Sunday, November 18, 2007

Sweet Potato Pie

I'm trying to get into the Thanksgiving spirit but so far it hasn't been an easy holiday for me to adopt. I grew up without it. I don't like turkey all that much. The myth about the pilgrims and the natives bothers me. I am not a football fan. My in-laws are French. So how do I make Thanksgiving meaningful for our American children, especially when most holidays we celebrate, including our sabbath, already have spiritual meanings connected with the idea of thankfulness?

I'm still working on that, but in the meantime, inspired by one of my coworkers, I made my first sweet potato pie ever today, and people seemed pleased with the results. So here's my handiwork, adapted from various internet recipes. If anyone has suggestions/recipes for a favorite holiday side dish, please help me out!



Crust:
1 1/3 c flour
1 ½ t sugar
¼ t salt
4 ginger snaps, crushed
½ c butter
ice water to bind together

Filling:
2 sweet potatoes, baked, peeled, & mashed
5 T butter
1 c + 2 T sugar
1 ¼ c evaporated milk
2 eggs
½ t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
1 t vanilla
1 T rum (optional, of course)
¼ t salt

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey t,

I just wanted to let you know that you have made Alex Ross' list of music blogs. Ross is the music critic for the New Yorker, and he has a blog called "The Rest is Noise." Under his link for "music blogs," yours is under the "oboe" category! Congrats!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Lisa Johnson said...

That pie looks great and I'm sure it's all gone by now!

For side dishes, I don't have a recipe, because it's not my thing, my mom makes it, but macaroni + cheese is the best! It might be more of an African-American tradition, but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it for my family. : )

Happy Thanksgiving T!

make mine trauma said...

I don't recognize Thanksgiving either, from my Native spirit, it makes no sense to honor such a "tradition", (I give my thanks every day) but lest I escalate into a rant..... I do love sweet potato pie and yours looks delicious!