By CJ and Shanice's visit. She is past the halfway point now and visible in the way that a twenty-four-week pregnancy is visible — not theatrical, but real and present, and she carries it with a particular ease that I think is both constitution and intention. She is a woman who does not make more of her body than is necessary and does not make less of it than is honest, which is a kind of clarity I admire.
I fed them everything. This is always my mode with this kind of visit but this time I was feeding three, and the third one does not yet know what is coming. I made pot roast Friday evening, biscuits and eggs Saturday morning, a full Sunday dinner — smothered chicken, rice, collard greens, yeast rolls, sweet potato pie — because Shanice asked specifically for the sweet potato pie and I have never refused a pregnant woman a specific request and I am not going to start now.
Saturday afternoon Shanice and I sat at the kitchen table while CJ was in the backyard on a call, and I told her things. Not advice — she didn't ask for advice and I wouldn't offer it unprompted. I told her things I know. What a newborn sounds like when they finally sleep. The particular smell of them. The moment when they look at you — really look at you, eye to eye — the first time. I told her about the night CJ was born in January of 1991 and the way Marcus held him in the hospital room and wept quietly in the way that men who are not given to weeping weep, privately, with great dignity. I said: your son is going to do that to CJ. She was quiet for a moment and then she said, I hope so. I said: count on it.
Shanice asked for the sweet potato pie, but the sweet potatoes — soft, buttery, crowned with toasted marshmallows — were already on the table before she could ask twice. This is the dish that anchors a Sunday dinner for me, the one that says the meal is complete, the one that children remember and grown people request. It felt right that afternoon, with new life on the way and old stories being passed across the kitchen table, to put something this warm and uncomplicated at the center of things.
Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 3 lbs sweet potatoes (about 4 large), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Boil the sweet potatoes. Place sweet potato chunks in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium and cook until fork-tender, about 18–22 minutes. Drain well.
- Mash and season. Return the drained sweet potatoes to the warm pot. Add butter, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mash until smooth and creamy, adjusting milk for desired consistency.
- Transfer to baking dish. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread the mashed sweet potato mixture evenly into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Top with marshmallows. Scatter mini marshmallows evenly over the top of the sweet potato mixture in a single generous layer.
- Bake until golden. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the marshmallows are puffed and toasted to a deep golden brown. Watch closely in the last 5 minutes to avoid burning.
- Rest and serve. Let the dish rest for 5 minutes before serving. It will be very hot beneath those marshmallows — spoon carefully from the bottom to get both layers in every serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 265 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 51g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 195mg