Oh My Sweet Potato Pie

Tis the season for family gatherings. These days, no one expects the host to shell out a home-cooked meal, nor do we expect them to pay for a "home-cooked meal." In my family, we love pot-lucks. My mother, for example, loves to give generously even when she has nothing to give; she will go out of her way to make our family happy. If that means 20-30 boxes of Portos' potato balls and cream cheese streudels instead of making rent, so be it. Self-destructive behavior I assure myself is not genetically inherited.

This year for the family gathering, I want to bring something special. I discovered a recipe for Sweet Potato Pie with a Cinnamon Roll Crust. It's a wonderfully simple recipe! After collecting my ingredients, I eagerly rolled up my sleeves, collected my kitchen instruments, set my Pandora to Adele's Radio Station, and fervently (but passionately) created a little bit of sweet potato heaven. My panel of food critics (boyfriend and co-workers) wholeheartedly agree that the recipe does not need to be altered whatsoever. I will say that I'm very proud to have purchased my sweet potatoes from my local farmer's market. Best sweet potatoes I can get my hands on! Here I come family; I'm ready for my sweet potato pie to go against any of my Mom's Portos' Potato Balls.

Holiday Cheers!

It's never too late to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Very Happy New Year! One day late isn't considered "too late" if I do say so myself.

I hope everyone had a great time eating and drinking with their loved ones. I know I did.

A better blog to follow. ;)

Rinse, Massage, Rinse

I've officially recovered from the kitchen massacre that was Thanksgiving. It was a whirlwind of food that covered every inch of my kitchen. I dreaded having my Mom in the kitchen while I cooked but quite the opposite occurred. After hours of holding onto my pride, I finally couldn't wait for my Mom to roll up her sleeves and help me out! And it was one of the best experiences, and will go down as one of my best memories of my mom. I felt like we were a team rather than butting heads. And she had a lot of tips to give me.

After enjoying a wonderful dinner (if I do say so myself) the full set of tupperware was put into full use. Today, I finally tossed the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers, and I'm beginning to contemplate what's for Christmas dinner.

Thanksgiving Jitters

I'm cooking my first Thanksgiving dinner for my parents and sisters, and I'm very anxious. Like most mother-daughter relationships, I'm on edge about the criticism I'm sure will fall out of my mother's mouth as she watches over my shoulder. We already had a screaming match over the phone about the turkey, I can't imagine what will happen when we're both in the kitchen. (Note to self: unpack boxing gloves from closet).

My approach: research a great menu, create grocery list, prioritze grocery list, pre-shop dried goods, and (if applicable) blog about said Thanksgiving jitters.

1) Empty nasty, only God knows how long this has been here, food objects from refrigerator.

2) Weekend before Thanksgiving, stock up on dried goods needed for dishes.

3) Pre-Order Turkey (if you need to figure out how big a turkey you need, http://www.butterball.com/ has a very useful calculator.

4) Begin to slowly clean. If you can squeeze in the time, even do some laundry :)

5) Wednesday:

Buy remaining ingredients for your dishes.

Prepare any dishes that can stay overnight in your fridge (e.g. cranberry sauce)

Have a glass of wine. Prepare for a full day of cooking

Tend to turkey

Remind mother it's your kitchen

6) It's Thanksgiving!!! Check out the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and start up the ovens!

Good luck to everyone in the kitchen!