You Look Like Captain Crunch!

Thanksgiving is such an interesting holiday in our families. For starters, we have SO MUCH family between us that it's always a source of stress for us to figure out where we're going and who we'll see (and who'll get the short end of the stick). Then there's the vegetarian factor, although 1) some of us are less vegetarian than we used to be and 2) Thanksgiving can be the easiest holiday at which to be veg because of the wonderful array of side dishes (I almost wrote "side issues"!). Third, it's a holiday which revolves around food and eating, which hits old nerves about food and body issues ("food is love" and "Fat! Fat! Fat!" battling it out over and over again). These days (and for this - the mom part, anyway - we are truly THANKFUL!) we get to add in the working-moms-time crunch, too, trying to figure out just when we'll do that grocery shopping and food prep. And let's not forget the politics of Thanksgiving.

But each year once we wade through the morass, we always get to a wonderful place where we're eating great food with at least some of the many people we love, laughing over somebody's family stories and enjoying the time to slow down and spend a little time with people we just don't get to see enough.

Dana at Mombian asked folks to share favorite Thanksgiving recipes , so I thought I would put up the easiest one I've got. It also happens to be damn tasty and gets compliments and recipe requests every time I make it, so I think it's a good one to share. And it's an alternative to those god-awful marshmallow-topped horrors on so many Thanksgiving tables!

SIMPLEST SAVORY SWEET POTATOES
Scrub 4-6 large sweet potatoes and poke each with a fork. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 400 degrees (or until they are very soft and oozing weird black crusty stuff). Allow them to cool enough that you can handle them. Pick one up and squeeze it over a bowl until the insides burst out of the skin. Discard the skins. Mash the potatoes until smooth (you can use a hand masher, a ricer or a stick blender but don't overdo with a stick blender) and stir in sour cream and chopped chives to taste. Add salt and pepper if desired.

So damn good and so, so, so easy I want to weep with joy.