One bad apple...err..sweet potato....

Just what do you do with a whole bunch of sweet potatoes that are nigh on going bad?  I hate to waste anything and that includes blotchy-looking sweet potatoes!  Mark had bought three large bags (50 pounds) of the tubers back a week or so ago.  He assumed that the farmer that sold them to him actually was going to sort through the potatoes before just bagging them..he assumed wrong.  Or perhaps the farmer did and stuck all the nasty ones under the good ones.  Who knows?  To me, these sweet potatoes look mightily like they might be last year's crop as they just have an "old" appearance. Each one is full of divots and there is a good start of rot and "no-goodedness" to the whole lot.  I may be wrong and should give the farmer the benefit of the doubt.  He might have been down on his luck and really needed this sale.  Whatever...I had three large bags of sweet potatoes that needed to be used in a short period of time.  Short enough that they would not fully rot before being used.  I took the tubers out of their bags and placed them in crates allowing plenty of airspace between them.  That should slow the decay process somewhat.  There were a dozen or so that needed immediate attention, however. These sat in the middle of the kitchen floor.  I pondered the fact of what needed to be done.

About the same time that I came to possess the sweet potatoes, I found an old box of Mom's recipes.  Call it coincidence if you like, but right on top was a handwritten recipe for "Sweet Potato Jam"!  Hmmmm...now that sounded quite delicious! Mom was a great one to save recipes that sounded good to her.  I never remember her making Sweet Potato Jam when I was a kid but obviously she thought it was worth keeping for future reference.  I wonder if she knew that it would be this far in the future?  Ha!  Mom, I saved your recipes!  I looked at my mound of sweet potatoes.  Yep, it seemed logical!  I would attempt jam!

Jars of Sweet Potato Jam!

The sweet potatoes were washed, peeled and cleaned of any bad spots. After chopping them in quite large chunks, they were all tossed in a huge pot of water and boiled.  The recipe said to bake them but since I had to more or less mutilate them, they were boiled.  After an hour or so, the tubers were tender!  The blender was put into use to grind them smooth.  I used the large crock pot to cook the jam so I would not have to stand and stir all day.  The recipe called for diced apples but I substituted a few cups of applesauce!  The sweet potatoes, applesauce, some sugar and spices simmered most of the day until the conglomeration was nice and thick.  Each time I lifted the lid to stir the jam, the aroma filled the house!  Finally late this evening, I ladled it into jars and put them in the hot-water bath for about ten minutes.  The first batch of Sweet Potato Jam sits on the dining room table.  The lids of fourteen half-pint jars are popping away as they seal!  Mark came in just as I was ladling the last jars.  He did a taste-test and decided then and there that this recipe was a "keeper"!  Mom would be proud!  Blessings come in strange forms.  I would have never made the jam had I not found Mom's saved recipe and had Mark not gotten all of those sweet potatoes!