and speck. Do y'all know of the magnificence that is speck (pron: spaik)? It is similar to prosciutto but, in my humble opinion, infinitely better. I have never cottoned to prosciutto, but speck? It's like shaved, perfectly cooked bacon.

Hailing from the sudtirol, aka South Tyrol or Alto Adige, region of northern Italy, speck was created as a means of preserving pork; making it incorporates smoking and curing techniques. I first tasted it in Tuscany and have bought it regularly in the States since, at Whole Foods or farmers markets.

Because just yesterday I'd made some fresh pumpkin puree and today thought I'd perish not only if I didn't make dinner but also if said dinner didn't include a spice cake of some sort, a spiced pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing.