{on the range} week 4: sweet potato fries

Charlie now.  Loving the rasta hat, man.

Charlie a year ago. Somebody make them stop growing so fast.

{On the Range} is my weekly series where I discuss what we're doing, reading, and eating. It's a little bit 52 project and other photo projects, and a little bit {Did you Read?} and {In the Ranger Kitchen}.

On the Range

January 22-28, 2013

Milestones

• Genevieve finished her first round of skating lessons this week and has progressed from learning to stand up to walking on the ice, so I suppose baby steps are the name of that game. So much for her being a natural. She's on the wait list for the next round. Wait lists are common 'round here; the other day I chuckled upon hearing a surprised/irritated dad sputter, "A wait list? What is this place, Hahvad?"
• Meanwhile, Charlotte stands at the edge of the rink, desperately wishing she could play too. She can't start lessons until she's three, but we might just rent her some skates to try it out.
• Vivi's interest in art is blossoming, and I struggle to keep up. I am creative in some ways, but painting and drawing aren't those ways. She loves to draw seahorses, so I found a free printable she could color. We find lots of inspiration from Google images too...

My week:

• Trying to figure out how I can buy the stuff I want on zulily and Amazon while making sure they are *needs* not wants and without spending much money. Any tips?
• In another victory, I went to soap.com and bought a bajillion different kinds of soap and plenty of deodorant to supply the hubster's frequent need of the stuff, which meant I didn't have to drag the kids out of the house in the teens weather we've been having. And I saved money. Winning! (note: not a paid product promotion. They don't know who I am, but I love their site).

Moods

• A baby born to one of my doula clients is currently on a ventilator for a serious illness, so I am holding my breath waiting for every piece of news from them. Some days are a parenting challenge, and when I'm grieving over something gone wrong that my kids have no idea about, that has to be one of the hardest.

Media

• If you're a blogger or writer, you'll love the fabulous advice offered by Jenny of Dinner: A Love Story.
• A spot-on guide to New England winters.
• I didn't give two hoots about the "was she singing or wasn't she?" apparent pseudo-scandal about Beyonce at the inauguration, but I did love a singer's rebuttal on Slate saying she was. I especially loved this last line about Joe Biden's smile: "that is, clearly, a dude standing two feet from an electrifying lady singing like a motherfucker." You can say that again.
• You are what you eat. So....are you a bunghole?
• Cyberbulling and sexual shaming was not exactly a fun topic to hear about on NPR but one worth listening to, particularly if you have girls at home.

Meals

• Chicago style cheese steaks
• Fried fish & sweet potato fries (recipe below)

baked sweet potato fries
serves 4

2 large sweet potatoes*
sprinkle of cornstarch
a few glugs of olive oil
spices, such as:
garlic powder
smoked Spanish paprika
cumin (or others of your choice**)
salt & pepper

*I got "garnet yams" from my local farm, which are actually sweet potatoes

**Update 2/15/13: I just tried them with garam masala, an Indian spice blend that includes cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, cloves, cumin, and coriander. They are DELICIOUS this way!

Preheat the oven to 450 degF. Peel your potatoes and slice them into fry shapes. Try to slice them evenly so they cook at the same rate. Place them in a bowl of cold water to wash away the starch, then drain and wrap them in a tea towel to soak up the excess moisture. (Note: if you don't wash off the starch, the sugar in it will burn the fries and leave them soggy).

Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch and seasoning in a small bowl. Place the fries in a large dry bowl or a plastic bag (I like to reuse our bread bags for shaking on seasonings). Add the oil and seasoning mix and shake (or stir) vigorously. Pour fries onto a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet. Don't overcrowd them! Make sure each fry has its own space with no other fries touching it.

Bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake 10-15 minutes more until crispy and puffed up.

Author's Note: This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.