Happy Surprise

So I had a “happy surprise” over the weekend.  We were going to our friends house for a Friendsgiving feast. I thought I would choose a simple dish to make, which was going to be smashed “Sweet Potatoes.”

I went grocery shopping and bought sweet potatoes the night before. I was so proud of myself for not waiting until the last minute and having to rush like a maniac while trying to get ready the next day.

Well, we ate dinner and had a couple glasses of wine and I decided it was time to start my dish. Chad went out to walk the dogs really quick and I began prepping. I preheated the oven…scrubbed and washed the “sweet potatoes” and started poking holes. “WHAT IS THIS?!?!?! WHY IS IT WHITE?!?!?!” I didn’t know what to do so I just thew them in the oven and kept going. After an hour, I took them out of the oven and hoped that for some miraculous reason they would magically turn orange. I cut into them and…

still white. I had a little panic attack/freakout and called Chad into the kitchen. I think he said “you were supposed to buy YAMS”! I went on and on about how when you order “Sweet Potato fries” from a restaurant they are ORANGE and that “mashed sweet potatoes” are ORANGE etc. And then started googling and became more confused. I almost threw them away and sent him to the store but took a breath and continued on. I tasted them and to my surprise they were really sweet. So I mixed in some honey and a little salt and pepper and they tasted fantastic.

Then I started thinking “what if people confuse these with mashed potatoes and they are disappointed that they are sweet and not savory and there are no “yams” at friendsgiving?!?!?” My light bulb went off and I imagined this swirl of orange and white. My lovely Chad said he would go to Wholefoods in the morning and pick up some yams while I took my barre class and would throw them in the oven so I wouldn’t have to rush in the morning to make my dish (FYI, best boyfriend ever! Love him).

Skipping to the morning, I return from my class and Chad gives me this “look”. I know I’m smelling something cooking in the oven so I know this is a good sign. He starts discussing how many different kinds of “sweet potatoes” there are and that nothing was labeled yams (I knew I wasn’t going crazy the night before). Bless his heart, he used his finger nail and poked each different kind of “sweet potato” (sorry for those that bought his finger nail hole potatoes). After finding purple, beet red, white etc… he found the orange 🙂 And this is the result! It turned out yummy and now I’m happy to call this my “HAPPY SURPRISE!”

https://everpresentmama.com//meatless/sweet-potatoyam-mash/