Sweet Potatoes

Roasted sweet potatoes are so good. Sweet plus earthy. Roast at 425 for 45-60 minutes. Just prick a few holes in them first so they don't explode. They are mad good for you and keep things very regular. Sam can attest to the latter.

I want to find out how to get just the sweet potato liquor. You only get it while roasting the whole potato, in my experience. It's like sweet potato toffee! The juices flow out of the fork pricks and make a sweet, delicious puddle. I like to roast my potatoes on a silpat so that I can peel the toffee off and eat it. If you roast on foil or straight on the pan, it burns. Keep your eye out for Jen Sorenson's Sweet Potato Toffee.

I roasted the sweet potatoes for Sam. This is the one vegetable that I can count on him eating daily. Why do I even bother varying my veggies, you ask? So my kid isn't orange, that's why! He has loved these roasted bundles of sunshine ever since he was eating "solids." And yet .... Picture sweet potatoes tumbling out of his open mouth. We have eaten them two days in a row and both times the initial bite met this expression. I jammed my hand under his chin to catch the orange goo, and then Sam and I had a long talk.

Me: You love sweet potatoes - you have since I first starting pureeing them for you, lo these many moons ago. And you ate them last night, remember?

Sam: Po-ta-to. Po-ta-to.

Me: That's right. Let's try this again and please don't spit them out because Mommy is tired and this is pushing me over the edge.

Sam: Po-ta-to. Po-ta-to.

It should be noted that "potato" is in a sing-song because I turn everything into a song and Sam seems to latch onto words when I do this. I am currently trying the multiplication tables.

The very nature of my cooking does not seem to allow me to set these photos up so well. I whipped these up and immediately put them in a tupperware and rinsed the cuisinart. You just have to be a tidying machine if you don't want it to all overwhelm you Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout style.

Are those my sweet potatoes? Yes.

I think that winter might just be my favorite vegetable season. Gotta go with summer for fruit - hands down. But for vegetables, yes, winter. Who doesn't love all those root vegetables and tubers? They just feel so right.