An Apology
There’s a pattern to our three weekly posts: first a Healthy Change, then a supporting recipe, followed by a weekly dinner menu. Recipe writing has been a blast. It’s hard but it’s been a wonderful introduction to a better food culture.
Because this week's Healthy Change is to eat orange fruits and vegetables, my plan was to write a healthy menu for sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes—a great nutrition bargain—are usually drenched in sugar and marshmallows. So I wanted to write a menu for a a low-sugar casserole, or a sweet potato soup.
But there’s a complication. We’ve come to picturesque Midway, high in the Wasatch Mountains to marry off our last single child. It’s a happy day but I haven’t been able to devote the time needed to develop a recipe. So this post is an apology and a promise for the future.
I would like to offer a couple of possibilities: The N.Y. Times had a casserole recipe, Sweet Potato, Carrot and Dried Fruit Casserole, that sounded delish but I haven’t tried it. Won’t someone give it a try and report back?
Likewise, I saw two delicious sweet potato soup recipes: Sweet Potato-Peanut Bisque and Curried Carrot, Sweet Potato, Ginger Soup. I can’t bless them because we’ve haven’t tried them but they sound as tasty as they are healthy.
Midway Memories
We’re the guardians of a Victorian farmhouse that has been the home of the beautiful wife’s family for over a century. Though I’m an outsider, I love this small village because it still resonates of how farm people once lived. A century ago four siblings build homes on a corner and together they had 44 children. Imagine 44 first cousins growing up within a stone’s throw of each other. As a result, much of the town is some kind of relative to the beautiful wife. Can I tell you about a few?
Two of those 44 cousins, aunts to the beautiful wife, became schoolteachers but never had the blessing of marriage and family. As schoolteachers they lived lives sanctified by service to the children of others; they were angels. In college we came to this home for Sunday dinners a time or two. The aunts were marvelous cooks and at dinner one of them would stand behind my place at the table, trying to anticipate what would make my dinner experience even more enjoyable. You had to love their solicitude but it did give me a confused image of what marriage might be like. How could such gracious treatment ever be forgotten? It’s part of the reason we’ve dedicated our time and means to preserving the old home.
A saintly uncle lived through the back lot. Once on a visit he came to me as I was loading the car to leave. His arms were filled with packages of meat from his freezer. “Here,” he offered, “can’t you use these?” As struggling college students meat was a rare indulgence so his gift meant a lot. Another time he gave a gallon of his homemade apple cider. It was the best ever. This was behavior typical of farmers—giving something of what they had raised to visitors. But it was done in such a kindly way that I have ever since wanted to be like him.
The beautiful wife has a cousin some might think a little grumpy. He’s a hard man, not someone who would get pushed around. He once gave me his assessment of California: “I wouldn’t give my backyard for the whole state,” he declaimed. This caused me, on a walk, to peek over the fence to see his backyard.
This past year, after a long marriage, his wife passed away of breast cancer. She was buried in the old cemetery on a hill overlooking the town. What does this man—who on certain days can be hard and grumpy—do with his evenings now? In his grief, he takes his guitar to the cemetery, sits on a bench, and sings songs to his departed wife.
I apologize there is no recipe or menu this week but as you probably know, it’s a lot of work to get ready for a marriage. And if I could give one thing to our daughter and her new husband, it would be this: That their marriage be blessed with that special grace found in small towns.
Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 12:09AM
Reader Comments (12)
I love that story. Thanks for sharing and giving me an early, happy cry for the day!
I like sweet potatoes baked and then mashed with a little milk or cream, butter, and maybe a little maple syrup- but it's usually sweet enough without!
My friend just wrote a book about sweet potatoes, well, really about a whole lot more than that, a lot about the paleo tradition. I'd love to know if you've read it and what you think about all that paleo stuff: http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Potato-Power-Smart-Personalized/dp/1936608782/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336845638&sr=8-1 And the recipes really are excellent:)
Congratulations. What a beautiful post. We pay more money (in taxes, activity fees, etc.) to live in this town but what we get is so similar to what you describe, it is more than worth it to us.
Great sweet potato recipe here:
http://www.dinneralovestory.com/we-have-a-cover/
Miso isn't for everyone but if you like it at all--this is delicious and so easy. This is a frequent lunch for me and never disappoints.
Promises for the future are beautiful things. Congratulations on the wedding and even more so on the marriage. All best wishes to your family!
This is a great recipe with sweet potato! http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sweet_potato_red_pepper_pasta.html?vm=r
What a special day! We visited Midway once. What a special place!
Here are a couple recipes I've used in the past. I don't know if they qualify for low-sugar, but they are good.
Yams Baked in Orange Sauce
4 pounds yams
1 ¼ c sugar
2 T cornstarch
2 c orange juice
4 T butter
1 ½ t orange zest
1 orange, thinly sliced
Peel yams and cut into ½ inch slices. Overlapping slices, arrange in rows in baking dish. Set aside.
In small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in orange juice until blended. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens and becomes clear (about 1 minute). Remove from heat, add butter and orange zest. Stir until butter is melted. Pour over yams. Bake covered 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and baste tops of yams thoroughly with sauce. Continue baking, uncovered, basting with sauce several more times for 15 minutes or until yams are tender.
Yams
1 c brown sugar
½ c coconut
6 T melted butter
Yams to fill 9 x 13 pan
Place cooked, diced yams in 9 x 13. Sprinkle with brown sugar and coconut. Pour melted butter over top. Bake until warmed through.
I also like to make sweet potato fries by cutting them into sticks. I spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray, then spread the fries on it. Sprinkle with a little sugar and salt. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Stir and sprinkle with a little more sugar and salt. Bake until tender. I probably only use 2 tablespoons of sugar for a large tray of fries this way.
Congratulations on the marriage of your last child! What a happy day. And oh, how I would love to live in such a wonderful, small town. Maybe someday... ;-)
No apologies needed. Looking forward to anything sweet potato when time permits. Enjoy your time with family. And thank you for that lovely story.
I made your carrot cake for the 2nd time today. It has 3 cups of grated carrots in it (I found some organic at Sunflower Market - 5 pounds for 5 dollars) and even though it isn't sweet potato soup, it is filled with good orange veggies so perhaps could qualify as a Vitamin A recipe.
Bless you and your family sir.
Congrats on your daughter's marriage! What a beautiful time to be in Midway.
My favorite sweet potato recipe is sooo simple and sugar-free. Dice raw sweet potatoes evenly (about 3/4-1" dice) and toss in melted coconut oil, cinnamon, salt, and pepper (seasonings can be adjusted to a more savory option: cumin and garlic and chili powder is one option we love....still with a touch of cinnamon). Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 450 for about 30-40 minutes, stirring half-way. They get sweet and a little caramelized.
I tried the Curried Carrot, Sweet Potato, Ginger Soup that you reference in this post today and I think it is a really tasty recipe. I followed it as written, though I added about a cup more of sweet potatoes just because the ones I used ended up being 4 cups cut up. I did add about 1 tsp more of curry to get more of a curry flavor. I added a small dollop of sour cream to my portion just for fun. I really enjoyed the added depth the sour cream brought to the soup, but it is really wonderful with out it too. Thank you for a healthy, tasty way to add more of those orange vegetables to my diet. I am looking forward to having another bowlful tomorrow for lunch.
Thanks to all for your ideas on eating sweet potatoes. This is such a healthy food. We'lll work them into future menus.
Hi Amy I looked at Ashley's book, "Sweet Potato Power," (what you can see for free on Amazon.com) and agreed with the message that sweet potatoes were a healthy way to improve our diet. They're an incredible nutritional value. I'm not a Paleo diet fan, it's distinctly different from the Word of Wisdom Living diet, but think it much healthier than the Modern American Diet (MAD).