Stuffing!!!!!

So, my mother-in-law's recipe for stuffing really doesn't call for 4 pounds of butter. But that's what I buy every year because of the way my husband wrote it down when he asked his mother how to make stuffing about 20 years ago. I always swear it says 3-4 lbs of butter and it's really 3/4 lbs of butter. Logically that makes more sense, but my husband always said there's lots of butter in here and that makes it good. So I always buy the larger quantity of butter knowing we'll use it if I'm wrong and bought too much.

My mother-in-law was talking a mile a minute and my husband was writing it down on any available piece of paper; notepad, scraps, envelopes and post-its. There are even several colors of ink. It's all now stained with butter! I finally scanned it so I could keep it for posterity. But all the original pieces are still in my recipe book. I don't think anyone else ever wrote it down. It was a "secret" recipe passed woman to woman. But I think we're beyond that now. I don't make it, my husband does!

I'm sure the original recipe was passed on from several generations and has had changes made along the way. But this is how we make it. Our adult children crave it at the holidays and our son's wife just asked us how to make it. So here is the recipe. Good luck interpreting it and trying to read it, I never can. I hope you have other recipes to use that extra butter with.

Sweetpotatoes or Yams?

All of our friends always get together the Saturday after Thanksgiving and have a big party. We basically do another Thanksgiving feast and everyone brings their favorite dishes and our hosts deep fry the turkey outside. The men really enjoy this part because there is always the threat of danger when deep frying a turkey. Thankfully they know what they are doing and haven't burned the house down. This year I am bringing my little sweetpotato pies. The recipe is simple and my family always devours every one of them.

We plan our parties by email. We are quite effiecient at planning that way, since we are all so busy. A controversy started when my dish was listed under dessert instead of side dishes on the menu. Someone said we didn't have any yams. Someone else stated they remember seeing sweetpotato pie on the menu. Someone else said pie and sweetpotato spuds are not the same and yams were completely different. It was also pointed out that we still needed yams because pie would be a mungie concoction and collection of ingredients blended to a pulp. While a whole yam or sweetpotato cooked the way God meant it to be-baked at 350 until ready (about an hour) was also still needed on the menu. I guess everyone has their own opinion as to the best recipe for sweetpotatoes and/or yams.

Just to be clear according to the Sweetpotato Council of California all yams in the United States are actually sweetpotatoes. They belong to the morning glory family and are native to tropical areas of the Americas. Apparently the sweetpotatos and yams that we always see in the grocery store are actually both sweetpotatoes. Yes, even the dark orange one is a sweetpotato. I guess that's why I'm always confused as to which is which when I go to the store. Yams actually come from a different plant species and is a native of Africa. They are not usually grown in the United States nor are they marketed here. Although they are very similar and can be substituted for sweet potatoes in most recipes.

So we will be having both "yams" and sweet potato pie, but I will be using the orange sweetpotato for my pie because it's a little sweeter.

Here's my mom's recipe for little sweetpotato pies. It's never really been written down before so I'll walk you through it. You bake whole sweetpotatoes, I use the orange ones, at 350 for about an hour until they are cooked through. Let them cool off enough to handle and scoop the insides out into a bowl. Mash it up. Then you fill individual serving size graham cracker crusts with the sweetpotatoes, add a pat of butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake until heated through and butter and sugar melt in a 350 oven, about 15-30 minutes depending on if your potatos were still warm or had cooled completely off. So, no, it's not a mungie concoction and collection of ingredients. I don't even think mungie is a word, but it wasn't my word!

No matter how you serve your sweetpotatoes or yams this Thanksgiving, I hope you spend it the people you love. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

The Family Tree Grows

My nephew came a week early. Six pounds 19 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are doing fine and it looks like dad is in love with his new son.

He came early because I bought plane tickets for next week to be there when he was scheduled to be born. My mom called last night and told me he's coming out in an hour and a half. I quickly concluded that I could not get get there that fast. It is a six to seven hour drive or an hour by plane. So I sat and waited by my cell phone. I got a call from my mom that said everyone was on their way to the hospital. My cousin, my aunt, my brother, my nieces, my niece's mom, my mom and dad and then all of the dad's side of the family. I guess that's what I miss most about not living near all my relatives. Everyone always shows up and supports each other at the drop of a hat. If I could have been there I would have been right there in the waiting room probably making a scene just by the sheer number of people that showed up to be there to welcome the newest member of our family. He's a lucky little boy to have such a great family to be born into.

Thank God for camera phones! I got text messages and photos almost instantly as events transpired. It helped make me feel part of the chaos of the waiting room. My mom said they were all sitting in the waiting room and all of a sudden they heard a lullaby come over the speakers. They asked what that was and were told every time a baby is born in the hospital they play a lullaby. The lullaby playing was for my nephew.

I'm making my plans now to get down there and see that baby.

Sea Glass Jewelry for sale-one week only!!!!!

Just in time for the holidays, I have custom sea glass jewelry for sale from the Art of Sea Glass. It will only be available here from November 24th through November 30th, so don't miss out. If you are in the Half Moon Bay/Coastside area and are interested in hosting a party please contact me at kimlritner@yahoo.com or stop by and see me during the week.

Don't forget I have many spectacular photographs for sale at Kim Ritner Photography. If you want something custom done with one of my photographs please contact me or purchase directly off my photo website.

Look for my new website coming soon! I will feature my photographs, paintings, collages, jewelry and many beach related items for sale.

Lady Washington

This weekend my family took a three hour cruise on The Lady Washington. The ship was visiting Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, California. They will be in Half Moon Bay all week and will still be giving sailing tours November 22 and 23rd before the set sail for Moss Landing.

We had unusually warm weather for November. The seas were calm and alas there was no wind. But not to fear the Lady Washington now comes equipped with an engine! We saw a whale, dolphins and seals. We watched the sunset from the deck of the ship. The crew was dressed in vintage costume and unfurled the sails, climbing up the ropes to the top of the sails. They sang us sea shanty songs as we bobbed along in the calm ocean.

It was quite relaxing. I wasn't sure how I was going to like being out in the ocean on a ship as I'd never been before. But I was pleasantly surprised at how well I did. My daughter on the other hand didn't like it when we were just bobbing along. As soon as we were moving again she started feeling better. The minute we had cell phone coverage and were almost back to shore she called in an order of nachos from the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company and ran to pick those up. I didn't know that nachos cured sea sickness but apparently they do. You learn something new every day.

Another perfect day in paradise! To see more of the photographs from this glorious day please go to my photo website at www.KimRitnerPhotography.smugmug.com

Quiet Moment

My sister is having a baby. She's scheduled for a c-section the day before Thanksgiving. My sister thought she would never have children, but at 43 she and her fiance discovered they were going to be parents. Surprise! She has been a pre-school teacher forever and loves children. Although I think she believes all children are three years old. She will be pleasantly surprised to find out that this is not true. They change so much in that first year and then before you know it they are grown and gone to college or getting married and having their own children.

My mom was over at my sister's house helping her to set up the nursery. My sister has been very worried about learning all there is to know about caring for a baby. As I said she's an expert with three year olds. But clueless when it comes to bunting a baby. She was worried she wouldn't know how to wrap that baby up right and had been reading about it. She asked my mom to help her with it. The nursery was finished and everything was in place and here was my sister very pregnant and worried that she couldn't wrap that baby up when she got him home. My mom and her worked with a blanket and a stuffed monkey. They were sharing a quiet moment of mom and daughter, my mom patiently showing her daughter the intricacies of wrapping up a baby. My mom looked up and there was my sister's fiance, quietly watching them both. She didn't know how long he had been there, but was touched by the softness this man was showing in his face as he watched this loving scene.

I'm excited and elated as this new family starts another branch in our family tree.