Me versus the sweet potato

I think the sweet potatoes I buy must know how much I hate them, because they've waged a war with me. For the second time, I've tried to make sweet potato puree for Lorelai, and for the second time, I failed big time. As in, "almost up in flames" fail.

Supposedly, the best way to cook a sweet potato is to bake it, because you retain the most nutrients and sweet flavor that way. Blah blah blah. So attempt number one last weekend was to bake the stupid thing until it was soft enough to puree. I poked holes in it, got it wet, then wrapped it in foil and baked for 45 minutes. I checked and it still wasn't done, so I put it back in for 15 minutes. I thought it was done, so I sliced it in half. It was still a bit hard in the center, so I put it back in the oven for about 10 more minutes. It seemed done, so I scooped the potato into the food processor and blended until smooth. Except, it never got smooth, because it turns out that the stupid, @#$!ing sweet potato wasn't fully cooked soft enough. I tried using the blender, the food processor, the hand masher, and even my hands to get those hard pieces blended. Nothing worked, so I did the next most logical thing—threw a major temper tantrum and tossed it all down the drain.

I figured baking just wasn't the way to go for me, so attempt number two today was to get another potato, cut it into little tiny pieces and steam it in a steamer basket on the stove. Since I was paranoid about it not being soft enough like last time, I left the pot on the stove a little (read: a LOT) too long, which I only noticed after I smelled smoke, and realized the sweet potatoes were buring and the pot was about to catch on fire. Just awesome. I had to throw that whole batch away too, along with the pot, which was burnt beyond repair. And our entire house STILL smells like smoke...5 hours later.

Now I know why I always boiled my sweet potatoes when I made them for the boys. Screw nutritional value, my pots and my sanity can't handle any more failed attempts at cooking nasty sweet potatoes!

And whenever I do get them made, I REALLY hope Lorelai loves them so my hard work wasn't all for nothing!