What is it?

Sweet Potatoes with Ginger

Drawing by Vicki Smith

Hello,

A fun way to occupy children during a long wait at the dentist’s office, invented long before cell phones, sadly, became our main source of entertainment, was to play “What’s in Mom’s Purse?” The child closes their eyes and feels around in the purse to identify by touching a pack of chewing gum, lipstick, or a checkbook (a what?). My dad, who had a keen appreciation of American history and was a consummate collector, had a slightly different take on the game, which he called “What is it?” He would pull an artifact from one of his collections, and my brother and I would try to identify it. This game continued well into our adulthood as he took pleasure in sharing his interests. He showed us silk survival maps used by Allied pilots during WWII if they were shot down in enemy waters, paper fasteners from the Civil War period, a brass plate for soldiers to protect their uniforms when polishing their buttons, and a joiner’s stamp. My mother’s grandfather used the joiner’s stamp to impress his name on the furniture that he made. You can see his name, E.W. Sprague, impressed in the block of wood just below the iron stamp. My dad would leave little descriptive tags on items lest we forget our lessons or the origin of the items if they were from a family member.

Kitchen implements from the past can also seem baffling today. The top row in the photo below, from left to right, shows a pie crimper, paddles for forming newly churned butter into balls, and a potato masher. Due to the similarity in appearance, the British referred to German grenades during WWII as “potato mashers.” The gigantic rolling pin was gifted by my husband to his sister years ago and returned to him as she and her husband were downsizing. And how would anyone use a rolling pin that is that large?!! It would surely provide a workout in addition to rolling out any dough. The yardstick, included mainly to provide a sense of scale, shows its age as it sports a four-digit phone number for the store that undoubtedly used it as a giveaway and promotion.

The object pictured below remained unidentified by my dad and Eleanor Cain, an antique dealer and friend who gave it to him. His little label reads, “What is it?”. A Google visual search provided the answer, as I found several similar objects for sale online. My father would be tickled to learn that it is a silk leaf mold used by milliners in 19th-century France to make flowers for hats. The leaf shape, with its impressed designs, is made of iron, and the handle is wood and brass. French cookery is full of objects turned out of a mold, including Madeleines, aspic, and pâté. Perhaps I can use it to impress designs onto cookie dough.

I decided to try my hand with the wooden potato masher. I mashed both Yukon gold potatoes and sweet potatoes using evaporated milk, just like my grandmother did. The old wooden masher did a great job producing creamy potatoes minus any lumps. The recipe below has some extra zip from the added ginger.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Ginger

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes

3 T. evaporated milk, warmed in the microwave

1 t. grated, fresh ginger

2 t. butter

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from the sweet potatoes and cut them in half. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium, and cook for about 35 minutes or until a fork can be inserted easily. Drain, return to the pan, add the ginger and evaporated milk. Mash. Add salt, pepper, and butter to taste.

2 servings

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Thanks for reading!

Vicki