I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

kira1234

For a short time I could find white sweet potato fries in the freezer section. I really liked them, but haven't seen them in a couple of years. I've never seen the potato in the produce section to buy.

Anonymous

Thanks Bren. My younger son brought me a present - a drawing of something that for sure doesn't come from this planet. He doesn't even know what it is. LOL.

Wish Olga was here to see this... 

Bren-2007

Yan .. I have pictures like that that my youngest grandson has made for me .. but we have to save them and stick them on the frig!  I'm sure that Olga would have loved the picture as much  as you do.

Bren

otter

Marshmallows?  Marshmallows???  Bren, say it ain't so!  That's how Yankees eat their sweet potatoes, and then only on Thanksgiving.

Funny thing, though -- my mom never called them "sweet potatoes" when I was growing up in Yankee territory.  She called them "candied yams."  From what I read today, "yam" is a southern term for sweet potato.  I don't think she had set foot past the Mason-Dixon line until I moved here.

Barbara, I agree completely, although I need to confess an affection (affliction?) for baked sweet potato with all the fixin's. 

My favorite way to fix 'em (aside from sweet potato casserole) is 5 to 7 minutes in the microwave to soften them up and then 30 minutes or so in the regular oven at 350 to 375 F or until nice and soft.  I actually like my baked sweet potatoes to be mushy inside the skin.  Be sure to prick some holes to avoid explosions, but also put some foil or a pan underneath (while in the oven, not the microwave) to catch the sugary drippings.  I hate cleaning ovens and I won't do that self-cleaning thing.

Then, slice a gap, squeeze from the ends, and fill the gap with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

I know, I know.  Dreadfully un-healthy.  Much better to slice big chunks of raw sweet potato, drizzle with olive oil, and broil along with other root veggies like parsnips (which we can't find here), rutabagas (remember that discussion? -- they are not turnips), Irish potatoes, etc.

Yum.  We had homemade pecan waffles with raspberry syrup (not homemade) for breakfast.  We're all out of maple syrup, so we're going to have to make a run.

otter

208sandy

My dh was born in Oklahoma, raised in Texas (30 years) and ALWAYS had "candied yams" (marshmallows, brown sugar, butter) on Thanksgiving.  I was born and raised in Montreal and couldn't (and still can't) stomach them so on MY Thanksgiving we had turnips (not rutabaga) and on HIS Thanksgiving we had "candied yams".

Sandy

1Athena1

I hate to lower the tenor of this conversation, but I have a recent and unbreakable addiction to UTZ's sour cream and onion potato chips!

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows sounds delicious (Yankee blood talking here, perhaps).

kira1234

1Athena1, So glad to  see your back 

I hate to say it I also love sour cream and onion with potaot chips. I can eat the entire bag myself.

Bren-2007

Yep Otter .. I'm a southern California Yankee, transplanted to the south 6 years ago.  They put sugar in everything down here!

Athena .. I can't have just one of those chips .. need to have an entire bag!

Bren

1Athena1

Hello back!

And a special wave to HappyLibby!

I have trouble confining myself to just one bag of those chips. Really bad. My weight is back to average now but those chips are a clear and present danger.

otter

Oh, yippeee!!!  Athena's back!  So glad to see you!

Sandy, you've got me wondering what my MIL would say about the sweet potato thing.  She's from Oklahoma, and my (late) FIL was from northern Texas.  I'll have to ask her next time we talk to her.  It's not surprising, though -- sometimes there are "midwestern" customs that run north/south. 

I also was addicted to sour cream & onion potato chips a few years ago.  There was no particular brand I favored.  I broke that addiction when I first tasted cheddar & sour cream potato chips, e.g.:  http://www.fritolay.com/assets/images/blue/lays-cheddar-sour-cream.gif

It's gotta be the cheese.  Some days, I crave cheese.

otter (headed outside to water some more rhodies -- kadeeb didn't send that rain far enough south last night)

crazy4carrots

Otter -- Thanks for the photo of actual yams!  I can't imagine eating anything sweeter than sweet potatoes (marshmallows on top is way over the top for me!).  I like to bake a big sweet potato, slice in half, scoop out the insides, mash with parmesan cheese, S&P, fill the halves, scatter some more parmesan on top and stick under the broiler for a couple of minutes.  The cheese tends to cut the "over"sweetness of the potato.

kira1234

lindas, Your way of making sweet patatoes sounds really good. I will ahve to try them with parmesan cheese. I've been suing butter, but that sounds really good.

BarbaraA

Well, I am a transplanted Yankee (from PA and DC)  and I HATE sweetened or marshmello'd sweet potatoes. Give them to me straight.

Looks like another pool day. HOT today.

rosemary-b

I love baked sweet pottatos with butter. Just like baking a white potato.

crazy4carrots

And the best part is -- they're so MUCH better for you than regular potatoes.  Chockfull of vitamins and with a low glycemic index.  I feel very virtuous while eating one !

Alpal

I was visiting my DD in Calif. a few years ago. Eating dinner at a friend's house and helped myself to some mashed potatoes. Was shocked when they tasted like sweet potatoes. My first exposure to white sweet potatoes. They were delicious, though. I've never seen them in the stores here. Ours are big and orange, inside and out. Sometimes the sign in the produce sections says "Sweet Potatoes" and sometimes "Yams". No purists around here.

Bren-2007

Sorry to change the topic from yams ... but I just had another post reported in this thread FOUR pages back!

What the hell is going on here?

Bren

rosemary-b

...Stop children what's that sound everybody look what's going down...

Bren

 I am ticked. Somebody is taking advantage of the raw feelings we have here after losing konakat and going after every remark that is a little bit on edge as an excuse to get people they don't agree with thrown off bco. That is lower than a snake's belly. IMO

Bren-2007

I wish the mods would hurry up and put that feature back in that shows who is reporting posts.  I bet that would cut way back on this abuse.

You're right Rosemary ... emotions are raw since we lost Elizabeth .. I still can't believe it, and am not handling it very well.

Bren

Anonymous

An idea, everytime someone has a post "reported" let's copy and put the whole thing in a new post - with the email from bc.org saying it was reported.  UNTIL, bc.org starts adding the Screen Name of the person who reported it?

KInd of in honor of the Loving SPIRIT of that wonderful Pink Wigged Woman on the back of a Motorcycle.

I am really ANGRY that this kind of "reporting" and possible "banning" because of it is allowed.

rosemary-b

Sunflowers

The question is would it do any good. We had the name of the last person who reported a post listed on that post and that helped but the powers that be decided we didn't need that. People tried to tell them this would happen and they wouldn't listen. So this weekend has been a cross between a monkey circus and a goat rodeo.

Bren-2007

Goat rodeo for sure ... also I think someone must be bored to read back four pages looking for posts to report.

Bren

AnnNYC

All this reporting is reminding me of the shameful episode a few months ago when Konakat was automatically banned because some unknown people reported some of her posts, prompting a thread entitled "Free Konakat from the time-out room."  Anybody who thinks "bullying" emanates from "us" is deluded...

Anonymous

WHY did the "powers that be" decide we didn't need that?  Maybe those "powers" want this board to be a place where people can say very false things about chemotherapy, even to the point of saying "it is never effective" and when anyone tries to contradict that, their comments are "reported" - going to ruin any reputation BC.org had.  Will also chase away people here who truly want to help others with bc.

suzieq60

Grils - the most common sweet potato here is the yellow flesh one, but you can get red skin ones as well and they have white flesh. We also get the white ones sometimes. I started substituting the red ones for normal potato years ago, I love the taste so much more and they're better for you. I'll see if I can find a pic.

Got to go and get ready for work, enjoy the rest of your weekend

Sue

Wabbit

Sunflowers ... good point.  I saw a rating of breast cancer support boards once and BCO was one of the boards mentioned.  They got a decent rating but what stuck out for me was a statement that although there were many instances of information that was not correct being posted other board members generally jumped right in and corrected it.

There have been many times I think the mods should jump in with a disclaimer but it seems to be left up to other members to do that ... and then take the flack it causes.  I have never once seen a mod remove any medically incorrect information and explain why.  Seems strange in a site sponsored by a doctor. 

revkat

A doctor who seems to believe that if we had just used cast iron instead of non-stick frying pans we would not have cancer. . . I'm oversimplifying, but the "Think Pink, Live Green" series is teetering on the edge of implying that if we made perfect life choices we would not have gotten cancer. The booklet of 31 (yes, 31) things you can do to avoid cancer is based not on any causal links, but on low correlational "risks". And then she has the gall to say that drinking in excess on occasion is not a problem, when aside from exercise, alcohol consumption is one of the strongest lifestyle correlates with bc risk. Every time I see the Stoneyfield Farms ad "Can what you eat reduce your risk of breast cancer or recurrence" I want to scream. I want to scream "NO". There is no evidence that diet is a significant factor in breast cancer occurence. It just makes people feel better who wish they had control over this!

As you can see, this really annoys me. 

lewing

Hillck, so sorry to hear you've been having a tough time with reconstruction.  I hope that time (and sweet potatos!) lift your spirits again.  (That's not meant to be flip, I really believe that food and talk and silliness, like on this thread, can be tonic.)

So here's how tonight's dinner is shaping up: skate with capers and brown butter; smashed potatos with more butter and lots of parsley; good bread; salad with golden beets and mixed greens (some from the garden, some from the farmers' market); and for dessert, local strawberries with fresh ricotta.

(Wow, I've been away for so long, and now that I've dipped a toe back into the water, I can't stop posting.  It feels good to check in on this thread.)

L

Alpal

Capers make everything better, IMHO. Love them!

Enjoyful

I had beef & Guinness stew with brown bread tonight.  I love Ireland.  :-)