Week Four: Memories and Traditions

The astute among you might remember that I started this month saying I wasn’t going to follow the daily prompts. If you’ve been reading regularly, though, you’ll notice that the past few days I’ve followed them faithfully. I blame the Thanksgiving holiday; I was in Rhode Island with my family and wasn’t up to anything more involved than answering the daily questions. It’s this way every year: I start off with a few posts pre-scheduled, a few recipes ready to go, and then I wing it the rest of the time, often developing a recipe a couple days in advance. And then the end of the month comes and I get busy with something else, and the recipes fall by the wayside. Ah well. I’ve still had fun answering these questions!

And today’s prompt requires some fun introspection and reflection: “Changed Opinion – Was there a food you used to hate, and now don’t?” This one is pretty simple, and I’ve actually addressed it this month. I never cared for squash (of any type!) or sweet potatoes in my childhood and early adulthood! Yet today I consider squash and sweet potatoes true staples in my diet. What do they have in common? I think it’s the texture (mushy, occasionally stringy) and the flavor (sweet, when you might expect savory) that initially turned me off, but I’m glad I’ve changed my tune (mostly through exposure!).

In fact, earlier this month, I shared both a squash recipe (above) and a sweet potato recipe! And if you search the tags on my site, I’ve actually blogged quite frequently about both ingredients. From risotto to stew (below) to pizza sauce, both ingredients are endlessly versatile in my kitchen. What’s your favorite way to use them?