Of course, there are still six days left before the loveliness that is Thanksgiving presents itself to our tables. This is just to get us pumped…
Yam
by Bruce Guernsey
The potato that ate all its carrots,
can see in the dark like a mole,
its eyes the scars
from centuries of shovels, tines.
May spelled backwards
because it hates the light,
pawing its way, padding along,
there in the catacombs.
My Dad loves potatoes more than anyone else I have ever met. (We’re Irish!) It was a joke growing up that when he went grocery shopping I would make a list of things we were missing and needed but also a list of things he was forbidden to buy more of-I think at one point we owned a dozen bottles of seafood sauce (what you dip shrimp in-he had a Sam’s Club binge problem for awhile). If I don’t see several bags of potatoes when I go home to visit, I get worried.
I make Thanksgiving (except the bird, because meat confuses me); usually MQ does the salad, because she is an amaazingly creative salad maker, but she is staying in Austin this year, so she just gets prank called.
Here is how I do our potatoes:
You make mashed potatoes. Then you put them in a pan with a butter and cream (okay, all the Q’s have genetically high cholesterol, but not on Thanksgiving or Christmas). Then you cover the whole thing with a layer of shredded Gruyere cheese and bake it at 475 till it is golden on top. Then your potatoes blow your mind.
Okay, I know Chris is a chef extraordinaire, so if you have recipes to share, do it! I just sort of make things up as I go along. xocaq
Gramma Hoho’s sweet potatoes with marshmallows are my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Since we’re staying out here in SF, I asked for her recipe. Here follows her directions, in full:
I BUY BRUCE’S SWEET POTATOES IN A CAN. DRAIN AND PUT IN BOWL-PROCEED
AS YOU WOULD FOR MASHED POTATOES -SOME BUTTER, LITTLE MILK, SALT AND
PEPPER. REMEMBER IT IS EASIER TO ADD SALT THAN TAKE IT OUT ! IF YOU WANT
YOU CAN ADD JUST A LITTLE JACK DANIELS. WHEN I’M PUTTING MARSHMALLOWS
ON TOP I DON’T THINK IT’S NECESSARY. PUT IN BUTTERED CASSEROLE-YOU CAN
DO THIS THE DAY BEFORE COVER AND REFRIGERATE. WARM IN OVEN OR
MICROWAVE(UNCOVERED. A LITTLE BEFORE EATING COVER TOP WITH MARSHMALLOWS
AND PUT IN WARM OVEN, OR NOT TO CLOSE TO THE BROILER AND KEEP WATCHING
!!! I’M HUNGRY JUST WRITING ABOUT IT.
WILL ALL BE MISSING YOU ALL ON THANKSGIVING. ARE YOU HAVING THE DINNER
AT YOUR PLACE? HOW MANY? LOVE, GRAMMA
Christopher,
I love how you included even Gramma’s capitalization and questions at the end. Can’t wait for some sweet potatoes. Courtney, thank you for your mashed potatoes.
I love love love that Bruce Guernsey calls a yam a potato that ate all its carrots.
Is there a difference between a yam and a sweet potato?