Sweet potato casserole with hot pineapple, ginger relish

And it finally is... the day before the next several hours of prepping and manufacturing ten hot dishes, fillings for a host of midget pies and a huge bird that is nightmarishly not perched too even on the hinge of my refrigerator shelf.

How does one restore any sanity(let's say I have some) in all of this? And find the small pocket of time to become ridiculously generous, since really I've not been excessively so in Thanksgivings past ?

It's a recipe I've used for the amount of thankful Novembers numbering years more than my firstborn has been alive.

And it's as beloved. Perhaps even more so.

Take it and run.

Because I may not always be this lavish.

Therein, as I get to my composing / cleaning/ cooking/ cleaning/ baking/ (final) cleaning before the day's end, allow me type you some gratitude...

Thank you for the patience in wait of my oft lagging dialogue. We're hoping things come faster and more furiously with the coming 2017:-)

Thank you for tolerating the silence that echoes terribly through these blogger doors.

Thank you for humoring me with your comments and the quaint number of FB likes.

Thank you for your gracious audience.

Have a joy filled, crazy fun, memorable Day of Giving Thanks. 

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 1/8 inch thick, either in food processor with slicer attachment or using a mandolin 
• salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2-3 thai red peppers
• 1 tsp thinly sliced ginger
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Smear generously with butter a square 9x9 casserole dish and arrange the potatoes in even layers (even horizontal, freeform or a tucked flower form- look at the pictures for ideas)
• Add small pats of butter on top, season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
• In the meantime, melt two tablespoons butter in saucepan, add red thai peppers, ginger. Cook for a minute until soft.
• Add brown sugar. Stir until melted.
• Add pineapple and cook on medium-low flame, until soft and mixture is reduced slightly, about 7-10 minutes. 
• Add, salt, pepper to taste.
• Take potatoes out of oven.
• Pour pineapple relish over them.
• Return to oven and bake, uncovered for an additional 20-25 minutes.
• Serve warm.

Notes~ Not so adventurous? Jalapeños seeded are magnificent in lieu of the red chillies.
These pictures were taken before the casserole was fully cooked. Your end product for this should be bubbling deep brown caramelized dish.

Saltbrining is the lifesaving answer to the dilemma of Moist vs. Dry. I will take it any day over having a pot and fridge and floor full of mess plus the headache that lasts several days after.

A collage peek at what my Thanksgiving was like.

And if you can't quite decide on a fitting dessert, why not build the four layered MONUMENT I created a few years ago? 

******

"When you come to Me with a thankful heart, it opens up windows of heaven. Spiritual blessings fall freely through those windows and down into your life. A thankful heart opens you up to these blessings, and then you have even more reasons to be grateful... Being thankful doesn’t mean you close your eyes to the many problems in this world. It means you find Joy in Me—your Savior—in the midst of a messed-up world. I am your hiding place and your strength. And I’m always ready to help you!" —Jesus Calling for Kids by Sarah Young

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fail and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God, My Savior." Habakkuk 3:17-18

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