Sad News and Good News!

Our youngest son was in an awful motorcycle accident 9 days ago. He was on life support for the whole time and the good news is that they have just taken him off...and he is breathing on his own...thank you so much to all for your prayers....he has a long way to full recovery, but he will recover....it is just a rough time for our home so I will not be blogging a lot for next few weeks.

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

to all of my blogging friends old and new!!!

Sweet Potato Madness

Ok now this is weird....a doggy bone made from Sweet Potatoes???

Its Called Buddy Biscuits Sweet Potato Madness.... yummy Its actually for dogs with allergys? Huh?

Cloud Star Buddy Biscuit Sweet Potato Madness Treats are WHEAT and CORN FREE (2 common allergens) making them a nice and yummy treat for dogs with allergies. Also free of soy, sugar, salt, dairy, and egg. Vegan and vegetarian approved.Ingredients barley, spelt, vegetable oil, fresh sweet potatoes, mixed tocopherols (Vitamin E - a natural preservative).
Dogs love Buddy Biscuits Ok now I have heard it all....

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Sweet Potato Biscuits(makes 18 biscuits)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup nonfat milk
2 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Nonfat cooking spray
Nonfat milk (optional)
Ground cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)
Directions:
1. To cook the sweet potatoes, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Peel and cube the potatoes into 1-1/2-inch pieces then boil for about 20-30 minutes or until tender. Drain thoroughly then mash with a fork or potato masher in a large bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 425º F.
3. Stir in the butter and milk into the potatoes. Add 1-3/4 cups of the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and mix until combined. Add the rest of the 1/4 cup of flour and combine.
4. Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead 5-6 times. Roll dough flat to half-inch thickness.
5. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits from the dough or use a sharp knife to cut biscuits into 2-inch square pieces.
6. Spray a baking sheet with nonfat cooking spray then place biscuit pieces close together on the sheet.
7. Brush the top of each biscuit with nonfat milk then lightly sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg.
8. Bake biscuits for about 15 minutes or until golden.

Nutritions Facts:

• 82 calories


• 2 g Total fat


• Sat Fat 1g


• Trans Fat 0


• Cholesterol 5mg


• Sodium 195


• Dietary fiber 1 g


• Sugars 2 g

Some Trivia on Sweet Potatoes

The sweet potato is the 6th principal world food crop, and approximately 90 percent of the worlds' crop is grown in Asia.
Vardaman, Mississippi claims to be the Sweet Potato Capital of the World.
1. 6 billion pounds of sweet potatoes were produced in the U.S. in 2003.

2. North Carolina (588 million pounds) produced more than any other state.

3. It was followed by Louisiana and California (each with about 310 million pounds), and Mississippi (238 million pounds).US Census Bureau, October 2004

4. In 2004, 98,300 acres of sweet potatoes were planted in the U.S.

5. In 2004, approximately 4.2 pounds of sweet potatoes per capita were consumed annually in the U.S.

6. In 1943, per capita consumption was 21.7 pounds.Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission http://www.sweetpotato.org/

Despite a physical similarity and a frequent confusion with their names, yams and sweet potatoes are not even distantly related. They are in two different botanical families. Yams are actually related to grasses and lilies.

Although sweet potatoes are harvested in August through October, they are available in supermarkets all year. Many stores feature them at Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are two varieties of sweet potatoes; the pale yellow with a dry flesh and the dark orange with a moist flesh. The dark orange variety is plumper in shape and somewhat sweeter than the yellow variety.

Sweet Potato Recipe

Ok I missed yesterday, oh no...my computer was "sick" so I could not get on. So today I will be posting 2 posts.

This one will be a recipe with Sweet Pototoes!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled


• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 2 teaspoons white sugar


• 1 teaspoon brown sugar


• 2 teaspoons curry powder


• 1 teaspoon ground cumin


• 2 eggs, beaten


• 1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying


• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:
Shred the sweet potatoes, and place in a colander to drain for about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, white sugar, brown sugar, curry powder and cumin. Make a well in the center, and pour in eggs and milk. Stir until all of the dry ingredients have been absorbed. Stir in sweet potatoes. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drop the potato mixture by spoonfuls into the oil, and flatten with the back of the spoon. Fry until golden on both sides, flipping only once. If they are browning too fast, reduce the heat to medium. Remove from the oil, and keep warm while the other pancakes are frying. Makes approximately 15 pancakes.

What Does Your Waiter Ask You? Sweet Potatoes Plain???

I read an article by By Frank Bruni, "Serving in Tougues" today that got me thinking??? Now I know this not directly about sweet potatoes, but it could be? Just think when you go into a restaurant and want to order sweet potatoes as a side order and want it plain, and the waitress yells so that the whole restaurant can hear it, "What no butter? How about sour cream? On the side maybe? Are you sure you want it plain????" Is she deaf or what????

I mean how many of us go into restaurants and have waiters ask us really silly questions like this? Or maybe like; "would you like to enjoy another ice tea?" Enjoy??? What does that mean, or, "Are you finished working on your plate?" Now what am I doing with it? Construction anyone? And Mr Bruni has another one that I hear more than too often, "How do you feel about dessert?" Well let's see I feel good about it, its a delicious idea and I love the taste and.... I mean how am I suppose to answer????

Mr Bruni says he is tempted to answer,“Guilty,” Or: “That it can’t possibly be worth the price on the menu.” I agree whole hearted with the last one as dessert is usually way over-priced!He suggests that we be more direct when asking a patron about their lunch or dinner like saying something to the effect, "Can I clean your plate off table for you?" or "Do you want more ice tea?"I think my biggest pet peeve is the drive-thru fast food speakers that yell back at you in the middle of you ordering, "Do you want cheese on that?" or "Do you want chocolate cake?" Now if I wanted cheese on it or chocolate cake I would have said so and ordered it! Right? But before you even get the whole order out of your mouth of what you want and how you wnat it, they are screeching into the mike about something else and then the order never comes out right anyways!!!!

Ahhh life in the fast lane......

Tomorrow more on facts and opinions and recipes.......

How to Tell the Difference Between a Yam and a Sweet Potato?

Continuing on with Nablopomo on Sweet potatoes:

The difference between a Yam and a Sweet potato????

Yam or sweet potato, what in the world is it? Many people use these terms interchangeably both in conversation and in cooking, but they are really two different vegetables.
Sweet PotatoesPopular in the American South, these yellow or orange tubers are elongated with ends that taper to a point and are of two dominant types. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato. The darker-skinned variety (which is most often called "yam" in error) has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a vivid orange, sweet flesh and a moist texture.

The true yam is the tuber of a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato.

Sweet potatoes are a good source of potassium
Sweet Potato and Yam Health InformationSweet potatoes are relatively low in calories and have no fat. They are rich in beta-carotene , having five times the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin A in one sweet potato, as well as loaded with potassium. These nutrients help to protect against heart attack and stroke. The potassium helps maintain fluid and electrolyte balance in the body cells, as well as normal heart function and blood pressure. Wild Mexican "yams" which are related to the sweet potato, seem to have anti-weight-gain, anti-cancer, and anti-aging properties, according to Dr. Earl Mindell. True yams do not contain as much Vitamin A and C as sweet potatoes

In the U S, there are firm varieties of sweet potatoes that were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties.
Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are probably eating sweet potatoes!

Tomorrow's views on some recipes and more facts!!

Yes I Decided to Join

I was blog surfing and found NaBlopomo on The Cooking Corner's blog. It looks interesting and maybe will bring some more traffic to my blogs, so here I go .....I love to post so it shouldn''t be too hard.

I think I will work on holiday tradional recipes....what different places eat, why, history, funny quirks, stories and whatever suits me for the daily blogging...so here we go...

Oh my I love Sweet potatoes and I found this one to be perfect:

This recipe serves: 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes (or yams)
4 tablespoons pecans, toasted
1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
1 tablespoon brown sugar
freshly ground cinnamon, to taste

Cooking Instructions
1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them in half. Place them in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pricked with a fork, about 30 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a nonstick skillet for 1-2 minutes or in a toaster oven and set aside.
3. Mash the potatoes, butter and brown sugar with a potato masher or fork, or use a food mill.
4. Adjust the cinnamon to taste.
5. Transfer to a serving dish and top with the toasted pecans.

Now what about the Sweet Potato?

I mean where does it come from? And do you care? Well I do...so I did a little research amd found out that it is botanically known as Ipomoea batatas, are grown on a root of a vine and comes from the morning glory family. It is native to the New World tropics and dates back to 750 B.C. in Peruvian records. Columbus brought the sweet potato to the New World from the island of Saint Thomas.

Sweet potatoes are often called yams and vise versus but they are two different vegetables. Which I will go into more tomorrow.... Enjoy the recipe....

Thanksgiving Tips

Seasonal colors dress up your table for Thanksgiving it's nice to use warm fall colors for your table - greens, soft golds and deep reds look wonderful for that time of year and make your guests feel warm and cozy. You can't go wrong with a white nicely pressed tablecloth. And this allows you to be more creative with the dishes, stemware, napkins etc. Use dinnerware in some of the warm fall colors, or for a more traditional, formal look, use white china. A nice touch would be to add a fun plaid cloth napkin in the fall colors and some elegant warm gold stemware

• Easy festive touches like Mums in warm colors placed in pots by the front door, make a nice warm entrance for your guests. Around the table use real pumpkins, gourds, and bittersweet to add some fall appeal. There are even artificial fall leaves you can place around the table. And if you want to add a little extra touch, you can buy real miniature pumpkins and use them as place cards. Simply make a small slit in the top of the pumpkin, slip in the place card with your guest's name on it and put at each placesetting. Easy, but impressive!
• Don't forget to decorate the food too!Don't forget to add little garnishes to the dishes when needed. For example if you like to bring the whole turkey out on a platter to slice at the table. Add grapes, walnuts, orange slices, etc. to dress up the turkey on the platter. And sprinkle fresh herbs to your mashed potatoes in the serving bowl. Put a little orange curl to jazz up your cranberries. And don't forget before you bring out that pumpkin pie put a nice dollop of whip cream in the center to finish it off.

A few tips in preparation of the big day:

• Select the dinnerware, stemware, flatware and tablecloth you would like to use.
  Gather your decorations and begin placing them around the room to get a feel for thelook you are trying to create.
  Check to make sure you have serving pieces to accommodate all your planned dishes. If you don't have enough, you can always borrow from a friend, mom, or neighbor.
  Iron your tablecloth and napkins.
  Polish your flatware.
  Double-check your food-shopping list
  A few helpful tips for setting the table:
  Keep in mind when setting your table don't put too many décor items in the center, leave plenty of room for the stars of the show….your food.
  Stay away from tall candles and flower arrangements that may block the view of your guests and make it difficult to hold a conversation across the table.
  Don't use scented candles near the table, it can compete with tastebuds and your guests appetites.

About the Turkey???
How do I know what size turkey to buy?

• Figure ¾ to one pound of whole turkey per person. This will give you plenty of leftovers.

How long does it take to thaw the turkey?

• It takes about 2-3 days to thaw a 12-lb bird in the refrigerator, a 20 lb turkey will take about 4 days. A turkey can be thawed, still wrapped, in a tub of cold water, also. Keep changing the water to keep it cold, a 12-lb bird can be thawed in about 12 hours using this method. Turkeys can also be thawed in the microwave, follow manufacturers’ directions, and cook the turkey immediately afterwards.

How long can I leave it sitting out after dinner?

• Foods should be put away within two hours of sitting out. The best way to store a turkey is to strip the meat from the bones, put it in plastic storage bags, and refrigerate or freeze. The bones can be used for stock or soup.