Many weeks ago, I saw a cooking challenge that featured produce from the White House garden. It featured Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, and the head chef for the White House. I can remember the chefs and what was cooked, but not the name of the show…

Nevertheless, both teams used sweet potatoes because Michelle Obama had mentioned that her family enjoyed eating them. While I love potatoes, I’m not a potato connoisseur and until I watched the program, I didn’t know the difference between a yam and a sweet potato.

When we lived in Texas, I used to buy yams, mainly because I was intrigued by the color and shape. For dinner, I often microwaved a yam; scrapped out the flesh; mashed it with butter, nutmeg, and brown sugar; then lumped half on Rich’s plate and half on mine.

Once we moved to Washington, our yam consumption plummeted, replaced by fingerling potatoes, sliced thin, seasoned and baked until crisp.

Because of the fuss over sweet potatoes on the cooking challenge, I decided to invest in one, a giant tuber that was the size of three normal-sized baking potatoes. Last week, with a bin full of starting to flower broccoli, I peeled the sweet potato, chopped it into chunks then combined it with coarsely chopped broccoli and onions. I boiled the concoction for an hour or so, pureed it, then added several cups of slightly steamed diced broccoli.

Yike! Sweet potatoes are very SWEET. My intended broccoli soup was more like… broccoli-flavored vanilla pudding! Rich recommended salt, which barely cut the sweetness. Determined to redeem my soup, I tossed in a handful of dried oregano. Voila! It wasn’t bad. In fact, I’ve been eating the soup for lunch all week.

In the future, I’m going to take the word “sweet” literally when I decide to use sweet potatoes for cooking!

Yesterday afternoon, I was motivated to make some pasta. I decided to use the bread hook on the Kitchenaide to make the dough (two eggs, flour, salt, water). The resulting dough was nicely mixed so it didn’t need to be run through my pasta maker as many times.

Because I have a super easy and effective ravioli maker that makes twelve at a time, I searched through my refrigerator and freezer for "something" that could be made into the filling. Two weeks ago, I had purchased a sweet potato after seeing the White House edition of Iron Chef America. Four chefs competed on two teams using the "secret" ingredient — produce from the White House organic garden.

Michelle Obama commented that she loved sweet potatoes. Yam. Sweet potato. At the time, I wondered, "weren’t they the same?"

Nope. After microwaving my lone sweet potato for ten minutes, I quickly realized what all the "ruckus" is over sweet potatoes. First, they’re not as dark as a yam and super sweet. Ah, now I understand how sweet potatoes can be turned into pie!

Wanting a more robust ravioli, I browned some onions and garlic then added two chopped chicken sausages. I buy various flavors of chicken or turkey sausages and divide them into packages of two, which I then freeze. The problem is that I don’t label the sausages so I don’t know whether I’m using a sausage that consists of chicken and apples or turkey with poblanos!

Happily, I must have selected chicken and apple sausage. The concoction looked rather… gross (right)…with competing flavors so I added Cajun seasoning. If you’re going to blow a dish, you might as well aim for total failure.

Nevertheless, I proceeded with making three dozen raviolis. Even  though I had more filling, I decided to turn the rest of the dough into wide and thin spaghetti.

After cleaning up my mess, I brought a pot of water to a boil and cooked 18 of the ravioli, which I served with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of seasoning. They were SURPRISINGLY yummy! The sweet potato was a nice base for sausage.

In fact, they were so good that on Sunday morning, I made a small batch of dough and made two dozen more ravioli with the rest of the filling. I then placed the ravioli on plates in the freezer. When they were hard, I bagged them for a future dinner or two!

The spaghetti we’ll eat in the coming weeks. After it’s dry, I seal it up in bags and place in the pantry. The two bags of spaghetti are in the back. A freezer bag of frozen ravioli is in the front.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that Rich and I made twelve different types of cookies and five types of candies to give away this year. What you may not know is that we keep around a third of them.

In late December/early January I package the remaining cookies in freezer bags then toss them in the freezer to be consumed throughout the year. This year, we ended up with six bags — one every other month!

I didn’t freeze the candies… but you’ve got to have some temptation to tug at one’s New Year’s resolution to lose weight.

After making popcorn balls for the wild birds at Birch Bay State Park and finding no trees on which to hang them, I brought them home for the deserving birds and squirrels in the backyard of our Kirkland house.

I also placed one of the balls in the cage with Rich’s cockatiels and Ringneck parakeet. He reported that the birds not only like the seeds, but enjoyed playing with the balls.

I decided to continue experimenting with the recipe and this morning made balls for the outside critters (squirrel and wild bird seeds) and inside birds (parakeet birdseed mix).

It took around an hour and will be a welcome treat by all recipients.

With several days off from work, Rich and I decided to load up the RV and spend a few days camping over Christmas. I mentioned this idea to a coworker who offhandedly commented, “Are you going to decorate a tree?”

She was thinking colored Christmas lights and ornaments. I instantly imagined strings of popcorn and cranberries. Then it occurred to me that it would take a long time (not to mention patience) to threads yards of popcorn. I could cheat, however, and create balls of popcorn to hang on the trees. An idea was hatched. A little digging around on the Internet yielded this wonderful recipe:

1. Using an air popper, create 12 cups of popcorn. Place in a large bowl.
2. Bring 1 cup of light corn syrup and ½ cup of granulated sugar to a boil.
3. Add a packet of Knox plain gelatin. The gelatin will clump  together so continuing boiling and mixing until the gelatin melts.
4. Add 1½ to 2 cups of wild birdseed and stir.
5. Pour the sugar/bird seed mixture over the popcorn and mix. I used my hands
6. Cut 10-12 lengths of natural twine (sisal)
7. Place a sheet of wax or parchment paper on your work area
8. Pour some vegetable oil into a saucer
9. Moisten your hands with the oil then scoop up two handfuls of the popcorn mixture. Lightly squish the mixture together then place a piece of twine down the length of the ball. Add another handful of popcorn mixture so the twine is in the middle of a tennis-ball sized ball. Squish the ball to compress the twine in the middle. Place on thee wax or parchment paper.
10. The popcorn mixture get gelatinous as it cools so don’t worry if your popcorn balls aren’t initially holding together.
11. Quickly make 10-12 popcorn balls, dipping your hands in the oil to help keep the popcorn from sticking to your hands. The popcorn balls harden as they cool so periodically squish them together until they’re tightly compressed and the twine won’t come out.
12. Hang outside for birds, squirrels and other critters to eat!

When I was growing up in Los Angeles, I was close to grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Holiday were large celebrations. Once I moved to Oregon, with my mother and brother, holidays were small affairs or made a bit larger by inviting friend.

While in Texas, holidays often consisted of Rich and I or sometimes with Rich’s daughter, son, mother, or father.

At Thanksgiving, however, we enjoyed spending time with many people who are part of Rich’s extended family. A month before, Rich’s son Chris, and his wife, Shawnee, purchased a four-bedroom house in Camas, Washington (northeast of Portland). With many bedrooms and sofas, they were able to have people fly in from around the country to enjoy a collective meal that included Japanese, Hawaiian, and traditional Thanksgiving fare.

Even though I’m not big on picture-taking, I’m thrilled that they capture the day.

Bottom row: June, Rich’s first wife who lives in Hawaii; Chiemi, June’s youngest daughter; and Shawnie, our daughter-in-law.

Middle row: Nancy, June’s mother; Doris, my mother; Mike, Shawnie’s father; and Alison, Shawnie’s sister.

Back row: Brian, Shawnie’s brother; Bryan, Chiemi’s husband; Chris, Rich’s son; Rich, Julie, Stacey, Rich’s daughter; and Allison’s boyfriend (don’t remember his name)

The halcyon days of the holidays is now upon me with twelve types of cookies and five types of candies, cooked, boxed, and ready to be assembled and given away. Yeah!

Starting in mid-October, I turn into Martha Stewart and start plotting out the cookies, and this year, candies, that I want to make. I then tally up the ingredients that I’ll need and set about purchasing. The latter can take several weeks if I need an esoteric ingredient like rose water to make Turkish paste.

This year, I needed 18 eggs, 7 pounds of butter, 20 pounds of flour, 15 pounds of sugar, coffee powder, chocolate, three types of chips, 5 types of flavorings (mint, peppermint, almond, vanilla, and lemon), an orange, oatmeal, powdered sugar… several types of nuts, and candy canes.

Prior to this madness, in early October, I cut up pounds of candied fruits, nuts and dates for mini-fruitcakes. I then marinate everything for a week or two in rum. This year, I made over 100 mini-cupcakes and three little loaves. These yummies are basted several times with more rum, prior to packaging in late November.

The week before cookie-making, I made a candy-a-night for five nights. They were:

• Turkish Delight or Paste. The recipe I chose used gelatin. The resulting candy was very tasty and somewhat similar to Knox Blox. I then tried another recipe, that seemed more authentic using walnuts, cornstarch, and rose water. Many years ago, I decided that I hated cornstarch and switched to rice and tapioca flour… which usually provide the same stiffening properties as cornstarch. Well, my second batch of Turkish Delight will be used on top cake as a sauce. It didn’t thicken!
• Fudge. Cheated and used sweetened condense milk and chocolate chips. Success!
• Peanut brittle. Rich and I panicked at the end and the peanuts weren’t evenly distributed, but the brittle looks and tastes good.
• Cappuccino caramels. I wrote about this darlings in an early blog posts. They’re so hard that they should be labeled as "dangerous" if chucked at one’s eye.
• Macaroons. Easy to make with coconut and sweetened condensed milk. I’m starting to appreciate the ease of using this product!

On the cookie front, there was: 

• Israeli sugar. I’ve been making this recipe since my late teens. It’s made with oil and not margarine so they’re very crisp. I like to sprinkle sugar crystals on the top after them prior to baking.
• Cappuccino thins. Decadent thin cookies made in food processor using chocolate, coffee powder, cocoa, butter, and flour. The resulting dough is very soft and rolled into logs using plastic wrap then refrigerated until firm.
• Peanut butter squish. I used fresh ground peanut butter. They’re rolled into small balls then "squished" with ornate ceramic stamps.
• Pepper. Rich puts fresh ground pepper on EVERYTHING. I thought I’d pull a fast one with this recipe, which called for fresh ground pepper, cardamom, allspice, cloves, etc. This cookies is so tasty!
• Spritz. Rich is the Spritz King. He handles the Spritz gun as if it’s a fine instrument. This year, we made white and green Spritz cookies
• Mexican wedding cakes. These are scrumptious balls of finely chopped walnuts, butter, flour, and powdered sugar.
• Oatmeal. I added butterscotch chips and white raisins this year.
• Chocolate chip. This year, I used chopped Heath bars instead of chocolate chips. The resulting cookies were a little soft, but exceptionally tasty.
• Dark chocolate with mint chips. I made a chocolate chip cookie recipe and substitute some of the flour for cocoa then added mint chips with mint flavoring.
• Thumbprint. Heavenly with raspberry and apricot/pineapple jams.
• Ginger coin. This cookies are the size of quarters, but super easy to make with candied and ground ginger.
• Peppermint pinwheels. Slice cookies can be so challenging to make!!! I decided to tempt fate and make a white layer that was rolled with a pink layer made with ground candy canes, peppermint flavoring, and red food coloring. Pinwheels are nasty hard to make!

How do I make twelve different types of cookies without going nuts, you ask. Simple. I gather all of the necessary ingredients, which I’d previously scoped out and purchased. I then plugged in the handy-dandy KitchenAid mixer/masher/grinder/etc. that Rich recently bought me for our anniversary.

I then start with the lightest dough, such as Spritz or sugar. The margarine and sugar is blended, followed by eggs and flavoring. The dry ingredients are then poured into the mixer as it’s running. I’m was astonished at the time-savings of using the KitchenAid!

The completed doughs are placed in plastic wrap, labeled then placed in a tin or container. My manager had given me five flat tins that provided INVALUABLE for storing the doughs.

This year, I made all twelve doughs in one day… marathon Sunday.

The following Friday, the doughs were loaded into a large ice chest (above) and brought to Mount Vernon along with a box full of of necessary cooking gear — rolling pin, lucky wooden rolling board from my Grandmother, Spritz gun, cookie cutters, parchment paper, spatulas, seven air cookie sheets, four cooling racks, hot pads, etc.

That evening, Rich and I made three drop cookies. Saturday morning, I launched into the time-consuming sugar cookies, followed by three other types of cookies. We then broke for lunch and errands. When we returned, we tore through the remaining five batches.

Rich and I are very consistent in responsibilities. I assemble the cookies, except the Spritz. He’s in charge of baking and cookie removal. I then transfer the cooled cookies to plates then containers.

For the past few months, I’ve been purchasing interesting dishes at the Bellevue Goodwill. This afternoon, I placed the cookies and candies on these dishes, wrapped them in colored plastic wrap… and will bring them to people that we’ll be seeing tomorrow at Thanksgiving!

When we return, from Thanksgiving in Camas, Washington, I’ll assemble several other boxes of cookies to send to friends and family… and the people at the work.

What’s left will be frozen and enjoyed by Rich and I throughout next year!

As I write this entry, I’m nibbling on some homemade chicken soup, which is quite tasty, but seriously flawed. While making the matzah balls, one half of my brain said, “Add an egg.”

The other half of my brain said, “Save the eggs for cooking baking.” In the end, I didn’t add an egg and most of the matzah balls dissolved into gruel. My soup is akin to a bowl of hot cereal with carrots, onions, parsnip, and failed kreplach.

Kreplah are small dumplings filled with chopped meat. I used wonton skins along with some of the chicken from the soup to make my kreplah. Because I only make a dozen or so for a soup, I freeze the wonton skins until I need them. On Sunday morning, my brain said, “Take out the wontons and let them defrost on the countertop.”

Sunday afternoon, the wonton skins were still in the freezer. When I needed to use them, I hacked away at the stack of wontons, breaking most of them. I tossed the broken pieces into the soup, further turning the soup into a gluttonous mass. I did manage to separate a few skins; however, I liberally peppered the chopped chicken that I tucked inside… my kreplah is very over seasoned. If I was on Top Chef, the judges would deliberate ten second before telling me to “pack my knives.”

Last night, I attempted to make another candy… coffee caramels. The execution was flawless. I patiently waited until the mixture reached “firm-ball” then poured in the nuts, grated orange peel, and vanilla. “Success,” I thought until it was time to cut the caramels.

“Cut” took on a new meaning. In the end, Rich resorted to heating a never-used drywall taping knife, coating it with butter then exerting pressure to “slice” through the caramel. I then “squared” up each piece of caramel and placed it in a dainty paper cup.

The caramels taste wonderful… they’re just a tad chewy.

This year, I’ve decided to supplement my cookie extravaganza by also making five different types of candy. For the record, I don’t like making candy. Producing pots of scalding sugar is not only scary, but prone to error. Nevertheless, I’m determined to replace my terror of candy-making with the satisfaction of creating delectable goodies to give away.

On Sunday afternoon, I cleaned off the counters, wiped down a large slab of marble, and launched into my first batch. I aimed high, choosing to do peanut brittle. In the past, I’ve had a 50% success rate with brittle. You need to bring sugar, corn syrup, and water to a nasty hard crack (305 degrees), add baking soda and peanuts, stir rapidly, and then pour onto foil or an oiled marble slab. What could go wrong?

· I asked Rich to help at the last minute. He was too hasty and after quickly mixing in the baking soda and peanuts, he tipped the entire pan of brittle onto the slab instead of spreading it across the slab. The result… a pile of crunchy peanuts not thin brittle with scattered peanuts

· I used light margarine to oil the marble. Dumb. Light margarine contains water, which doesn’t curtail scalding brittle from sticking to marble. After unsuccessfully prying some of the brittle off the marble, Rich resorted to using a wall scraper (after thoroughly washing it)

In spite of these “challenges,” the brittle didn’t turn out too bad and left me with enough courage to attempt Turkish paste. The recipe I chose used gelatin. When I shopped for my ingredients at Winco (barrels of bulk food), they only had a large box of gelatin for $9. I didn’t want to buy a year’s worth of gelatin, so I bought a small box of four packets at Safeway.

The Turkish paste recipe called for four tablespoons of gelatin. “Surely four packets was equal to four tablespoons,” I assured myself. Nope. Four packets are equal to a little over three tablespoons.

Trust me, I aspire to follow recipe instructions, but I also relish “punting.” And punting I did on Sunday. I supplemented the missing tablespoon of gelatin for an entire box of sugar-free orange Jell-O that I found in the cupboard.

To create Turkish paste, you boil two cups of sugar with 1¼ cups of water, the juice and peels from one lemon and one orange. The peels are cut into strips. It smelled heavenly. You then add the gelatin, stain, and pour into a pan. After it hardens, 24-hours, you cut into squares and roll in a mixture of powdered sugar and cornstarch (I prefer tapioca or rice flour).

Even though I probably added way too much gelatin, the Turkish paste turned out wonderful! I’m anxious to try it again, using rose water. I also found another recipe that doesn’t use gelatin and includes walnuts. Stay tuned for more adventures in this season’s candy-making.

While it’s been said that "real men don’t eat quiche," I’ve gotten mine to relish frittata.

I’m particularly fond of frittata because it’s a great way to use up vegetables, always tastes good, and is fun to make. I start by placing a little oil in the bottom of a pie or quiche pan. I then thinly slice potatoes. Many times, I use fingerlings that are sprouting because I forgo to use them or where they were kept got too hot.

I layer the sliced potatoes on the bottom of my pan. This layer can be half an inch or so thick. Sprinkle on seasoning like Cavendaer’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning. Drizzle with olive oil then toss in the microwave for ten minutes until the potatoes are soft, but not necessarily fully cooked. 

Layer on thinly sliced onions, sliced carrot, chunks of broccoli or squash. Drizzle with olive oil and microwave four minutes or until they’re starting to cook. Layer on sliced bell peppers. I like to use multi-colored peppers for color. In the past, I’ve also added fresh peas, pea pods, scallions, and other vegetables that are starting to wilt.

The final and best layer is thinly sliced tomatoes followed by a handful or two of uncooked spinach. Liberally season and drizzle with olive oil then cook until the spinach wilts… five to six minutes.

Sprinkle cheese over the spinach layer. I had left-off cheddar with chili flakes that I grated over the spinach. Swiss and mozzarella cheese are my usual choice.

Beat three eggs, season and add a dash of milk. Carefully pour this mixture over the vegetables so it soaks through the layers. Microwave the frittata for 15-20 minutes.

The potatoes on the bottom form a "crust," making it easy to slice, serve and enjoy the frittata!

Note: The vegetables will cook down. You can layer them to the very top of your pan. Before I did the final "microwaving’ of the frittata above, the layers of vegetables and spinach were spilling out of the pan.