Cranberry Glazed Sweet Potatoes
It is that time of year again! Just last week I was putting the finishing touches on my first homemade piñata of Spider Man for Max's 5th birthday party and now it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving. I was looking through recipes trying to find something a little different and a lot yummy and this one from Food & Wine won me over! I hope you enjoy it, too: sweet potatoes with a little bourbon, a little cayenne, some cinnamon, cranberries, and brown sugar...de-lish. I decided to keep the sweet potato skin on because you can actually eat the skin and you'll get more health benefits. This dish is sweet with a nice balance of tart and just a hint of spice. Thanksgiving is the time of year when we gather with our loved ones and enjoy good food and good company. There is no expectation but to spend time with each other. It's a time to show gratitude. Showing gratitude can make a big difference in one's life. This is a great article about gratitude I recommend from Zen habits about how showing gratitude can make you happy. Here is a poem from the end of the article.
Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~
Here are some things I am grateful for, including my sleepless night because I wouldn't trade my two amazing children and all the challenges parenting entails for anything. This Thanksgiving I am also so grateful to have my health. Sometimes we overlook health until we aren't feeling so healthy. "Health is Wealth." I am grateful to be pain-free after having back surgery a few months ago. I can't tell you how great it feels to be able to walk without pain shooting down my leg. I am grateful for my husband who is so supportive in all my new directions, who is my rock and my best friend and who can always make me laugh. I am grateful for my two wonderful children who are growing into such curious and amazing people and whom I could snuggle with all day long. I am grateful for my amazing mother. She has taught me so much and I hope to be half the mother to my children that she has been to me. I am grateful for my brother who has always been there to support me or to set me straight. It's important to have that person in your life. I am grateful for family and feel comfort knowing they are there even if we are all spread across the country. I am so grateful my father, even though our time together was much too short. He taught me a great deal and was always so interested in my life. He pops into my days when I am not expecting it, with a song or a comment I hear or a story I remember. I am so grateful that my son still asks me about "Yampa", even though he passed almost 3 years ago when Max was just 2. It amazes me what Max remembers and I will try to always keep my dad's memory alive for him. I am grateful for my friends near and far; for the friends I have here in Crested Butte and how we get to share our everyday lives with each other. I am grateful for the friends who live far away who I can always call and know we can pick up wherever we left off, even if it's been a long time. And I am so grateful to all of you for being a part of this blog that I started almost a year ago and going on this food and health journey with me. Thank you for being in my life! I wish you all a very happy and grateful Thanksgiving.
As far as the recipe, it is a little time-consuming because the sweet potatoes take a little while to cook, but it is well worth it. You could cook the potatoes the night before, or early the next morning. I made both sauces once I put the potatoes in the oven, and then there is just a bunch of inactive time where you can do something else. I also cooked this in 2 separate dishes because I was planning to give one to a friend, but you can just cook it in one big rectangular shallow baking dish. And now that I have had it, I might not be giving the other dish away...
Cranberry Glazed Sweet Potatoes- (serves 8)
Cook time- about 1 hr. 20 minutes. Active time- 20 minutes(slightly adapted from Food & Wine)
3 medium/large sweet potatoes -sliced crosswise in 1/4 inch slices
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup water (split)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 TBSP butter, melted
2 TBSP bourbon
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper
To make:
Preheat oven to 350.
Butter a large shallow baking dish. Lay out sweet potatoes, overlapping slightly. Pour 1/2 cup of water over the sweet potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes, or until just tender.
Increase oven temperature to 425.
In a small bowl, mix the melted butter and bourbon. Spoon the mixture over the sweet potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and bake for another 20 minutes, basting halfway through until the bourbon mixture is mostly absorbed.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine remaining 1/2 cup of water, cranberries, and brown sugar and boil over medium/high heat until cranberries start to burst- about 8-10 minutes. Save the Liquid while you drain the cranberries.
In the cranberry liquid, stir in the cayenne and cinnamon. Spoon over the sweet potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes, basting halfway through. Bake until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Spread the cranberries over the sweet potatoes and bake another 5 minutes.
Serve warm.