Nancy Owen's Sweet Potato Souffle

Usually I like to post recipes with step-by-step photos, but I wanted to send this out with enough time for people to add it to their Thanksgiving tables.

I was lucky enough to meet Mrs. Owen through my neighbor in Virginia and dear friend Jen.  Jen and I shared a wall for 4 1/2 years, and that wall was barely there most days.  We walked each other's dogs through grad classes, hand infections, and the day-to-day crazy that life brings.  We ran countless miles including a 1/2 marathon, and hosted many fabulous parties using both small apartments' ovens/storage/seating to the max.

Jen's parents would visit on a regular basis, and I was able to get to know Mrs. Owen.  She had raised two intelligent, beautiful, and strong women, and she loved to throw a party as much (or more) as Jen and I did.  Sadly Mrs. Owen passed away earlier this year, and she is dearly missed.

The first time I had her souffle, Jen brought it to a potluck Thanksgiving celebration.  I had two servings with my meal and a third as my dessert.  I didn't think that what she had done to a sweet potato was even legal, but if I was going to go down for buttery, pecan, sweet potato bliss, I was going to make it worth it.  Here is the recipe:

Nancy Owen's Sweet Potato Souffle
3-4 medium to large sweet potatoes
3/4 stick of butter
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1 c brown sugar
1 c pecans, chopped
1/2 c flour
1/3 c melted butter

1. Peel and boil sweet potatoes until very soft. Strain.  Pre-heat oven to 375.

2. Mix sweet potatoes, stick of butter, and sugar until smooth.

3. Beat eggs with evaporated milk, and combine with sweet potato mixture.  Add vanilla.

4. Pour into a greased casserole dish.

5. Mix topping ingredients and spread over the top of the souffle.

6. Bake for 1 hour, and serve warm with a smile!

Advent Calendar

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year because Katelyn can begin to understand and remember the holiday traditions.  I wanted to have an Advent calendar for her, but I had a long list of criteria: not all chocolate, not too expensive, reusable for next year, sturdy enough that she won't destroy it, and affordable (aka...less than $20).  Pottery Barn had lovely, wood calendars that I couldn't afford, and Pinterest had a lot of ideas that were too easy to destroy.  (Advent would be over in one, big, hit...http://www.pinterest.com/pin/284641638922331930/.)

A friend of mine (hi Kelli) was pinning for her boys.  She found a bunch of cute Advent calendars, but this one caught my eye.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/20477373279333553/

 This was super cute, but I wanted to incorporate some color and make it reusable.  Here is what I did:

I cut paper towel rolls into thirds and spray painted 1/2 white and 1/2 red.  Boxes helped to keep the spray paint contained.

Next I Mod Podged wrapping paper to 1/2" foam board that I had trimmed to fit the 24 tubes.

I wrapped the paper around the back and used more Mod Podge and tape to secure it.

The Keurig lended a helping hand to drying.  (A Keuring is not necessary for this project, but wine is critical.)

I measured the remaining foam board and used a Wildtree catalog to cut it in half to make the roof.  (Wildtree catalog is not required for this project, but wine is.)

I wrapped each piece in another color wrapping paper.  It is reversable...this is the inside of the paper.

When I wrapped it, I realized that I didn't have enough (I blame the wine), and white would show on the underside of the roof.  Wrapping fail.

No worries.  I cut a piece the same size as the back, and Mod Podged it right on top.  Wrapping win!!

I cut squares of red tissue paper and numbered them 1-24 with a Sharpie.  Make sure to write over something, or you will Sharpie your counters.

Next I put everything out playing with different layouts to see what I liked.  I eventually measured a grid of 24 dots to be the center of each tube.

Grey's Anatomy is as vital to this endevor as wine.

I traced each tube with a small box cutter.

Then I cut on the inside of the circle that I drew with the knife.

I shoved the tube back in to the cut outline to ensure that it fit.  For the 24 red and white tubes, I kept them all in until I was ready to glue.  Keeping them in without glue helped me to line them up.  Once all of the circles were cut, I glued the circle and put the tube back into the slot.

For the red and white tubes, I removed one row at a time, glued one at a time, and replaced it into the pre-cut circle.  Since the tubes aren't perfectly round, the traced circles aren't perfectly round...so it is important to keep each tube with its traced place on the board.

I used toothpicks to create the roof.  I used one toothpick cut in half to connect the two roof pieces, and two toothpicks to connect the roof to the house.  I "pre-drilled" the holes, lined everything up, and removed the toothpicks.

 I put hot glue into the holes, put the toothpicks back into the foam, and pushed the pieces together.

Once everything was shoved together, I used the hot glue to "caulk" the back of the house..keeps the cold air out.

 I gathered up my loot for the gifts.  I only bought the stickers, necklaces, and bracelets.  I found the jewelry in the party favor section of Target.  The rest of the items I had around the house and included: sparkly letter stickers, foam hearts, and leftover Halloween candy.  I shoved them in the tubes, covered them with the numbered tissue squares, and secured with a rubber band.

Using Halloween candy for the Advent calendar...parenting win!

Finally I dug a hole in the back with the knife, hammered a nail in the wall, and hung up the calendar.

It is sitting at the bottom of the stairs so she sees it every morning, but is in the gated off section of the house, so she won't be able to raid the goods with my back turned.

In addition to wine, this project requires good supervision...

"Could you get us some more pillows...or perhaps a peanut butter cocktail??"

This project cost $10 ($5 foam board and $5 for gifts...I had the rest of the supplies), two naps, and one evening's worth of work.  It took longer than expected, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.