Marshmallow Madness

As mentioned in my last post, I went to a Thanksgiving dinner with an American family on Thursday. It was a hot turkey dinner, of course, with all the usual stuff except sweet potatoes (most Americans call them "yams" but not these folks) which had gone bad. Anyway, even though this family never goes so far as to bake their sweet spuds with marshmallow, they do turn it into a quasi-dessert by mixing it with apples, pecans and cinnamon (which meant we had a cinnamony apple-pecan mixture with our main course, not as a dessert). I asked the cook about the sweet potato-marshmallow abomination I'd heard of and she agreed that other Americans are crazy to make their veges so sweet but somehow failed to see that her apples and cinnamon were doing the same thing.

I saw that the supermarket was low on marshmallows and wondered whether this was because so many people were cooking that dish for their Thanksgiving dinners but I also saw that they were on sale so I bought a packet. When I got them home I noticed this recipe on the back:

Whipped Sweet Potato Bake
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 can (40 oz.) yams, drained
¼ cup (½ stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
24 marshmallows (about 3 cups)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat sweet potatoes, butter, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.

SPOON lightly greased 1 ½ qt. baking dish; top with marshmallows.

BAKE 15 to 20 minutes or until sweet potato mixture is heated through and marshmallows are lightly browned.

Makes 10 servings, ½ cup each.

I hate to admit it but I'm just a little tempted to try it, just for the sake of a gastronomic adventure.

And while we're on the subject, marshmallow also comes in jars here, i.e. as a spread. When first I saw it at the supermarket I didn't really understand what it was. Then the other day my friend Sean, who's from Boston, explained that they have a sandwich there called a "fluffer-nutter" with peanut butter and marshmallow spread on it (similar to the ubiquitous PB&J, I guess). But, whatever you do, don't look up "fluffer" in the Urban Dictionary! (Seriously, you don't want to know.)

A bit of slack

I have no classes for the next week thanks to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving falls next Thursday, and everyone gets Friday off for the start of the Xmas shopping season, the university also gives students Wednesday off. But my Monday and Tuesday classes have both been cancelled so all I have to do is show my students a video on Monday morning.

So finally I get a chance to take a breath and try to catch up on things like grading and writing a couple of papers that will be due in just a few weeks.

Unlike last Thanksgiving, I won't be cooking a turkey (nor a turducken) to eat with my Indian friends (dot, not feather). Cindy and I have been invited to a Thanksgiving Dinner with an American family. It'll be interesting to see an authentic American Thanksgiving dinner first hand. I'll let you know if they serve the sweet potato and marshmallow (sic.) abomination that so many Americans love.

Don't Drink and Vote

Today's the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in an even-numbered year; it's election day, here in the US of A. Mid-terms, i.e. the House of Reps and a third of the senate (as well as governors in some states).

Anyway, I just got back from the store where I saw a sign saying that it's illegal for them to sell alcohol before 6pm on election day here in Indiana! Even though the no alcohol on Sunday rule annoys me (why not a less-inconvenient day like Tuesday or Wednesday!?) I think that a dry election day is a good idea. If nothing else it might remind the winos to go out and vote.