Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

First, you need an awesome George Foreman G5 Grilleration, a small appliance that the female members of my family think sounds like it should be a sex toy.

You don't really need a G5, but a grill that closes might cook the potatoes better before they burn.

Slice the sweet potatoes into about 1/3-1/2" thick slices, but try to make them all the same size for maximum grill marks.

Mix some olive oil or other oil with salt, pepper, freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon (How much? I wasn't paying attention. Don't go overboard on the nutmeg. Put plenty of salt.)

Brush both sides of the slices of sweet potato with spiced oil and put them in your grill. Cook for how long? I wasn't paying attention. Maybe 5 minutes and then check. I took them out before they were quite done and put them on a plate, sprinkled them with salt, drizzled them with honey, and covered them with foil while the other batch cooked. That seemed to finish the cooking.

I didn't even peel the potatoes!

Cheap, gourmet, full of fiber and vitamins. What could be a better fall treat? Candy corn!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Wait Up!

All the milestones are coming at once! Gabriel started Kindergarten, is spelling words phonetically, brings home homework and has a loose tooth. Olivia is talking back to Gabriel and potty training. They bicker constantly, and although I feel that they need to work things out between themselves, usually if I don't intervene somebody gets hurt. My kids deserve my attention and care.

Meanwhile, career, housework, marriage and trying to maintain relationships with family and friends all continue.

I was at a birthday party at the park yesterday and had a chance to finally meet some friends-of-a-friend. I was barely able to exchange names. They had kids at the party, too, but somehow they were having conversations. Did I actually participate in conversations that I've simply blocked out because my attention was so divided?

Question of the day: How do we simplify life enough to enjoy the moments with our children and still be part of the conversations with the adults? And I don't just mean at birthday parties.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

First Beginnings...

Okay, so here I am. I started a blog on Facebook, but couldn't figure out how to get it onto my profile. We'll try this! Wish me luck!