My Little (Sweet) Potato (Biscuits)

When the boys were babies, I rediscovered Metamora's "Little Potato," a song that used to make me cringe when I was a teenager being forced to listen to public radio on the way to school with my mom. Of course, after I had my own kids, it became just one in a long line of things that suddenly made perfect sense.

I'm pretty sure that on more than one occasion when the boys were babies and I was at the height of my preemie twins insanity, I actually sat my friends down in my living room and made them listen to that song as if I was giving them a gift...oh, new moms are so delusional.

All that is to say that I must have good friends, seeing as none of them fled my house telling me to give them a call in a decade or so.

I've been thinking a lot about friendships. A girl I work with has the type of sunny disposition that draws people to her. She seriously makes friends everywhere she goes. I'm not so much like that. Unless you're super outgoing and deliberate in your pursuit, I pretty much have to be forced to interact with you for an extended period of time in order to become your friend...mostly that's because I'd have to know you well enough to know if we really had friend potential before I would feel confident in asking you on a friend date.

Anyway, I love my friends, but I think sometimes I give the impression that maybe I don't need them as much as I really do. It's one of the most unfortunate side effects of having babies, I think...people sort of just get in the habit of assuming that you're busy and that they'd be bothering you by asking you to hang out.

I don't know if I'll ever get back into that pre-motherhood groove with people where you could just call them up and ask if they wanted to hang out...and not only did they want to, but they could...right then, without even having to consult their calendars!

I'd love to be that spontaneous again someday. In the meantime, I'm just trying to be better at keeping up with everyone in a more meaningful way than reading their Facebook posts. The thing is, no matter how much I love you, I'm just not great a keeping in touch. It doesn't mean I don't totally want to hear your voice and know about all the things going on in your life. It's mostly that when it occurs to me to reach out just to say hi, I feel sort of awkward...probably because I'm so bad at staying in touch regularly. It feels weird to randomly call you up and make conversation...maybe I need to resurrect the old Sunday long distance phone call habit.

Or maybe, when I wish I could spontaneously call somebody up to ask them to get a beer, only to remember that they are probably busy with their small children and/or that they live across the country...maybe I should seize that moment and write them a random email. I think I'd be happy to get one of those.

And now, rather than sitting you down to listen to new age folk music, I offer you My Little Potato in sweet biscuit form as my Smart and Good recipe of the week. (I know this is blasphemy, but I have to admit that these turned out better when I made them the first time with real flour.)

Sweet Potato Biscuits (Gluten-free version)
Adapted from a recipe published in the now-defunct Wondertime magazine

A seasoned food photographer would not have put
that burnt corner in the center of the photo.

1 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes (2 big ones, or 3 small ones)
1 stick unsalted butter cut into chunks (use vegan "butter" if you want these to be vegan)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp baking power
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
1 tsp Xanthan Gum

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash sweet potatoes, poke holes in them with a fork, and microwave for 10 minutes (or until soft)
3. Carefully cut open the sweet potatoes and scoop out the insides. Put sweet potatoes in a mixer with the butter. Whip for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the salt, sugar and spices. Mix and then let the mixture cool for 15 minutes.
5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, Xanthan Gum, and baking power together.
6. Add flour mixture to sweet potatoes mixture and combine well. It should start to look a little doughy.
7. Roll the dough out on a floured surface. Use a knife to cut 2x2" squares.
8. Place dough squares on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes. They should be golden brown on the edges.

I like these warm with butter and honey. My kids think they're cookies and just gobble them up cold.

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