Reprising the Mini...

Hello there, how are you?  I hope everyone's been well.

Yesterday, I started playing around with the 'mini' SweetPotatoMayas again.  It's the bite sized SweetPotatoMaya that I came up with in the very beginning, when I started this whole thing.  It's a good size, it's darling visually, and it's the perfect combination of nutty and sweet flavor, all in one bite.  But because of the inconsistency of the sweet potatoes, the little pies held together sometimes, and just fell apart in a mushy mess, all other times.  So I stopped making the mini's.

And ever since, I've been tossing around the idea of a mini pie crust.  This way the sweet potato can be held in a flaky, buttery, cozy little shell!  But that's adding a whole new element in the 'system' .  

How will it effect the nutrition fact label?  I'll need to print new ones out.  Can I figure out an efficient way to make high quantities of mini pie crusts?  While keeping them fresh?  It will take longer to produce them.  What about the cost of ingredients?  I will need to find new packaging with new dementions...oh my god, the world is crashing down on me, aaaahhhhhhh!!!!  

 Yeah, you know the drill.  And I've just let those thoughts hang around for the last few months because, quite frankly, I hadn't had the time to deal with it.

But something happened yesterday - maybe after a week of hard honest work at this new job did me some good, or maybe it was that little bit of sunshine gracing us with it's presence -  I finally dove in to give it a go :)

Last Thanksgiving with my sweet helper

In an attempt to stay with the whole Gluten-free thing, I used Brown Rice Flour for the crust.  It was my first time ever making a crust out of  brown rice flour, and I gotta say, like anything else, change can be tricky!  I tried three batches, each time half laughing and muttering to myself - 'this is not going to work...it's not going to come together'.  That's just my coping mechanism when I'm trying new recipes.  But I kept marchin' on, and it wasn't that bad.  The first batch, the crust was a little too thick, and it showed me that I needed to make more room for the sweet potato goodness for a better balance in flavor.  The second batch turned out better, with less crust and more sweet potato goo.  By the third batch I felt confident, and was enjoying this new adventure.

So today I'm going to an Oscar Party my wonderful friend hosts each year.  I get to join these lovely moms and  none of us have seen any of the movies, but it's an event I look forward to all year because we just get to share food and wine and laughter, hang out, oogle at and critique all the glitz and glam - and do all this while sitting on a comfortable sofa in our slippers :)  Aaaaannd you guessed it, they don't know it yet, but they are going to be my victims to try these new Mini's...  

Below is another shot of the Mini SweetPotatoMayas, shot beautifully by the Mr., in a rare moment of sunlight in the Pacific Northwest :)  Well...as always, thank you for visiting, and happy food tidings!

Life sure is full of surprises.  Aren't they?

Last week, the Mr's principal approached me about a temporary, part-time position at the school.  So then I applied and interviewed with the school district and principal, got hired, and trained for this new position.  All of that happened in one week, and tomorrow I start my new job as a kindergarten and 1st grade Math Interventionist.

Because of the fancy title, I thought maybe it meant I had to intervene when kids were having too much fun with math.  You know, like tell them it's getting out of hand, and how math is ruining their life.  But to my relief, it just means I get to give extra math support to kiddos who need it.  And I'll be there till mid-May.    

See?  I just knew there was a reason for me getting that Accounting Certificate last year!

So, if you happen to notice SweetPotatoMayas' not harassing you with as many posts, and wonder what's going on, that's where I'll be :)

They gave me counting tools like blocks and teddy bears.  I'm thinking I can add my personal touch with some empty wine bottles.  Ooh, I've got plenty of corks, too.

Hey, nothing wrong with teaching to 'Re-use. Reduce. Recycle.'

Photo by Sammy Gould

Damaged Goods (Happy Ending)

Back in November, I wrote about the terrible mess I ended up mailing to a couple of customers.  If you want to get the dirty details on my total embarrassment, you can Click here.  When the SweetPotatoMayas arrived, they were sloppy, wet, misshapen clumps of goo in a box.  With soggy crumble pieces scattered all over inside the package.  Sounds fun, huh?

It took some time, but I got the correct packaging method figured out so that SweetPotatoMayas could make it to it's destination in a presentable manner. While packaging for shipping HAD to be corrected,  it was very important to me, to make things right with the lovely customers I sent crap to.  So last week, I was  finally able to send fresh, properly packaged SweetPotatoMayas to them.  I did hear from one of the customers, who was so gracious in letting me know they got them, and that they were great.  I am so thankful :)

Happy Friday SweetPotatoMaya friends.  I don't have anything really profound to share today.  I know, I know.  You are totally disappointed!

I've noticed that the last few days, I've received many comments and encouraging words.  And kind people have left sweet comments in places I can't really respond in.   So I wanted to say 'Thank you!!  I see it, I feel the love, and I really appreciate it!' 

There are some terrible colds and viruses going around.  My niece has been very sick with a temp of 104,  and the Mr. was missing 10 kids from his classroom this week.  So please be careful, and take care!  Lots of fluids, good food, and rest.

Getting off my soap box now :)