Watching a PBS special the other night with James Taylor and Carole King brought back memories of great music by two iconic artists. The music that each created during their careers spoke to what was going on in people’s lives (as well as their own) at that time. It was comforting to listen to these familiar sounds and watch the two of them collaborate on their songs.
Sometimes they would describe the origin of a song – one of those songs was “Sweet Baby James” by James Taylor. He explained that the song was written for the son of his older brother Alex, who had named their baby boy James (after him). He was driving through Carolina to meet his infant nephew for the first time and was creating the lyrics as he drove. He wanted the song to be a cross between a cowboy song and a lullaby. Creative mind! Interesting video on James Taylor.
So where was I going with all this “Sweet Baby” stuff? Well, I’ll tell you. One of our local farmer’s markets had baby sweet potatoes for sale. I’d never seen a “mini” version of sweet potatoes before so I was fascinated with them. I bought up a bunch and decided they needed a place at our Thanksgiving table. How cute would they be all dressed up as an individual serving size?
Aren’t they cute?
These mini sweet potatoes are about four inches long.
Clean the skins and poke for baking.
Mix the butter, spices, and sugar ingredients.
Baked and ready to be stuffed.
Scoop out the flesh to add to the butter/sugar/spice mixture.
Stuff the potato shells for a quick bake.
Add mini marshmallows for the traditional candied sweet potato recipe.
Taste testing proved that this recipe is yummy! Thanksgiving guests will have the final approval.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 8 mini sweet potatoes (or 4 large)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 generous teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- olive oil
Instructions
- Wash and dry sweet potatoes. Rub each with olive oil and pierce the skin several times with a fork.
- Put sweet potatoes on parchment paper lined baking sheet and place in preheated 375 degree oven.
- Bake 1 hour, remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before next steps.
- Slice potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp leaving 1/4 ring around the bottom and sides so potatoes keep their shape.
- Place pulp in a bowl, adding brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger - and mix until smooth.
- Fill potato halves with sweet potato mix until each is a little past full.
- Put potatoes back on the backing sheet and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the marshmallows on top of potatoes and place back into the oven set at broil to melt and lightly brown.
Nutrition
Posts will resume next week.