Cooking with Kids

My six-year-old was out-of-his-mind-bored yesterday. He’d used up his TV limit (sorry, kiddo, you do NOT get to watch TV all day–not happening), and was hanging around, looking for something to do. He wasn’t interested in reading, coloring, playing piano, etc. Just bored, bored, bored.

I had bought some sweet potatoes at the grocery store the other day when they were on sale and was looking for something to do with them. Suzanne suggested sweet potato pie. Who doesn’t love pie? :hungry: So, I dragged out my recipe book and found one for Sweet Potato Praline Pie. I then asked my son if he wanted to be my sous-chef. He was quite excited and suddenly, the day seemed to have meaning again.

We lined the kitchen table with the classified section of the newspaper and I gave him a peeler to start peeling sweet potatoes. I have to say, training your kids to help in the kitchen just rocks! They are so eager to help, and really, who cares if they miss a few spots when peeling potatoes? I can clean that up, and things go so much faster. I had my boy read the recipe book (hey! Summertime reading! That counts, doesn’t it? ), and let him crack the eggs. Gotta say, those eggs were a bit on the rough side, but he managed to get them both in the bowl with only one shell. Not too bad.

I trained him to beat the eggs with a wire whisk, and we measured each ingredient (fractions!). He was in charge of all mixing. I tried to have him measure, too, but that was a little hard. We’ll work on that more next time.

Here’s the recipe we used: Praline Sweet Potato Pie by Janet Pittman
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sweet potatoes, cooked, drained, and mashed
1 1/2 cups half and half or evaporated milk (I used 3/4 cup heavy cream and 3/4 cup 2% milk since I didn’t have any half and half)
Praline topping
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tablespoons half and half or evaporated milk (again, I used 1 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream and 1 1/2 Tbsp. 2 % milk)
1 cup chopped pecans (The original recipe said 1/2 cup, but I like pecans).

First, peel, slice, and cook the sweet potatoes in a large pot. I used 2 large sweet potatoes. I ended up having some left over, but I can feed them to the baby. Drain the cooked sweet potatoes and use a food processor to mash them up superfine. I tried a blender. Trust me–that did NOT work well. I ended up mashing it through a sieve because who wants lumpy sweet potato pie? Anyway, beat the two eggs and add in the sugar, blending well. Add the spices and salt, and last, stir in the mashed sweet potatoes. Carefully add the half-and-half (or heavy cream & milk like I used), making sure you do it slowly so there is no foam. Pour into an unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 40-45 minutes. When you jiggle the pie and the surface remains firm, it’s done (SUCH a scientific method, I tell you!). Take it out and let it cool on a wire rack while you make the praline topping. In a small bowl, combine the half-and-half and the sugars. Blend well. Add the chopped pecans (note–I broke them up by hand to make the pieces larger and even threw in a few whole pecans. Pour the topping on the still-warm pie and cover the pie crust edges with aluminum foil. Turn the oven onto a low broil and broil the pie for 5 minutes (the topping will caramelize and bubble). Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Um, in our family, we used both. :banana:

Want some pie?