It’s been busy here with a little kitchen remodel so I sliced some yams and colorful baby potatoes and baked them slow in our new oven.

Renaissance Man wanted a Forno which he endearingly calls the Porno. I’m trying to get used to having a professional oven. We went from electric to gas and it’s a little scary. So we have an oven and a rolling island to help with cooking while we wait for cabinets and countertops. It’s a bad time to remodel with the dollar collapsing dealio and supply chain halt, but whatever. The financial gurus have been talking about it for more than ten years. And it’s the holidays. The upside is I don’t have to lug out all the decorations.

Potato Yam Bake
3 yams
1.5 Lb. bag of baby potatoes
1 sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 pinches of Maldon smoked salt
cracked rainbow peppercorn to taste
smoked paprika to taste
3 Tbsp. miyoko’s butter
Dried parsley for color

Yield: 6 servings

Directions:
Warm oven at 375°.

Wash veggies and slice and then mince garlic.

In a 9 X 12-glass dish, lay out the yams, potatoes, onion, and a garlic clove. Sprinkle a tablespoon of olive oil. Add a pinch of smoked salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.

Make two more layers.

Top with Miyoko’s butter and dried parsley.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.

I cooked it slow so I could go back to writing. Also, slow cooking retains more nutrients and flavor. You can take off the foil at the end of the hour and crisp it up.

I added a salad and cranberry sauce. Good Catch crab cakes are the best. I added some vegan mayo, but adding the cranberry sauce was awesome.

Food for Thought:
I went to go see the movie Dune as soon as it came out. I have read the first three books Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune by Frank Herbert. I was captivated by Dune from the start from his descriptions and philosophical narrative. Oh and his massive research. Book 2 is romantic and I think I will read it again someday. Book 3 had me questioning my own beliefs.

I think the movie was just as captivating. It doesn’t get through to the whole of book 1. Another movie will have to be made for book 1. For those who are complaining about there not being enough Zendaya, who plays Chani—you haven’t read the book. FYI Chani dies. I love Chani and I wish she didn’t die so soon.

I always recommend Dune for reading. My writer buddy went and got the audiobook from the library. She couldn’t listen to the book all the way through. She wrinkled her nose, at the box of pain that Paul puts his hand in, when telling me about it. Don’t do the audiobook. Dune should be read old school with the pages between your hands. Let me explain. When I read that part, it didn’t bother me. I just took it as Paul’s training. So then, I read Cosmic Memory by Rudolf Steiner and said “Ah!” That’s where Frank Herbert got the box of pain idea. Steiner explains that the Lemurian’s trained the boys by putting them through tasks that I think involved pain or fighting and the girls were made to watch. This exercise was to toughen up the children during that era. So this is partly why I love Herbert and Steiner. I love the spiritual research that Herbert brings.

Since I mentioned The Nine in my last two posts, I heard Dark Journalist say that The Nine might be Egyptian gods hanging out in a spaceship. Isn’t that interesting. Something to research and maybe write about. He said this at the end of his X-Series #113 video. I would suggest watching any Dark Journalist video. One of the best videos I watched this year was The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade. They moved 22 royal Egyptian mummies to a new museum. Are the spaceship gods going to enter the mummies and resurrect themselves? Inquiring minds want to know. Watch it on YouTube. “The Hymn of Isis” sung by Egyptian Soprano Amira Selim is moving and powerful. I listen often.

I also just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick because the book was mentioned on Dark Journalist. It was a very satisfying book. It’s seems prophetic or like the author had information from someone who knew the elites’ plan. Androids escape Mars and Rick Deckard is an android bounty hunter on Earth. Most humans are on Mars. Mostly “specials” are left behind. The story is set in San Francisco in 2021 after a world war. There’s a character, Mercer, who’s a rock climber on TV. People can hold an empathy box and feel rocks hitting them as they hit Mercer. Rick asks if Mercer is real. Then there’s a question of reality. I must read this book again.

I hope one of these books is on your Christmas list. And go see the movie Dune.

Merry Christmas and Happy Vegan!

Recipe from blog of melissacrismon.com

Copyright 2021 Melissa Crismon