Sweet Potatoes

Crazy weather here today... nice and warm, but it's sunny one minute and pouring-down rain the next. I started the day in black slacks and my sparkling Manilow top, then changed into shorts and a sleeveless top when I started to cook. Can't be cooking in the Manilow shirt and risk getting it stained, for goodness sake!

Today is sweet potato day. I'm using my Aunt Dolly's recipe for sweet potatoes, and adding a southern flair to them. Great recipe because you can par-boil the potatoes and set them up for baking on Thanksgiving morning. Saves you from having to do everything on turkey day.

I usually use one sweet potato per person. That way, you're sure to have some leftovers, and sweet potatoes always taste just as good when they're reheated. Use a large pot and fill it three-quarters up with cold water. Wash the sweet potatoes and put them in the water-- don't peel them, and make sure the water level is about two or three inches from the rim of the pot. Let the water come to a rolling boil, then turn it down just a bit and let the sweet potatoes simmer till they're just near to fork-tender.

Take the sweet potatoes out of the hot water with a large spoon, or use salad tongs. Just set them on a platter and let them cool down a bit. Meanwhile, line a large cookie sheet or baking pan with foil. Spray the foil with a non-stick cooking spray, then sprinkle in a little brown sugar to lightly cover the pan. With a sharp paring knife, cut the ends off the sweet potatoes, and remove all the skins. Cut each potato in half, then half again so you have four quarters. Line them up in your pan on top of the brown sugar.

For the southern touch-- spread a teaspoon of crushed pineapple (with juice) on top of each sweet potato. Then sprinkle about half a teaspoon of crushed pecans on top of each potato. Then comes the brown sugar again... sprinkle a bit on top of each potato. If you want to go over-the-top with this, you can add bits of butter on top of each potato. (I skip that, to save on the calories, and because the potatoes with the sugar and pineapple are sweet and delicious without it.)

At this point, you can cover the pan with foil and put it in the fridge. On Thanksgiving day, take the pan out of the fridge about half an hour before you need to put it in the oven. They will need to bake (un-covered) at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, then they go under the broiler for two to three minutes... watch them carefully-- you want the tops to brown nicely without getting burned. And those crushed pecans burn quickly, so watch them!
Absolutely delicious sweet potatoes with that pineapple and pecan topping!

So that's about what I've been up to. I had my piano lesson this morning, which went fairly well, considering I'd hardly touched the piano since last week. Between the Manilow concert and the trip to St. Thomas, I just didn't take the time to practice. And not practicing enough is always quite evident, because I will sit down at K's piano and look at my sheet music and then look at her keys, trying to match my notes with her keys. I swear, sometimes it seems like she rearranges those keys from week to week. I left her house with Christmas music. Not that I'll be playing Christmas songs at our party. I'll be too busy with the party to be worrying about playing "Jingle Bells."

Clouding up again out there, and the wind is kicking up. Which means that Channel 11 will probably be breaking in on the Oprah show this afternoon to give us a weather update. I nearly called them yesterday to complain because they interrupted Oprah's holiday give-away show to tell us that Wharton County might be in the path of a tornado. Well, did it never occur to The Powers That Be at these television stations that the people who are in the path of a tornado already know that and they surely aren't sitting in front of their TV sets listening to the weatherman's update.

And in all the eleven years that we have lived here, never ever have the stations interrupted a sports game to give a weather update. If a baseball or football game is on TV, they will have a little band of text running along the bottom of the TV screen with the weather information. But just get Oprah on that TV, and Channel 11 just can't leave her alone.

So that's about the story for the day here. Time to get in there and exercise, and see who's on Oprah today. She mentioned it yesterday, but I've forgotten. Doesn't matter anyway, because whoever or whatever the 'theme' of her show is, it's my time to exercise. Can't stop now... not with all those sweet potatoes sitting in the fridge.