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.

Sweet potatoes October 2015

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.

Freshly harvested sweet potatoes

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.

Preparing the oven to cure sweet potatoes

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.

Sweet potatoes curing in the oven

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

Sweet potatoes 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!

Sweet potatoes in a basket in the rafters

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.

Steak, sweet potatoes and swiss chard for dinner

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.

Homemade pickles

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?

Cat giving kitten a bath

Happy Homemaking!

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About

I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com

8 Comments on “I Yam What I Yam

    • The plate in that picture belonged to my great grandmother. We have a collection of antique plates. I like that none of them match. I am trying to hold back from gobbling down all of the sweet potatoes.

  1. I LOVE yams and sweet potatoes! But I am hazy on which is which. I’ll have to look it up. I think I’ll buy some for tonight!
    Crème and Ponche are so sweet. Chex and Peggy Sue used to snuggle like that, and Chex still sometimes grooms her, but Peggy has pretty much grown out of it.

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