Monday 21 November 2011

Easy Sweet Potato Recipes

Sure there’s apple butter and pumpkin butter, but how about sweet potato butter?  That’s right…I said sweet potato butter.  There are lots of sweet vegetables this time of year and I think they should be given equal playing time in the kitchen.  Or maybe I just have a bit of a soft spot for sweet potatoes.  For the record, I do.

I’ve never been a big fan of apple butter.  I’m not sure why.  It could be the consistency or maybe it’s just the flavor…I don’t know.  But pumpkin butter is a little more up my alley.  So I thought I might try making sweet potato butter, since the texture is very similar when they are cooked down.  Plus, I’ve been trying to come up with some easy sweet potato recipes that are a little bit out of the ordinary for our Thanksgiving dinner this year.
Our usual dinner consists of roasted sweet potatoes and each year we do some variation on the same recipe.  But we’ve decided to change the menu up a bit this year and try for some different side dishes.  Sweet potatoes were not on the revised menu.  To me, it’s not Thanksgiving if there isn’t turkey and sweet potatoes on the menu.  Although, I should be happy with what we’re doing.  This year my friends had decided that none of us were going to cook this year and go out for the big dinner.  While I’m basically okay with that concept, Craig is definitely not (of course he doesn’t do any of the cooking but apparently that’s irrelevant).  When it came to light that they wanted to go to a seafood restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner I had to stand up and protest.

I couldn’t decide what kind of sweet potato recipe to make, when I decided on the sweet potato butter.  Once I made it, I realized that I could use this to then make a delicious sweet potato dessert.  I still haven’t decided if I’m going to make a cheesecake or add it to cake for a rich and spicy treat to have with coffee.

For now I’ve been smearing it on toast and biscuits.  I’ve also basically turned my breakfast into a sweet potato dessert.  I top my yogurt with a dollop of the sweet potato butter then sprinkle on my homemade mueslix.

With all the sweet vegetables that are available this time of year, you should try this recipe with one of them.  Of course you could use pumpkin, but what about butternut squash, carrots or some combination of Fall’s sweet vegetable bounty?
Relationship Advice

Ahhhhhhh the holidays.  A time of fun, friends, food and family.  Oh yes, THE FAMILY.  I don’t know about you, but I come from the average, dysfunctional American family.  Certain members that don’t speak to other members, the snide remarks, the one upmanship, the conservative, the liberal, the quiet one, the loudmouth and pretty much every other family cliche you can think of.  We’re not quite of the Greek mythological level of Zeus, and his family, but I would say very ‘normal.’

So what’s a sane and rational person to do?  It’s funny how we all kid ourselves that we’re the normal one in the family.  But it’s natural for that fight or flight instinct to kick in during these types of get togethers.

I thought I would give you a quick translation guide to frequently asked questions or common statements made at the Thanksgiving table.  Hopefully by understanding the true meaning of these inquiries we can avoid reading about you and your family on the internet the next day.  Besides, it would all be in vain anyway since half the population will be out trying to tear the last 80% off pair of slippers from someone else’s grasp and the other half will still be comatose either from food or booze.

    * How’s the job search going?  Hey slackass, when are you going to quit playing computer games and whining on your blog and start being a productive member of society?
    * Are you still dating that guy?  What’s she trying to hide from us?  If he’s not sharing dinner with us he must be married, a convict or a lazy slob like her out of work brother.
    * Wow, it’s so good to see you this year.  How nice of you to join us you pompous son of a bitch.  You always think you’re too good for your family, you must want something.
    * Let’s break out the tequila!  Run…run as fast as you can this can only go downhill from here.

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