What day is this?

[wesleysgirl]

Actually, I know it's Monday, which is saying something. Something impressive. No, really.

I gave blood today. Unlike the previous time, I didn't feel faint when I sat up, so yay me! The boy and I also made trips to the craft store and the natural foods store -- we didn't buy too terribly much at either store, but I now feel that my holiday shopping for the boy and Mr WG is done. We still have a few things to buy and get done between now and Mr WG's vacation, but I'm less insane than I usually am at this time of year.

Argh! I have to write fic for Secret Slasha! I haven't even started yet, and I have no ideas. Eep.

ETA - I need a recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole. Ideally I'd like one that starts with fresh sweet potatoes, includes brown sugar, and is topped with mini marshmallows. I have never made this before, so I'm hoping someone with experience will share a recipe that's not too difficult to follow and results in much yumminess.

Comments

[ely-jan.livejournal.com]

Ohhh...I have one where you make homemade pralines and then crumble them in with baked sweet potatos, mash them and add pecans. Bake until the marshmallows are nice and melty? Or there's a meringue recipe that goes with?

Is that too much? Would be happy to get it for you.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

That sounds wonderful! I'd love it if you have the time to type it up at some point. *Smooch*

[ely-jan.livejournal.com]

Sweet Potato Praline Souffle

6 pounds sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon cane syrup
1/3 cup non-fat sweetened condensed milk
2 sticks butter, softened
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 orange, juiced
1 lemon, zested
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon sugar
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 cup raisins
2 cups pecans, chopped
8 ounces (about 6) large pralines, broken
Italian Meringue, recipe above

Bake sweet potatoes in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour until fork tender. Remove peels. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine potatoes, cane syrup, condensed milk, butter and brown sugar. Add the orange juice, lemon zest and juice. Blend thoroughly with the paddle attachment until smooth. Sprinkle in the cinnamon sugar, nutmeg, raisins and pecans. Finally, remove the bowl from the mixer and add the pralines; fold gently through the mixture.
Transfer mixture to a 2 1/2 quart glass baking dish. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Top with meringue. Return to oven and broil 7 minutes until the meringue is golden brown.


You can substitute marshmallows for the meringue, but the meringue is really quite easy and lovely!

Italian Meringue

1 cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup water
5 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

In a small pot over low heat, combine sugar and water. Swirl the pot over the burner to dissolve the sugar completely. Do not stir. Increase the heat and boil to soft-ball stage (235 to 240 degrees). Use a candy thermometer for accuracy. Wash down the inside wall of the pot with a wet pastry brush. This will help prevent sugar crystals from forming around the sides, falling in and causing a chain reaction. Prepare your meringue.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the eggs whites on low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium, and beat until soft peaks form.

With the mixer running, pour the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over fluffed egg whites. Beat until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Spread the meringue over a hot cake or pie, and bake as directed.

For Meringue Cloud Cookies: Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Dollop spoonfuls of meringue onto baking pans, alternatively you may use a pastry bag with a star tip. Bake for 2 hours until crisp. Turn off the oven and allow meringues to cool and completely dry out.

Ahhh...I so love the Food Network! *drools*

*hugs tight*

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Oooooh thank you. That sounds unbelievably good. :-)

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

BROWN SUGAR-GLAZED SWEET POTATOES WITH MARSHMALLOWS

4 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 cup packed golden brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger

2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange potatoes in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Combine sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger in heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour over potatoes; toss to coat. Cover dish tightly with foil.

Bake potatoes 50 minutes. Uncover; bake until potatoes are tender and syrup thickens slightly, basting occasionally, about 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 500°F. Top potatoes with marshmallows and nuts. Return to oven; bake until marshmallows begin to melt and nuts begin to brown, about 3 minutes.

Serves 8.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, that sounds wonderful! Thank you so much!

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

The jet-puffed mini-marshmallow bag has a recipe on it. I bought them to go in my hot chocolate and just happened to notice :D

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'll check that one out.

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

I gave blood today. Unlike the previous time, I didn't feel faint when I sat up, so yay me!

Hooray for you! And also, thank you ever so much for the adorable holiday card. The polar bears are just darling. (It came a couple of days ago, but I've been crazy-busy.)

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

This time I was careful to eat and drink a big glass of juice before I went; I think it helped. *Hugs you*

[moosesal.livejournal.com]

This is a bit different, than what you want, but you may want to try it some time if you like sweet potatoes. I make this for thanksgiving, make as much or as little as you want. My recipe is not exact, I just wing it. But here goes:

Sal's Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes
Granny Smith apples (1/2 as much as your potatoes)
apple, cranberry, or cran-apple juice (about 1/2 cup)
butter
brown sugar

Directions:
Peel sweet potatoes and slice into 1/8-1/4" wide slices (like you'd slice carrots). Peel granny smith apples and slice thinly.

Melt a pat or two of butter (depending on how much potatoes and apples) in a large skillet or saute pan. Add sweet potatoes and some juice. Put lid on and let it simmer over medium. Basically, the potatoes will start to steam in the juice. You can use more or less juice depending on how much flavor you want absorbed from the juice.

When potatoes start to soften a little (but still firm), add the apples (they cook much faster). You may also want to add some dried cranberries here. It's another great flavor in the mix.

Add more juice if you need/want to. Stir and put lid back on. Simmer, stirring occaisionally until potatoes are done. Drain off juice.

After you drain the juice out, dump in a casserole dish and sprinkle with brown sugar and pop in the oven for 5 minutes. (At Thanksgiving I usually make this in advance and then I put the sugar on and pop in the oven after the turkey comes out.)

As you can see, I have no hard and fast measurements. I usually use 4-5 potatoes and 2 apples which is a lot of food (it fills a 13x9 pan). Unless you're feeding a lot of people, I'd make less. That's the one thing I always have left over because I make too much. A little goes a long way because it's a pretty strong flavor compared to everything else on turkey day.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you. That sounds wonderful -- I love Granny Smith apples. I'll definitely try it at some point. *Hugs*

[deaver.livejournal.com]

Have to tell you that last night I made a recipe I had titled, "WesleysGirl's Chocolate Truffle Cookies", so I can only assume that the recipe came from you. Just wanted to tell you the cookies came out great. (YUMM-E!) And I only made a slightly huge mess of myself while baking them, so Thank You!!

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! Was it there? They are definitely messy to make, but yummy! *Hugs*

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Um, that should say "these," not "there." Sorry!

[deaver.livejournal.com]

Yes! Those would be the cookies! Sooooooo good! And, my cat loved getting to lick the extra powdered sugar I sprinked on the cookies off my fingers, so everyone in my house was happy.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh good! There's nothing like kitty kisses, even if you have to bribe them into it with sugar. :-)