Sweet Potato Casserole

I feel like I am living in this weird place of transition.  I'm no longer the mom of littles, I've retired from my roles as team mom, room parent and Halloween costume maker.  Sure they still "need" my wonderfully articulate and insightful mom advice from time to time but they don't rely on me for daily food and transportation anymore.  If I'm being honest, most of the time they get my advice even when they DON'T ask for it.  

For so long, I've operated under the titles of Ryan's mom, Courtney's mom and Ben's wife.  I love being ALL of those things but I feel like there's been a swing in the pendulum.  I am no longer referred to as someones mom anymore.  So who am I now?  

This identity crisis first occurred to me when I was handed a stack of forms to fill out at my last doctors appointment.  That little box that wanted me to list my occupation had me stumped.  I stared at it for a long time while I debated what to put in that empty space.  

My kids don't live at home anymore but I'm still a mom.  I have a personal chef license - does that make me a chef?  I own a little baking business but I don't think of myself as a businesswoman.  And after 8 years,  I'm guess I'm sticking with this food blogging thing so I technically I could have listed blogger as my occupation.  But, since I don't receive any  compensation for my blog anymore, I feel like it's more of a hobby than an occupation.  

So how did I fill out that empty space on my form?  After much deliberation I finally decided to leave it completely blank.  I could have written baker, chef, caterer, business owner or food blogger but I don't feel like any one of those accurately describes my occupation.   The problem wasn't that I didn't have an occupation to claim.  The problem was that I have too many jobs to fit on that little one inch line.  I may not consider myself to be a professional anything but I have ​a LOT of occupations.  

So here I am, mother of two, wife of one and owner of a little baking business who loves to blog.  (Too bad there isn't enough room to write all of that little line on the form.)  My love of cooking permeates through most of my occupations.  I spend a lot of time cooking for blog posts, for catering jobs and for my own family.  One of my latest creations was this reduced sugar Sweet Potato Casserole.  

Sweet Potato Casserole
3 pounds sweet potatoes
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs, separated
3/4 cup walnuts
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
​1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Wrap potatoes, individually, in foil.  Bake 60-75 minutes at 350. 

Cool and peel potatoes. 

Mash potatoes until smooth. 

Stir in milk, butter, vanilla, salt, pepper and egg yolks. 

Spread into a greased 2 quart baking dish. 

Whisk egg whites until frothy.

Stir in walnuts, oats, brown sugar and cardamom.  

Sprinkle mixture over casserole. 

Bake 40-50 minutes at 350.  

I made this sweet potato casserole in October and I put it in the freezer for a couple of weeks so that I could save it for Thanksgiving.  I pulled it out of the freezer and transferred it to the refrigerator on the Monday before Thanksgiving so that it would defrost and then I baked it on Thanksgiving morning.  It was really, really good and not overly sweet like some other sweet potato casseroles that I've tried in the past.  

​Ciao!

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