menu for November 19th, 2022

Sayuri’s notes for the November 19, 2022 menu:

When I was little, one of my favorite dishes in the fall and winter was corn cream stew. I would stand by my mother, help stir the pot, and get to taste it! It was so good!! After we made it, we carried it to the next room and ate dinner together with my family sitting at a kotatsu-style table on a tatami mat. A kotatsu table is a traditional style table we use in the winter, and under the table, where we put our feet are charcoal briquettes to heat (now electric heater) the closed space under the table. A blanket covers the frame of the table under the table top. Eating cream stew together with my family on a cold night at the Kotatsu table warms my heart. It’s cozy and full of happiness and my feet get nice and toasty too! I serve it tonight using our own potatoes, sweetcorn, garlic and other ingredients.

The cornbread is made using our homegrown “Willy’s mule” field corn. Willy was an old farmer in the neighborhood who taught Joe some farming methods. His daughter Nell shared some seeds with us. We named the seeds Willy’s mule corn because Willy used to call it his “mule corn” that was “good enough for people too.” It grows very tall. After drying the corn, I shuck it, shell it, and then grind it. When I came here, I had never eaten cornbread! I used Joe’s Grandma Nina’s recipe. Grandma Nina lived in Oklahoma and was a quarter Cherokee. She got married to an Italian man. I saw him in the picture. I think that Joe’s nose is from Grandpa Joe’s Italian nose.

Candied baby Murasaki sweet potato with black sesame seeds is very popular in Japan. I was very surprised by American sweet potatoes the first time I cooked them – especially the texture and color. Japanese sweet potato skin is purple and creamy yellow inside. The texture is firm like potatoes. I made sweet potato slips by myself and planted them in the garden last spring. I'm very proud of the sweet potatoes this year, even the small ones!! I was also thinking of Thanksgiving when I made tonight’s menu! We hope you enjoy the company and conversation at your cozy table tonight!