A well-meaning friend wrote and asked if I could receive fresh sweet potatoes in the mail...
Foods such as sweet potatoes are popular this time of the year, and with good reason. Hot sweet potatoes right out of the oven is the ideal comfort food, especially during the chilly days of late fall and the winter. They taste good, too, and they're filling.
While I am not allowed to receive food items that require cooking, just the mention of sweet potatoes brought back good memories from my childhood. My Mom used to bake them often. I remember how she would preheat the oven in our Bronx apartment, then carefully wrap each big potato in aluminum foil. I suppose this was so they would cook better as well as keep them from drying out.
Our kitchen's oven was the old fashioned kind. So having to bake the potatoes for at least 45 minutes or longer, was the norm. However, what would happen as they baked was that the entire apartment would fill with the sweet and savory aroma of the potatoes. The pleasant smell made me even more hungry as the minutes ticked by.
Piping hot, my Mom would cut each potato in half and cover them with fresh butter that would quickly melt. This was simple living at its best. By the way, I loved the skin of the sweet potato the most. I would save the skin for last. A hot sweet potato was the perfect snack.
D. B.
While I am not allowed to receive food items that require cooking, just the mention of sweet potatoes brought back good memories from my childhood. My Mom used to bake them often. I remember how she would preheat the oven in our Bronx apartment, then carefully wrap each big potato in aluminum foil. I suppose this was so they would cook better as well as keep them from drying out.
Our kitchen's oven was the old fashioned kind. So having to bake the potatoes for at least 45 minutes or longer, was the norm. However, what would happen as they baked was that the entire apartment would fill with the sweet and savory aroma of the potatoes. The pleasant smell made me even more hungry as the minutes ticked by.
Piping hot, my Mom would cut each potato in half and cover them with fresh butter that would quickly melt. This was simple living at its best. By the way, I loved the skin of the sweet potato the most. I would save the skin for last. A hot sweet potato was the perfect snack.
D. B.