[Sca-cooks] s'mores?

[Johnna Holloway]

Margaret Rendell wrote:
> I'm hoping that my questions are because I'm Australian, and not just 
> that I'm clueless, but I don't really understand this thread at 
> all...can someone help?
>
> Huette von Ahrens wrote:
>   
>> I make a really good sweet potato souffle.  I brought it once when I first 
>> joined the SCA to a pot luck.  I put it in the veggie area when I arrived.
>> I looked later and found it with the desserts.  So I moved it back to the veggies.
>> I later saw someone moving it back to the desserts, upon which I told them that
>> is was sweet potato, not pumpkin.
>>   
>>     
> 1) why would this make a difference?
>   
For potlucks here in the states (contributed dinners where everyone 
brings a dish)
the tables are usually organized by type of course. Meats, vegies, 
salads, desserts on
separate tables. Huette obviously intended her dish to be a vegie sort 
of baked
sweet potato dish which was topped with a baked marshmallow topping.
But everyone at these dinners is subject to having their dish moved 
around by someone
else who says "oh that ought to be over there."

You can make variations of the same sort of orange dish with a number of 
foods--
yams and/or sweet potatoes are seen as vegies. Squash would be a vegie-- but
pumpkin ones are seen as being dessert dishes.
>> As much as I like marshmallows, I hate marshmallows on sweet potatoes...
>>     
> 2) is this a joke I haven't heard?
>   
We have a tradition in this country of serving a sweet potato casserole 
hot dish
that can be topped with marshmallows. It shows up on holiday tables at 
Thanksgiving
and Christmas. Recipes vary but it tends to be a mashed sweet potato 
dish that is sweetened
and then baked-- often with a topping of marshmallows. It can be very sweet!

To make it more confusing sweet potatoes in certain areas are also called
yams even though they aren't a true yam AND even more confusing some 
people actually
make the dish with real yams! Some people used canned ingredients-- some 
use fresh.
See 
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel186169&contentGroup=EDF&layout=edf
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,canned_sweet_potatoe_and_marshmallows_casserole,FF.html 

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/vegetables/sweetpotato.html
http://www.cayam.com/
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/communications/leads/Crops_Livestock/Prime+Time+for+Sweet+Potatoes.htm 

http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/FCSprograms/Nutrition%20SR/SweetPotatoes.htm
> 3) what are s'mores? I gather they involve graham crackers, marshmallow 
> and chocolate, but I'm finding it hard to envisage
>   
They are a campfire dessert that migrated into popular culture. First 
appearance was in a Girl Scout guide.
Think of them as a roasted marshmallow with pieces of sweet chocolate 
between two sweet flat biscuits.
We call biscuits cookies of course.
Here's a history of S'Mores--
http://www.geocities.com/suarezgfam/SmoresHistory.html

> 3a) what are graham crackers? A savoury biscuit of some sort?
>   
Graham crackers are one of those 19th century inventions by a Dr. 
*Sylvester* Graham.
He invented *Graham Crackers* in 1829.
Graham was a Presbyterian minister and avid vegetarian, who promoted the 
use of
unsifted and coarsely ground wheat flour for its high fiber content.
The flour was nicknamed "graham flour" after Minister Graham, the main 
ingredient in Graham Crackers.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blgraham.htm
http://www.kraftfoodservice.com/productsandbrands/ProductSpecific.htm?option=product&id=1360
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Graham
> Margaret/Emma
> clueless from Lochac
>   
Hope this helps.

Johnnae llyn Lewis