I Yam What I Yam

Douglas and I have been busy for the past couple of weeks. After a summer of very little work accomplished around the house, we have been going to town on the projects. It is going to take me a while to catch you up with all of them. However, in just one month swim season will start, and the work will slow once again. It will be good to have things to share with you once my life gets busier.

So, what was that about yams? First of all, yams and sweet potatoes are actually different root vegetables. I know that, but I could not think of a good title referring to sweet potatoes. Besides, most grocery stores in the United States use the terms yam and sweet potato interchangeably. We grew sweet potatoes this summer.

I let you know that I harvested them last week. I probably should have left them in the ground a while longer, but I was nervous about the threat of frost. Next year I will let them grow as long as possible. the only difference is that they would have grown a bit larger. But then they would not have all fit on my tray, so I guess it all worked out.

What I did not know is that sweet potatoes need to cure for a week or two before they can be eaten without carmelization. Luckily I googled “how to harvest sweet potatoes” before I pulled them. I read a number of articles, but this is the one that I found most helpful. Following its advice I set up the oven with a thermometer, light and heat source and a pan of water.

Then, we let the sweet potatoes sit for a week while our mouths watered. I guess that I can only speak from my own mouth, but I, at least, really wanted to eat them. It is funny because I never used to like these vegetables. Now I love them.

Finally, on Monday, I took them out of the oven while Douglas was painting the porch and put them in a basket.

They are now hanging in the basement rafters waiting for us to eat them. They should be good for several months, but I doubt they last that long!

That evening we ate the first ones for dinner. Douglas grilled a steak and some Swiss chard from the garden, while the sweet potatoes baked in the toaster oven. They were as delicious as I was anticipating. I had another one for dinner last night.

I also tried my hand at making pickles this fall. We have not tried these yet, but I will let you know how they turn out.

In the meantime, I just had to share this cute kitten picture. Ms. Hyde is in one of her rare Dr. Jekyll moments with Ponche here. Most of the time she hisses and growls whenever he come near, but every once in a while she will let him snuggle up to her and will give him a bath. Aren’t they adorable?

Happy Homemaking!