Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are different from yams. If you go to walmart, they don't make that distinction, because in the south, sweet potatoes and yams are considered the same. But they are very different. Winco has both kinds...sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet potatoes are the pale yellowish root-looking potatoes. Yams are the red/orange root potatoes that are often canned under the name of sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes

3-4 large sweet potatoes

1 cube butter

Canned milk if needed

Do yourself a favor and do not try to peel these before you boil. What a colossal pain that is. Wash them well and cut into 3"-4" sections. Boil in a pot of water for about 30 minutes until a fork pierces the center easily. Drain carefully. Peel the hot potatoes at this point by slitting one side with a sharp knife and pulling the skins free.

Place a cube of butter in the bowl and plop the peeled sweet potatoes on top of it to melt it. When they are all peeled, mash them with a masher and blend them up with the butter. You can use an electric mixer if the potatoes are a little stringy or lumpy, but usually a masher works well. Add canned milk a tablespoon at a time if the potatoes appear dry. These kinds of potatoes can vary in consistency...different crops can be dry or moister, depending on the growing conditions.

Keep warm until ready to serve. The flavor of these is like a slightly sweet mashed potato but not as starkly sweet at candied yams. Yes, I make both on holidays....my husband likes the yams and me and my daughter like the sweet potatoes. Enjoy!

Candied Yams

Mashed, candied yams like Trent's mom used to make. Can be made before hand, just don't add the marshmallows until they are reheated and ready to serve.

2 cans Princella Cut Sweet Potatoes in light syrup (29 oz each)

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup condensed milk

mini marshmallows

Drain potatoes but don't rinse. Mash in a 4 qt saucepan. Add melted butter, brown sugar, and canned milk. Cook on low/med stovetop until sugar is dissolved and incorporated. Don't be afraid to use an electric hand mixer to mash and blend, these can be slightly lumpy and stringy so an electric mixer is the way to go.

Place into a serving dish, a casserole, or foil pan (the round foil ones like they give at Bajio's work perfect.) Cover with foil and bake at 350 or so until the potatoes are heated through. Cover with a layer of mini marshmallows and bake until the marshmallows are puffy and very slightly browned.

Grandma Helen's Cheese Soup

As I've mentioned before, I didn't appreciate my first mother-in-law as I should have, she was an incredible babysitter for my daughter Shea! And, among other talents, she was a great cook and had great recipes and I learned so much from her....her cheese soup was fantastic! The only problem was, I was a naive twenty-something when I knew her so I never really appreciated her as I should have. Regret.

BUT...sadness aside...this cheese soup is her recipe, Helen Gertrude Henrie Gohr's. And let me tell you it has caused riots...there was an actual documented kidnapping over this recipe. It involved a ladyfriend coffee cup, gagged and tied I'm sure, held for ransom until this recipe was divulged to a very shrewd relative, of whom we will not identify. She knows who she is :)

Cheese Soup

4 russet potatoes

2 large carrots

1 large onion (I use sweet a sweet onion)

water

1 or 2 bricks velveeta (32 oz each)

1 pint half and half

Peel and shred carrots, peel and shred potatoes, peel and shred onion. I use a salad shooter to shred it all...works great.

Place in a stew pot. Cover with water, to about 1/2 inch above the vegetables. Do not add salt! Bring to boil and keep at a low simmer until vegetables are completely done, about 20 - 30 minutes. Turn heat down to very low.

Add cheese. Grant uses one brick, and the soup is delicious but a bit thin. I use about one-an-a-a half bricks for my big pot. You can always thin it with more water. Cut velveeta cheese into 1/2 inch cubes. Gradually add to the pot with the vegetable mixture. This soup should never boil after adding the cheese, boiling will ruin the texture. Keep cooking on low, stirring frequently to incorporate the cheese to make a creamy soup. Add half and half as a thinner if needed.

Delicious. Thanks Grandma Helen.

Peppermint Pistachio Chocolate Bark

This is a CUTE gift! Easy, we're talking a couple of steps, some chilling time, and the kids can help. I plan to do these for neighbors and co-workers this year. Oh, and it's delicious, my kids couldn't stay out of it tonight. Success.

2 bags Milk Chocolate Chips

2 bags White Chocolate Chips

4 regular size candy canes

about 3/4 cup Pistachio nuts (shelled) (Winco bulk food, of course)

Line a cookie sheet (preferably a jelly roll pan) with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with a light coat of Pam (y'know, or the cheap stuff from Winco. Whatever!)

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave. I did 50% power (medium) in a glass bowl for one minute, stirred, then did another minute. After that do 15 second intervals until it's nice and melted, stirring each time.

Spread the milk chocolate onto the tin foil in a sheet with a scraper or a spatula, I used this **awesome** scraper thing I have that has a flat edge. A thin even layer just about filled a full jelly roll pan, not quite but pretty close. Try to get it even, working quickly because the chocolate will start to cool. Put the pan in the refrigerator. It will take 45 mins to an hour to set up.

While you're waiting for the first layer of chocolate to set up, smash the candy canes inside a ziploc bag. Don't quite pulverize it, you want a few "crunchable", recognizable pieces. Set aside.

Chop the pistachios with a knife on a cutting board. Set aside.

After the milk chocolate has set up well, melt the white chips the same way. Pour it IN LINES on top of the milk chocolate, meaning pour it all out at once so you can spread it, but pour in two or three lines to keep the heat distributed so you don't melt the milk chocolate too much. Quickly quickly quickly use a spatula or the cool scraper edge thing (that I have!) to spread the chocolate evenly over the milk chocolate. You MAY have some bleed through here with the milk chocolate, but a little is ok. Just work fast, because you want the white chocolate on the top...not a big deal if it's a bit swirled though. It's just prettier if the white stays on the top.

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes onto the white chocolate layer first. Then sprinkle the chopped pistachios on the top. When the chocolate cools a little, press the peppermint and pistachios into it, so it is firmly in the chocolate. Refrigerate until firmly set, 2 hours at least.

Break the chocolate into pieces. You can do this by breaking with your hands or cutting with a sharp knife. Pack into gift boxes! I used the chinese take-out style cartons at JoAnn's fabric for 80 cents each with some tissue paper. Cute, cheap gift for family and friends!