Thanksgiving Warmup: Tea Bags and Tim’s yams (recipe)

The white, the yellow and the bubbly

Tea bags Thanksgiving dinner. An annual event. The Saturday afternoon before Thanksgiving. Partners and spices — make that spouses — invited, which they’re not for the weekly teas.

The tea bags?

A group of East Bay women who (nearly) all took early retirement;

who don’t have children (except one);

who do art (except one);

and who meet Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. either in the home of one of them, or at an Oakland coffee shop.

If it’s your tea, at your place, you get to invite “outsiders.” If you’re doing the Thanksgiving turkey, you get to invite your “outsider” guest.

This year, that would be me. (Not intentionally retired, have far-away child, do art; am friend.)

Meg was doing the turkey (an organic turkey from Trader Joe’s) and a stuffing with chestnuts, celery, onion, apple-smoked bacon, mushrooms and “probably parsley.”

Sherry was bringing the appetizers.

Bonnie brought the fresh-baked pies, apple (with fruit from the garden) and — was it a berry pie?

See yams, foreground, on the table.

Shirley did a mean job with grilled brussels sprouts, browned and crispy and chewy and done in the oven).

I had a menial chore: Bringing the fresh cream and vanilla ice cream for the pies.

And Vicki’s job was to reproduce Tim’s famous yams, made in memory of Tim.

Tim’s famous yam recipe:

2 lbs. yams/sweet potatoes
2 TBS butter
½ cup light brown sugar
2 TBS lemon juice
4 TBS dark rum
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp mace

Peel yams. Place in flat pan, 350 degrees with lid or covered with aluminum foil, 2 hours.
Mix above ingredients in sauce pan and heat till bubbly.
In buttered pan, pour part of sauce to cover bottom of pan
Cut yams in half, place cut side down into pan with sauce
Pour remaining sauce over yams.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees, 40 minutes, can baste if desired.

For 10 people, increase sauce 1½ times, yams/sweet potatoes 3½ lbs.