Bourbon Sweet Potatoes
Mom and Dad with their granddaughters on the Millennium Bridge, London, 2014. Mom did not make these dresses herself, but she always made sure the girls had special things to wear.
My sister in one of the blue sweaters my mom knitted for our family in England, 1977. She’s on the left with my cousin Sara in the middle and me on the right, inexplicably wearing my school tie. I think we might have been doing a play. Side note: I eventually sucked all of the die out of the bottom of my school tie, causing it to lighten in color and probably causing me to become a deranged artist.
My sister in the Raggedy Ann dress that Mom made for her.
It’s hard to see but here we are in the matching denim dresses Mom made for me and my sister with the American Flag and Union Jack hand painted on them. This was the Christmas after we returned from a year in England.
Art School! Here I am, second from left, in the Liberty of London dress that Mom made for me my junior year. RISD, 1993.
My tattoo from Justin Olivier in memory of Mom.
A more literal interpretation. Here’s my tattoo in memory of my Nonnie (Mom’s mom, shown on the left). Tattoo by the artist, Annie Mess.
Mom just looking like a general badass at a friend’s lakehouse. Probably early to mid 1990s?
I don’t know about you, but the little man living in my computer sure has me figured out. My targeted advertising is spot on! Floral chairs and impractical orange shoes? Yes, please! I was surprised the other day when I saw an ad for a Mason Pearson hairbrush offered at Walmart, of all places. If you don’t know Mason Pearson, it’s a really good, kinda pricey, British brush that lasts forever. My mother had one that I perpetually “borrowed”. She was constantly retrieving it from my room and, honestly, she didn’t get as mad at me as she should have. Now that I have a teenager who “borrows” my stuff, I can’t say that I’m as charitable. At some point, Mom bought me and my sister our own little Mason Pearson brushes. I still have mine and it’s a fave of my daughter’s. Perhaps it’s time to take a trip to Walmart to get her one? (Oh, God, no. It’s never that time. Hello, internet!)
Anyway, Mom was really cute with how “she set us up”. I remember her taking me to the Clinique counter at Belk’s for real makeup. Up til then, I’d just gone to whatever drug store was close by, held up tubes of foundation next to my face, and asked anyone near me, “this one or this one?”. So, Mom took me to the Clinique counter at the mall and I remember her telling the lady, “Just a little something light. Sarah has beautiful skin.” I no longer have beautiful skin. I tell my daughter all the time that I’m her horrible warning. (Did you ever hear that Catherine Aird quote? “If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.” Truth.)
My first job out of college was with a photographer in New York. When I was home for Spring Break right before the job started, Mom took me to Loehmann’s in Durham saying I “needed some big city clothes”. (Little did she know that this job would entail setting things on fire and chasing down trucks, but I appreciate her optimism.) Loehmann’s was a rite of passage in my family, the store sold discounted designer clothes. It was kind of “big time” for North Carolina. This was WAY before the internet, so Loehmann’s was the only way a teenage girl like me might have had a Paco Rabanne shirt with fountain pens printed on it, which I did. My Nonnie would insist on going to Loehmann’s anytime she was visiting from Tennessee. I can still picture my poor Grandfather sitting on the row of chairs by the front door with all the other bored dudes. We would take HOURS sorting through the loot, eventually ending up in the open, communal dressing room trying things on.
During one of these visits, I was trying on a black beaded slip dress and the nosy old lady next to me proclaimed, “I see SOMEONE’S been to the tattoo parlor!”. Ha ha. This was in the early 90s and I only had one tiny little sun tattoo on my back. This lady must have really been checking me out! Well, Mom leapt to my defense telling the old lady that I had tattooed over a birthmark. Somehow, that made it better in Mom’s mind. That was true, I had a small red mark which determined the location of the sun, but I also happen to really like tattoos! That little 90s sun would be the least of that lady’s problems if she could see me now. After Mom died, I actually got a tattoo for her. It’s for me, really, but in memory of her. I’ve run out of birthmarks to cover so I don’t know if Mom would like it, but I sure do. I added another one of Nonnie, Mom’s mom, this year. For me, it’s a way to collaborate with an artist, remember a loved one, and be proud of my body. Tattoos aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, for sure. I know that Dad is relieved that I can cover mine up with a sweater when we’re on the QM2. (Which I hope to do again soon! COVID, man.)
Going through my photos today, I found all sorts of examples of Mom “setting us up” throughout our childhood. Whether it was the handmade Raggedy Ann dress she made for my sister (Elisabeth was INSANE for Raggedy Ann as a child) or the matching denim dresses with a hand painted American Flag intertwined with a Union Jack that she made for me and my sister when we returned from a year in England, Mom was always looking for ways to personalize things for us. When my Uncle Frank married a woman with a young son, Mom spent weeks making a life-sized lion with a wild mane of yarn hair that he could lie on like a bean bag. How’s that for a “welcome to the family”? During our year in England, Mom bought what must have been dozens of balls of a pretty blue-gray yarn and made our entire family matching sweaters to face the British cold, to which we were unaccustomed. Mom’s own sweater had a pretty decorative pattern in the knitting, Dad’s featured a turtleneck, and, honestly, I don’t remember much about ours. I think they were just kind of normal sweaters. I still have Dad’s turtleneck sweater and busted it out during the 2021 Texas Snowpocalypse.
And, my favorite Mom project? Well, it’s a dress she made me in college. Mom liked to collect fabric when she traveled (she brought an extra suitcase to India to bring home some incredible saris) and she bought this gorgeous Liberty of London print in England in 1977. She only had something like 2 yards, so we couldn’t do a big project with it. It just sat there waiting for a purpose. I coveted this piece of fabric for over a decade! And, finally, when I was a junior in college, Mom made me a mini-dress out of it. I used to work in the Admissions Office at my college, the Rhode Island School of Design. Once I walked in for work wearing this dress and one of the Admissions Counselors stopped me in my tracks and thanked me for not dressing like a schlub but, instead, wearing classy clothing. (If Kevin could only see me now in my yoga pants!) But, that compliment was entirely meant for Mom. She sure set me up.
So, for Thanksgiving I’m going to set YOU up! Today’s recipe is from our family friend, Larry Griffin. Boozy, boozy sweet potatoes. Mom and Dad made them every Thanksgiving and I continue to do so. I’m also throwing in a few bonus sweet potato recipes because they were included on the email Dad sent me with Larry’s instructions. I mean, have you ever had too many potatoes?
LARRY GRIFFIN’S WORLD-FAMOUS BOURBON SWEET POTATOES
Feeds 8
4 large sweet potatoes
lots of butter
1/2 -2/3 cup bourbon (We always used Maker’s Mark)
brown sugar
marshmallows (optional)
pecans (optional)
Recipe assumes 1 large sweet potato for every two people.
Boil 4 large sweet potatoes until quite soft: 30+ minutes.
Run under cool water, or just allow to cool.
When cool, peel jackets,
Cut in slices about an inch thick (largely a matter of preference here); half slices if potatoes are really large.
Grease entirely a glass baking dish very, very well with butter or margarine.
Layer dish with potatoes and dot layer with butter (use as much or as little as you want: LJG uses a lot). Continue layering and dotting until all potatoes are used.
Pour 1/2 to 2/3 cup of bourbon over entire mess (amount is again matter of taste).
Sprinkle modest amount of brown sugar over the potatoes. (Variation: sprinkle each layer with brown sugar as you layer the dish. Can also add marshmallows and/or pecans to top layer – LJG doesn’t.)
Bake at 350 degrees until done, 30 minutes or so. (Time depends on how soft potatoes are to start with, but you want bubbling liquid, alcohol boiled off, butter thoroughly melted, and potatoes very hot.)
Don’t drive for a day and speak with AA about their twelve-step program.
This is a hard recipe to mess up.
SWEET POTATO COBBLER
13” x 19” pan
pastry dough
5 or 6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced (like apples for apple pie)
2 cups white sugar (or 1 ½ cups, with ½ cup sorghum molasses added with liquids)
2 Tbsp corn starch
¼ pound butter
nutmeg
1 cup liquids
Baptist version: all water; or ½ c. water and ½ c. sorghum molasses
Episcopalian version: ½ c. water and ½ c. bourbon whiskey; or ½ c. bourbon and ½ c. sorghum
splash vanilla (optional)
pecans (optional)
Lightly blanch sweet potatoes (just give them a head start: leave them somewhat crunchy).
Roll out pastry and line 13” x 9” pan with it. (Top crust or lattice is optional. See below.)
Place sweet potatoes in shell.
Arrange pecans on top, if desired.
Mix sugar and cornstarch and sprinkle on top.
Arrange butter pats on top and sprinkle with nutmeg.
Mix liquids (and add vanilla, if desired). Spoon over top.
Put on top crust or lattice (if desired).
Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or so (until crust is done).
BILL SMITH’S DADDY’S SWEET POTATO PIE
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 /4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract, or vanilla extract
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the flour, spices, baking powder and salt in a little bowl and use a fork to mix them well.
In a medium bowl, lighten the sweet potatoes by beating them well with a whisk, an electric mixer, or a big wooden spoon.
Add the eggs one at a time, and stir well each time to mix them evenly.
Add the sugar and beat to mix well.
Add the sugar-and-spice mixture, the sweetened condensed milk , melted butter, and lemon or vanilla extract.
Mix everything together evenly and well. (If using a mixer, use low speed.)
Pour the thick filling into the pie crust.
Place in the 350 degree oven and bake until the filling puffs up (especially around the edges, and is firm enough that it jiggles only a little at the center, 40 to 50 minutes.
You can test it by inserting a wooden toothpick or a bamboo or wooden skewer or even the blade of a paring knife in the center; it should come out clean, no filling sticking to it. (That would mean it needs longer cooking time to cook through to the center.) Place on a cooling rack or a folded kitchen towel, and cool to room temperature.
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