I like it when signs are easy to understand.
One morning during our vacation to Colorado in October, I woke to this scene.
Five minutes, the storm increased to this.
Sadly, the snow at 14,000 ft. never made it down to us at 9,000 ft. That same morning did provide the opportunity to catch a mountain jay in our yard. I tried numerous times during the week and never caught another shot.
This road sign is clever, but I liked the commentary that accompanied it.
From the police blotter, or, what a beat cop deals with every day:
• A deputy responded to a report of a vehicle stopping at mailboxes. It was the mail carrier.
• A woman said her son was attacked by a cat, and the cat would not allow her to take her son to the hospital.
• A resident said someone had entered his home at night and taken five pounds of bacon. Upon further investigation, police discovered his wife had gotten up for a late-night snack.
• A man reported that a squirrel was running in circles on Davis Drive, and he wasn’t sure if it was sick or had been hit by a car. An officer responded, and as he drove on the street, he ran over the squirrel.
Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. I am sure that many of you have (at last) two places you will visit on that day. We do. So, we will hit the folks' for the noon meal and then head over the son's place for the evening meal. I expect to be plenty full by the end of the day. After all, I am not going to pass up anything of the options at either meal. I'll make up for it on Friday. I promise. I did see this recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole on TV yesterday morning.
INGREDIENTS:
3 lbs. Yams (about 4 large or 5 medium yams, from your grocers produce dept.)
1 Stick Unsalted Butter
¼ Cup Sugar
¼ Cup Orange Juice
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
¼ tsp. Salt
2 Eggs (lightly beaten)
----------------------
For the Topping…
½ Cup Light brown sugar
¼ Cup (4 Tbsp.) Unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
COOKING:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Take your butter out of the fridge (1 stick for the yam mixture plus 4 Tbsp. for the topping keep separated) and let it come to room temperature while you cook the yams.
2) Poke a few holes in your yams with a fork or knife then put on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 75 minutes (1 hour, 15 minutes). Remove yams from the oven then turn temperature down to 350 degrees if you're cooking it right away.
3) Slice yams in half lengthwise then spoon meat away from the skin into a stand mixer or large bowl. Discard the skins*. Add 1 stick of butter, sugar, orange juice, cinnamon, vanilla & salt. Run mixer on low speed at first then increase speed as it starts coming together. After about one minute of mixing, taste it to see if you want more sugar or cinnamon. After it tastes just right, add the beaten eggs and continue mixing until you get a nice smooth consistency. If you don't have a stand mixer or hand held electric mixer, use a potato masher or large fork then a whisk to combine your ingredients. If the mixture seems a little too dry to you, add a little more orange juice. Move mixture into a casserole dish that has been coated with cooking spray or butter.
4) Make the topping by first combining brown sugar with softened butter using your hands. Toss pecans in a small bowl with the flour before adding it to the brown sugar & butter mixture. Combine these 4 ingredients together until you get a crumbled texture then sprinkle evenly over the top of your yam mixture that's in the casserole dish.
5) Bake for 30 minutes @ 350 then serve.
This recipe serves 8-10 people as a side dish.
*If you don't want to waste the skins, you can chop them up and toss with a little melted butter, sugar & cinnamon as an additional side dish.
Cooks Note: This dish won't taste nearly as good with canned yams (2 large cans), but if you do use them, be sure you drain the juices and eliminate the white sugar from the recipe since they are pre-sweetened. If you make this dish a day ahead of time, make sure you cover it then when you're ready; take it out of the fridge two hours prior to cooking so it comes closer to room temperature. Remove the cover then bake for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.
For today, though, it will be quinoa salad, as usual. I have some grapes (with seeds) for my fruit. Maybe I will eat more carefully leading up to turkey day. No, probably not.
I hope you are already thinking of those things for which you are thankful. I know that I am. For today, make it a Marvelous Monday.
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