Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sweeeeeeeet Potatoes

Wahoo!

I just got the cover copy for my next book, LOST AND FONDUE. And Krista's great blurb is on the cover! How lucky am I?

Don't you love it?

[If you don't, please don't tell me. I'm feeling go-o-o-o-od.]



And when I'm feeling good, I love to write. and you want books, don't you? More tasty mysteries?

I'm busy at work on book three, CLOBBERED BY CAMEMBERT. And a couple of other to-be-named projects. I read an article recently, an interview of Ken Follett and David Morrell, both of whom could easily return millionaires. [Remember, they've been writing for years and years and their books are hardbacks that sell billions. Most writers...well, let's just say we won't see all those extra zeroes that those two guys do. But we love what we do.] Anyway, a question was posed to them. Why are you still writing? Both men said, "Because they have to." They have stories inside them that they want to share. They are writers, first and foremost, trying to entertain an audience. It inspires me (probably all of us on MLK) to read words like this. We have lots of stories in our heads. We'd like to see many of them make it to the page.

And so the writing continues for all of us on this blog.

But we also love to cook and share our recipes, and we write about characters that cook and share their recipes. [Some of us even have characters that like to take over blogs and write the posts at Killer Characters. Again, that's another story.]

But writing and sharing recipes--it's the perfect storm, no? We're so glad you're all here to share the joy with us.

Now as we approach Thanksgiving and the holidays AND KRISTA'S NEW RELEASE! I like to see how many easy, tasty recipes I can make. A standard side dish for the holidays is sweet potatoes with marshmallows melted on top. It's not really my thing. I'm more of a mashed potatoes kind of girl. But I do like sweet potato chips or sweet potato fries when I can find them freshly made. So I thought...what about homemade sweet potato chips with cheese?
[Okay, swat me now, but you knew this recipe MIGHT have cheese, didn't you?]

It was easy--this batch didn't turn out as crispy as I'd like but that's because I didn't use enough oil, I think--and yet it was pretty and tasty!


First you peel the sweet potatoes and slice them thin. You baste a baking sheet (a stone baking pan might have been better than using foil) with oil. Lay the sweet potatoes out, single file, on the sheet. And bake until crisp. [This will vary because of different ovens but figure 15 to 20 minutes.]




SWEET POTATOES WITH BLUE CHEESE

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons blue cheese, shredded or shaved

2 tablespoons canola oil



Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and slice sweet potatoes.

Brush baking sheet with oil. Lay sweet potatoes, single slices, on the oil. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 10 minutes. Flip the sweet potatoes slices and bake 10 minutes more.

Remove slices and drain on paper towels.

Set portions on 4 plates. Garnish with crumbled blue cheese.


That's it. I set these beauties next to a lovely slice of turkey [I can eat turkey all year long] and a fall salad, and the dinner was yummy! Served with a crisp sauvignon blanc. The tart of the wine really enhances the flavor of the salty but rich foods.



By the way, our archives of recipes number over 400 now. You can scan the right side of the blog to find them, by category, some by author.

Here's the link to a pumpkin seed fall salad that I posted last year that is downright scrumptious!

Coming soon...a sneak preview of LOST AND FONDUE on my website.



* * *

If you'd like to know more about A Cheese Shop Mystery series and want to download a few other recipes from me (on recipe cards), click on this link to my website: Avery Aames. I've posted recipes in the "morsels" section. There's lots of other fun stuff, as well. And sign up for the fan club to get in on the next contest...coming soon.


19 comments:

  1. Lost and Fondue - another wonderful title and the cover is gorgeous, Avery. Congrats! I'm sweet on sweet potatoes, too, and I love your ideas of crisping them up on a baking sheet *and* crumbling blue. That's it, I just put sweet potatoes at the top of my shopping list. :)

    Have a great day,
    ~ Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  2. I love the cover for Lost and Fondue and can't wait to read it.

    The sweet potato chips looks good.

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  3. Love the cover Avery congrats. I will be adding to my TBR list and like Cleo I have added sweet potatoes to my list for this weekend. I love sweet potato fries and chips. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. I love the cover for Lost and Fondue! I especially like the green. Also, I think that I'm going to buy some sweet potatoes today.The recipe sounds healthy and good.

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  5. The new cover is gorgeous!!!!
    Sweet Potatoes and Blue Cheese - who woulda' thought?! I like it!

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  6. Cleo, Laurie, Dru, Babs, and Kaye! Aren't you all up early! (Well, maybe I am. I'm on the west coast.) Thanks for dropping by and thanks for your sweet words. I do hope you enjoy the sweet potatoes. I've got to admit, Kaye, that this started out as a an experiment..I wasn't too sure about sweet potatoes with tart cheese, but it turned out. :)

    ~Avery
    AveryAames.com

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  7. I love this cover, Avery! It's so elegant and enticing. I had no idea they used my blurb! Yahoo!

    Thanks for mentioning my book, too. Only 25 days to launch!

    I make this kind of sweet potato (without the cheese, though I'm sure they'd love the cheese) as a dog treat. It's healthy, low calorie, and never lasts long because my dogs love them. I bet children would love them, too!

    ~ Krista

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  8. Krista, 25 days to launch. Yeah. Perfect for the holidays. And early enough in the season so everybody is still thinking clearly.

    Yes, doggies love sweet potatoes. About how thick do you make your slices?

    ~Avery

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  9. What a gorgeous cover, Avery. I was lucky enough to read this one a while ago and it's fabulous. Of course! Congrats on the beautiful cover. That's always such an exciting time, isn't it? And Krista's book coming out in 25 days - wow. I can't wait to read it!

    Enjoy your great mood, today and thanks for sharing!

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  10. Julie, thanks. Your quote is on the back, as far as I know. I have the best friends who give me the best quotes. Julie said: Deliciously fast-paced. Yeah!

    ~Avery
    AveryAames.com

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  11. Yum! These look wonderful! I love the idea of having blue cheese in them, too. :)

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  12. Thanks for chiming in, Elizabeth/Riley and Ellery!

    Hugs to all.

    ~Avery

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  13. Did you slice these by hand, or with a medallion slicer... Just how thick, potato chip thin?

    I love a blue cheese sauce over regular tater chips, now I want these... Thanks for the ideas

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  14. Dave, I did these by hand, but I'm sure it would be easier with a slicer. Mine were about 1/4" thick.
    ~Avery

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  15. Avery,
    I make these on a regular basis but never thought to use blue cheese...BRILLIANT!!!! Your cover is also lovely...green has become a real favorite of mine...maybe because November in MI is so brown??
    Thanks again for a great idea!!
    Nanc

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  16. Congratulations on the awesome book cover! How exciting!
    Thanks for the sweet potato recipe...I'm going to give it a try!

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  17. Nanc, thanks for the compliment. Yes, green looks so healthy and inviting, doesn't it?

    ~Avery

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