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The first time I spent Thanksgiving at Kendrick’s parents’ place, I decided to impress my in-laws-to-be by making this crowd-pleaser side dish (even people who “don’t like Brussels sprouts” - a.k.a. people I think are weird - like it). Unfortunately, I didn’t boil the sprouts for long enough, so forty-five minutes after we were supposed to all sit down to dinner I was still frantically sauteing the damn things while Kendrick’s entire family looked on in pity. Don’t do that, please: even though food purists would frown on this advice, I urge  you to cook the sprouts until they’re fork-tender before adding them to the pan. (This time, by the way, they turned out perfectly.)

JORDAN’S BRUSSELS SPROUTS w/ PANCETTA & MUSHROOMS

What you need:

1 package brussels sprouts, stemmed and halved

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Yesterday my father-in-law and I had a bit of a debate about the difference between sweet potatoes and yams, so I thought I’d do a little research. I always thought that sweet potatoes were white-fleshed things that looked pretty much like normal potatoes, while yams were the orangey things in the supermarket that I actually use when I tell people I’ve made “mashed sweet potatoes”…but it turns out that I’m wrong.

Sweet potatoes are the lovely creatures pictured above on the left. Originating in South America, they come in dozens of varieties, but it’s only us North Americans who consume the orange ones. These are usually labeled “yams” in supermarkets, but apparently supermarkets can be wrong. There’s also a paler-skinned, more crumbly variety, which is what supermarkets commonly call “sweet potatoes.”

True yams have white flesh, are relatively flavorless, and are not even distantly related to sweet potatoes. They’re pretty hard to find in the U.S., and where they are popular (Central and South America, the West Indies, and parts of Asia and Africa) they’re generally used as a blandish backdrop for more flavorful ingredients. Yams can grow up to seven feet in length, and have brown or black, tree-bark-like skin.

Sources: Homecooking.about.com; Bonappetit.com

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My mother-in-law, Lynn, served stuffed celery sticks as an afternoon snack intended to keep us from picking at the stuffing while not leaving us too full for dinner.

Lynn just slathered cream cheese on some celery sticks, and it was very delicious (I sprinkled a little salt on top, ‘cause I think salt makes everything better), but there are lots of variations on this retro recipe. If you want to experiment a little, try substituting one of the following for plain cream cheese:

- Mix 1/2 cream cheese and 1/2 blue cheese

- Mix some chopped olives, pecans and onion into cream cheese; add enough mayo to hold the mix together; chill


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