Orange Fig Ginger Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Whipped Fig Butter

Just to be different, and hopefully a bit healthy this past Thanksgiving, I decided to try something new. I was thinking of Figs, and of Sweet Potatoes... what a delightful combination those could be, I thought.

I was not prepared to be blown away by the results, but that's what happened to me on Thanksgiving day when I sampled my results.

The sweets in this photo are a bit more "done" than they might have been-good thing this was the repeat and not the Thanksgiving presentation.

Here's how I did it:

Sweet Potatoes
3 large sweet potatoes or yams - peeled and cubed (slightly larger than bite-sized chunks)
1 T coconut oil
1/2 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger - roughly chopped
kosher salt
Warm oil in your baking pan until liquefied. Put sweet potatoes and ginger in pan and toss to coat all pieces with oil. Add salt.

Bake at 385 for 30 minutes-add Orange Fig glaze, toss lightly and finish baking (another 20-30 minutes or until chunks are fork tender)

Orange, Ginger, Fig Glaze
about 1 or 1 1/2 T of Dalmatia Fig Spread
1/2 - 3/4 cups orange juice
1/2 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger - finely chopped
1 t coconut oil
melt oil in saucepan, lightly sautee finely chopped ginger, add orange juice and fig spread and bring to boil stirring frequently until it thickens slightly.

Whipped Fig Butter
1/2 pound unsalted butter
1/4 c milk or half-and-half
1-2 T fig spread (or more to taste)
Whip butter and milk until fluffy - add fig spread 1 tablespoon at a time until it has the fig flavor you desire. Spoon into dish or pipe into little shapes for your guests-this depends on your level of commitment and fanciness.

Serve cooked yams with a bit of the whipped butter and sigh with a delirious contentment.

Mother Beth's Plain Applesauce Cake

This recipe is a family recipe - I'm not even sure how many of the family have it any more! I recently found it in a file folder - after swearing to my mom that I was positive I didn't have it.

Why was I positive? It wasn't in with the recipes where it "had to be" - it was in with pictures of my grandmother (that's Mimi on the left - and the credit for the recipe goes to the lovely matriarch on the right, my grandfather's mother - Margaret Elizabeth "Mother Beth" Harwood). Isn't this a lovely daughter-in-law/mother-in-law photo?

I can't wait to try this recipe for the first time myself! I'll be sure to share the details once I do.

Mother Beth’s Plain Apple Sauce Cake

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

3 cups applesauce

4 t soda

4 ½ cups flour

2 t cinnamon

1 t cloves

1 t nutmeg

1 c raisins

1 c chopped nuts

Method:

Combine as a butter cake [if you know what this means, you're a better baker than I]. Measure & sift flour with spices. Cream shortening and sugar. Add applesauce (with soda added). Then add flour & raisins.

Bake: ?

Personal note-no baking temps or times included on the handwritten recipe card – will need to test this.

Confetti Rice

Walmart Marketside - Butternut Squash cubes
1 container Lundberg Family Farms - California Brown Jasmine Rice - Organic


1 Cup Dry - Green Zucchini
1 cup Slivered Almonds, 0.5 cup Carrots - Raw
1 small (5-1/2" long) Broccoli - Flower clusters, raw
0.5 cup flowerets Olive Oil - Extra Virgin
2 tsp Garlic - Raw
1 clove (press through garlic press) Ginger root - Raw
1 tsp (press through garlic press)

Cook rice according to directions.

Microwave butternut squash for half of the designated time.

Sauté all ingredients except for rice in olive oil. When vegetables are nearly done, add rice and continue stirring until vegetables are completely cooked to your desired texture. I added an Italian seasoning mix, a bit of Kosher salt and a pinch of red chili flakes – feel free to season to taste.

Other optional stir-ins: Onion, Peppers, sausage chunks, etc.

Serves 8. CALORIES 160 / CARBS 25 / SAT FAT 1 / PROTEIN 5 / IRON 6 / CALCIUM 5