I like to think of winter squash as the Aretha Franklins of the squash family – just looking for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Summer squash, such as yellow crookneck, pattypan, and zucchini, get lots of love here in the South. Sadly, we often relegate winter varieties such as butternut, delicata, and carnival to backup singer status (or really, something closer to William Hung, you know, like, “Please, dear God, never let him sing again.” OK, wait, hold on just a second. I’ll return you to the food related portion of this post in a minute, but seriously… I just discovered that William Hung has a Christmas album. And yes, it really is calledHung for the Holidays. I mean, wow. WOW. OK, sorry, back to the squash.)
Growing up near Rocky Top, I always heard the sweet potato referred to as the “Big Orange” potato. While it may not be the official tuber of the Vols, I do think this savory combination of sweet potatoes, salty bacon, and tart apples would go a long way in closing the endorsement deal. As it’s now turkey time in Tennessee, give this the starting job in your Thanksgiving line-up and then watch any leftovers disappear the next morning when served alongside poached or fried eggs for breakfast. While folks here still “get their corn from a jar” (if you know what I mean), their sweet potatoes should come in the form of this heavenly harvest hash. Even Smokey would agree that it makes for some doggone good eats.
No doubt about it, turkey is the star of the Thanksgiving feast. Following close on its heels (do turkeys have heels?) comes dressing. Farther down the hierachy of Thanksgiving essentials fall cranberries. However, this bread could change all that. Studded with cranberries and walnuts, scented with orange, and sporting a double-decker braid, this bread is centerpiece worthy.
Some things just go together. Like peanut butter and jelly. (Or is it peanut butter and chocolate?) Lately for me, it has been pumpkin and pomegranate, beginning with those cupcakes. Call this variation II on a theme.
When examining the graham cracker box the other day as we were making s’mores, the girls asked why they aren’t spelled “gram” crackers. We explained that things are often named after the person who invented or popularized them (in this case, by Sylvester Graham in 1829). Following this logic, Tim then made the leap that his current ice cream “flavor of the month” should be called Tim Ice Cream. Curiously, he doesn’t want the wet nuts to be called “Tim’s Nuts” – go figure!
When a certain pomegranate-loving just turned 4 year old was asked what she’d like for her birthday treat, she was adamant that she wanted pumpkin pomegranate cupcakes like last year. This year we played around to make them even more to her liking – adding chocolate chips to the pumpkin batter and drizzling cream cheese and chocolate on top to showcase her beloved pomegranates. The birthday girl’s wish? To have these again next year when she turns 5!
We took an awesome hike through Edwin Warner Park this weekend, and the halfway point become a knock down (literally) drag out (not literally) battle amongst the girls and their leaves…
