The campaign’s overall goal is to reduce the number of alcohol-involved collisions and people killed and injured in these crashes through enhanced enforcement and a public awareness campaign.
“California has made great strides in reducing the number of people killed or injured as a result of DUI,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “We will continue our efforts in educating the public and arrest those who choose to endanger themselves and others.”
In 2009, the number of alcohol-involved collisions in California accounted for 14 percent of the total number of crashes reported in the state, the CHP reported.
As a result of the more than 8,600 alcohol-involved collisions, 754 people were killed and another 11,764 others were injured, the agency said.
The IDEA program will provide funding that will allow the CHP to conduct sobriety and driver license checkpoints, DUI task force operations and deploy proactive DUI enforcement patrol operations statewide.
The CHP also will conduct local traffic safety presentations in an effort to reach thousands of people throughout California. Additionally, funding is provided for a statewide media campaign.
“We will be tracking the progress of this anti-DUI program for positive results, as we work toward our goal of removing impaired drivers from California’s roadways,” added Farrow.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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Back in the 1970s, biologists were amazed to discover a form of life they never expected. Tiny microorganisms with ancient DNA were living in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park.
Instead of dissolving in the boiling waters, the microbes were thriving, ringing the springs with vibrant color.
Scientists coined the term extremophile, which means “extreme-loving, to describe the creatures – and the hunt was on for more. Soon, extremophiles were found living in deep Antarctic ice, the cores of nuclear reactors, and other unexpected places. Biology hasn't been the same since.
Could astronomy be on the verge of a similar transformation?
Researchers using a NASA space telescope named GALEX have discovered a new kind of extremophile: extreme-loving stars.
“We’re finding stars in extreme galactic environments where star formation isn't supposed to happen,” explained GALEX project scientist Susan Neff of the Goddard Space Flight Center. “This is a very surprising development.”
GALEX, which stands for “Galaxy Evolution Explorer,” is an ultraviolet space telescope with a special ability: It is super-sensitive to the kind of UV rays emitted by the youngest stars. This means the observatory can detect stars being born at very great distances from Earth, more than halfway across the Universe.
The observatory was launched in 2003 on a mission to study how galaxies change and evolve as new stars coalesce inside them.
GALEX accomplished that mission – and more.
“In some GALEX images, we see stars forming outside of galaxiesin places where we thought the gas density would be too low for star birth to occur,” said GALEX team member Don Neil of Caltech.
Stars are born when interstellar clouds of gas collapse and contract under the pull of their own gravity. If a cloud gets dense and hot enough as it collapses, nuclear fusion will kick in and – voila! – a star is born.
The spiral arms of the Milky Way are a “Goldilocks zone” for this process. “Here in the Milky Way we have plenty of gas. It’s a cozy place for stars to form,” said Neil.
But when GALEX looks at other more distant spiral galaxies, it sees stars forming far outside the gassy spiral disk.
“I was dumbfounded,” he said. “These stars are truly 'living on the edge.'”
Spirals aren’t the only galaxies with stellar extremophiles.
The observatory has also found stars being born in elliptical and irregular galaxies thought to be gas-poor, in the gaseous debris of colliding galaxies, in vast “comet-like” tails that trail behind some fast-moving galaxies, and in cold primordial gas clouds, which are small and barely massive enough to hang together.
So much for the Goldilocks Zone. According to GALEX, stellar extremophiles populate just about every nook and cranny of the cosmos where a wisp of gas can get together to make a new sun.
“This could be telling us something profound about the star-forming process,” said Neff. “There could be ways to make stars in extreme environments that we haven’t even thought of yet.”
Will extremophiles transform astronomy as they did biology? It’s too soon to say, insist the researchers. But GALEX has definitely given them something to think about.
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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The California Board of Equalization's recent report showed that the total value of state-assessed and county-assessed property rose to $4.382 trillion for 2011-12, an increase of $11.6 billion, or 0.3 percent, from the previous year.
In addition, the value of county-assessed property increased by $5.3 billion, or 0.1 percent, to $4.297 trillion, while the value of state-assessed property, mainly privately owned public utilities and railroads, totaled $85.3 billion, an increase of $6.3 billion or 8.0 percent, the agency reported.
Lake County Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker said each year he’s required to determine what the coming year’s tax roll will be.
For the coming 2011-12 year, he’s estimating it to be $6.64 billion, which translates into a growth rate of negative 1.33 percent, slightly better than the negative 1.5 percent the county roll experienced in 2010-11.
It’s a big change from tax roll growth seen earlier in the decade. Wacker said the county had seen 12- to 14-percent increases in some years.
“I don't see any real upward movement yet,” he said.
Wacker added that he hopes that land values start to improve soon, but cautioned, “It could be a couple more years yet. I hate to say it but it could be.”
He said the state has seen property value ups and downs since Proposition 13 was passed in the 1970s, including a slump in the 1990s, “but nothing to this degree.”
Lake's neighboring county of Colusa showed the highest year-to-year percentage increase, 19.5 percent, which the Board of Equalization said is largely related to utility assessments – which comprise more than one-third of the Colusa County's assessment roll – and was driven by the construction of a new power plant in the county.
The report showed that 20 counties posted year-to-year increases in assessed value, although jumps in value like those seen in Colusa County were not the norm, with only Kern, Madera and Trinity counties showing growth of more than 2 percent.
Thirty-eight of California's 58 counties experienced year-to-year declines in value, with Plumas County posting the largest decline, 5.3 percent. It was the only county declining by more than 5 percent, the state said.
The Central Valley, hard hit by the foreclosure crisis over the last several years, showed concentrated value declines.
The Greater Sacramento Area had a 2.9 percent decline, while the North San Joaquin Valley declined by 2.7 percent. The Southern San Joaquin Valley posted a 1.4-percent assessment value growth, which was attributed to the 2.4 percent growth experienced by Kern County.
California's 15 coastal counties, which account for over 60 percent of the state's total assessed valuations, gained 0.9 percent, while the state said that valuations in the 43 inland counties fell 0.6 percent, Southern California assessed values increased 0.7 percent and the San Francisco Bay Area’s values rose by 0.3 percent.
Of the 12 counties with rolls exceeding $100 billion, seven counties posted an increase in assessed value, while values in five counties fell. The Board of Equalization said values increased in the counties of San Mateo and Orange (1.0 percent), Santa Clara (0.9 percent), San Francisco (0.5 percent), San Diego (0.4 percent) and Alameda (0.1 percent).
Declines in value include the counties of Sacramento (-3.7 percent), Riverside (-1.2 percent), San Bernardino (-0.5 percent), Contra Costa (-0.4 percent), and Ventura County, which was only down slightly, virtually unchanged by percentage, according to the Board of Equalization.
Los Angeles County, with the largest assessment roll at $1.079 trillion, increased by 1.4 percent, up $15.0 billion over 2010-11, the state said.
Wacker and his staff have been proactive – and especially busy – with property reassessments under the Property 8 program since valuations locally began to drop in 2008.
While the tax roll closed in July, community members have until Nov. 30 to contact Wacker’s office to challenge their property valuation.
Wacker estimated his staff conducted more than 10,000 of the reviews last year.
“Our staff has been doing more of those than anything,” explained Wacker, adding that it’s becoming more of a challenge because his staff of 15 has been reduced by about a position and a half due to attrition, and budget cuts are keeping the jobs dark.
“We’re definitely going to have our hands full,” he said.
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HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – This year on the day before Thanksgiving, while most people are busy making last minute dinner preparations, 11-year-old Hidden Valley Lake resident Sarah Riccio will be at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford undergoing a high risk, open heart surgery.
Sarah had her first open heart surgery when she was just two days old, and three more surgeries followed in the next 30 days. She has been fighting for her life ever since.
Originally diagnosed with the rare congenital heart defect of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, her left ventricle is severely underdeveloped.
“She is now once again outgrowing the circulation that she currently has,” explained her mother Suzanne Riccio. “Her blood is getting very thick, which impedes the bloods ability to deliver oxygen to her body. Her oxygen saturation levels are dangerously low and the result is extreme fatigue and brain damage.”
According to her parents, the doctors have said that this upcoming surgery is especially high-risk due to the fact that Sarah’s right lung is no longer working.
“We’ve been told we should expect Sarah to be in the hospital for at least 30 days following the surgery,” said her father, David Riccio. “But last time we were told 30 days, it ended up being that she was in the hospital for three months.”
The Riccios have three children and have lived in Hidden Valley Lake for the past 10 years, where they have been actively involved in the community.
Friends of the Riccio family have set up a special Web site, www.everribbon.com/r/sarahsfund, where people can make donations to assist with the overwhelming medical costs of this delicate surgery.
The goal is $5,000; as of Sunday night, nearly $1,300 had been raised, according to the Web site.
For more information visit the Web site or call Carol Luis at 707-987-8757 for more information.
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The Lake County Sanitation District and Preston Pipeline Inc. are constructing a new lift station and force main as part of improvements to the Southeast Regional Wastewater Collection System.
From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, and Tuesday, Nov. 15, Preston Pipeline will set up a traffic closure to install a force main sewer line across Old Highway 53.
The affected roadway area will include a portion of Old Highway 53 west of Highway 53. Specifically, the closure will extend from Cache Creek Way to Old Highway 53, the county and contractor reported.
Officials said the general public will be detoured north to Lakeshore Drive. The only through access will be granted to emergency response vehicles.
County officials said the project is meant to improve the Southeast Regional collection system’s capacity and reduce sewer spills, which have been an ongoing problem for the system, especially during heavy rain.
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Arrested were Pablo Juan Arredondo, 29; Jose Antonio Rico, 31; Francisco Martinez Rico, 25; and Gerardo Rico Martinez, 24, according to a Monday report from Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said that at 11 p.m. this past Saturday, Nov. 12, Lakeport Police Department units assisted by Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and California State Parks rangers were dispatched to investigate the report of a large physical fight occurring at TJ’s Downtown Bar and Grill in Lakeport.
The first arriving Lakeport Police officer observed approximately 25 persons outside of the location with three separate physical fights, each involving numerous subjects and occurring at the same time, Rasmussen said.
He explained that the officer was contacted by TJ’s staff members who pointed out a group of four male subjects and identified them as assaulting both staff and patrons inside of the bar.
The officer approached the four subjects and ordered them to stop and go to the ground. Rasmussen said the subjects became verbally abusive and refused to follow the officer’s commands.
He said the officer made further attempts to control the four subjects who began resisting, obstructing and verbally and physically challenging him. At one point when two of the subjects advanced on the officer he discharged his Taser, striking one of them before they all fled the area, Rasmussen said.
Assisting units located the subjects in the area of Will-O-Point and all four were arrested for public intoxication, battery and obstructing or resisting a peace officer, according to Rasmussen.
Followup investigation determined that four TJ’s staff members were battered and injured by the four aforementioned subjects while investigating a report that they had harassed female customers. Rasmussen said the injuries consisted of lacerations, contusions, bite wounds and a broken finger.
The investigation of this incident is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Jarvis Leishman at the Lakeport Police Department, 707-263-5491.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Local legal and educational leaders met last week to begin laying the groundwork to introduce a new educational program to Lake County.
More than 30 community members – including judges, attorneys, educators and students – met on Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Lake County Courthouse, to discuss the new Mock Trial Program, which will make its debut in the 2012-13 school year.
The Lake County Superior Court and Lake County Office of Education are partnering to bring the Mock Trial Program to Lake County.
The Mock Trial Program is an educational exercise in which young people study court cases and argue them before real judges in real courtrooms as part of mock bench trials. Competitions take place on the county, state and national levels, much like the Academic Decathlon.
Participating students take on the roles of prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, clerks, bailiffs, journalists and sketch artists.
Judge Richard Martin, who hosted the meeting, said the program’s success will hinge on the involvement of community members.
As part of the Nov. 10 meeting there was a presentation by Carolyn Brown, coordinator for the Mendocino County Mock Trial Program – in place for 24 years – and wife of Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ronald Brown, who made the trip to Lakeport with her.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook said he’s very excited about the program.
“All of our children are really going to benefit from this,” he said.
Holbrook said the goal – and the expectation – is that all five of the county’s high schools will participate.
Carolyn Brown explained how the program works in Mendocino County, and touched on its benefits for young people.
“We do truly believe there are so many wonderful outcomes for students participating in this program,” she said.
She said hundreds of Mendocino County students have grown and matured through the program, which teaches them about the intricacies of criminal trials.
Participation requires – and fosters – critical thinking skills, with students also gaining self-confidence and good sportsmanship, as well as the ability to stay cool as they’re under the scrutiny of judges and attorneys, she said.
Spectators are amazed at the participating students’ professionalism, Brown said, adding that the program crafts responsible young adults.
The Mendocino County Mock Trial Program competition will take place over two weekends early next year, Jan. 28 and Feb. 4, Brown said.
Brown said the Mock Trial Program and others like it “are more critical than ever.”
The group also heard from Laytonville High School science teacher Bruce Potter, who leads that school’s Mock Trial Program, and explained that the program is good for self-esteem and teaching students how to solve problems.
Mendocino County Assistant District Attorney Beth Norman, who is an attorney-coach, said, “There’s a place for everyone” in the program.
She said the program teaches skills that she believes open doors for young people, and shared how she had seen the teens she works with in Mendocino County come up with creative legal arguments that surprised and impressed her.
“It’s a blast,” she said. “I love doing it.”
Norman added, “I’m really excited that Lake County is thinking about doing this.”
Laytonville High School junior Colten Gover, one of Mendocino County’s Mock Trial Program stars, explained that the competition requires dedication, but teaches many skills.
There are other pluses as well, he said. “You make friends, and that's the biggest part I like.”
Another attorney-coach, Matt Finnegan, who for the last two years has worked with the team for the Redwood Academy of Ukiah and the Accelerated Achievement Academy, said at first he was reluctant to take part due to the time commitment.
However, he added, “For me, it’s well worth it,” and said he believes the adults who will take on the teaching and mentoring roles in Lake County also will find it rewarding.
Holbrook said a lot needs to be done in order to have the program’s setup complete by the end of this school year, in preparation for the first Lake County competition in the fall of 2012.
With the Academic Decathlon already well established in Lake County, Holbrook said he doesn’t want to see the two programs compete, and wants students to be able to compete in both.
He said he anticipates meeting with local school superintendents about the program on Monday, Nov. 14.
For more information, call the Lake County Office of Education, 707-262-4100.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Despite the rain, hundreds of people turned out on Friday morning to mark Veterans Day and show their gratitude to the men and women who have donned the uniform in service to the nation.
The annual Lake County Veterans Day ceremony returned to Konocti Vista Casino in Lakeport, where community members packed the showroom.
Receiving special honors this year was Lake County Vet Connect, formed earlier this year to help veterans get a “hand up, not a hand out” with everything from medical care to housing assistance. The group received this year’s “Friend of the Veteran” award.
Griff Ratterree, past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2015 in Lakeport and a member of the United Veterans Council’s Military Funeral Honors Team, was honored with the “Veteran of the Year Award.”
“First time in my life I’ve been speechless,” Ratterree said after being handed the award by United Veterans Council President Frank Parker.
The turnout appeared to be even larger than last year. Parker noted that he could remember the first ceremony held in front of the Veterans Service Office in downtown Lakeport many years ago, when only a handful of people showed up.
Young McKenna Rose Enger sang the national anthem to start off the event, and Supervisor Jim Comstock, a Vietnam Navy veteran, noted that it was for people like her that veterans serve.
“It’s about America – what we love and defend fiercely,” he said.
Comstock read a letter from Congressman Mike Thompson, another Vietnam veteran, who thanked the county’s veterans for their service both in wars and in peacetime.
The day’s featured speaker was Ginny Craven, founder of Operation Tango Mike, which sends care packages to soldiers overseas. Craven is a previous Friend of the Veteran Award winner.
The daughter of a World War II veteran who died when she was still in high school, Craven described growing up in Lake County and meeting veterans whose service she knew nothing about until years later.
She said those men she met didn’t speak about their service; neither did her father. “Many vets don’t.”
While he may not have spoken about it, her father’s service was evidenced in other ways, including how shrapnel oozed from his body until the day he died.
In describing veterans, she quoted G.K. Chesterton, who wrote, “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.”
Craven received a standing ovation from the crowd.
In presenting the Friend of the Veteran Award to Vet Connect, Comstock said the group’s goal is to make sure veterans in need aren’t forgotten.
Parker, who helped form the group and accepted the award on its behalf, said Vet Connect will mark its one-year anniversary this coming Jan. 6. Ten weeks after it formed, it began serving veterans, he said.
“We are vets helping vets,” he explained. “We are a hand up, not a hand out.”
Parker, in turn, presented the award to Ratterree, saying, “This is one award that is long overdue.”
Ratterree said of his award, “I feel it’s an honor to be a vet in this great nation.”
The Military Funeral Honors Team, which has given honors at the funerals of more than 800 veterans, helped close the ceremony with a rifle volley, followed by the playing of “Taps.”
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NORTH COAST, Calif. – A catastrophic landslide 22,500 years ago dammed the upper reaches of Northern California's Eel River, forming a 30-mile-long lake which has since disappeared.
However, a new report said that landslide left a living legacy found today in the genes of the region's steelhead trout.
Using remote-sensing technology known as airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hand-held global-positioning-systems units, scientists recently found evidence for a late Pleistocene, landslide-dammed lake along the river.
Today the Eel river is 200 miles long, carved into the ground from high in the California Coast Ranges to the river's mouth in the Pacific Ocean in Humboldt County.
The evidence for the ancient landslide, which, scientists say, blocked the river with a 400-foot-wall of loose rock and debris, is detailed this week in a paper appearing on-line in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research provides a rare glimpse into the geological history of this rapidly evolving mountainous region.
“This study reminds us that there are still significant surprises to be unearthed about past landscape dynamics and their broad impacts,” said Paul Cutler, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research. “For example, it provides valuable information for assessing modern landslide hazard potential in this region.”
It also helps to explain emerging evidence from other studies that show a dramatic decrease in the amount of sediment deposited from the river in the ocean just offshore at about the same time period, says lead author of the paper Benjamin Mackey of the California Institute of Technology.
“Perhaps of most interest, the presence of this landslide dam also provides an explanation for the results of previous research on the genetics of steelhead trout in the Eel River,” Mackey said.
In that study, scientists found a striking relationship between two types of ocean-going steelhead in the river – a genetic similarity not seen among summer-run and winter-run steelhead in other nearby waterways.
An interbreeding of the two fish, in a process known as genetic introgression, may have occurred among the fish brought together while the river was dammed, Mackey said.
“The dam likely would have been impassable to the fish migrating upstream, meaning both ecotypes would have been forced to spawn and inadvertently breed downstream of the dam. This period of gene flow between the two types of steelhead can explain the genetic similarity observed today.”
Once the dam burst, the fish would have reoccupied their preferred spawning grounds and resumed different genetic trajectories.
“The damming of the river was a dramatic, punctuated event that greatly altered the landscape,” said co-author Joshua Roering, a geologist at the University of Oregon.
“Although current physical evidence for the landslide dam and ancient lake is subtle, its effects are recorded in the Pacific Ocean and persist in the genetic make-up of today's Eel River steelhead,” said Roering. “It's rare for scientists to be able to connect the dots between such diverse phenomena.”
The lake formed by the landslide, the researchers theorize, covered about 18 square miles.
After the dam was breached, the flow of water would have generated one of North America's largest landslide-dam outburst floods.
Landslide activity and erosion have erased much of the evidence for the now-gone lake. Without the acquisition of LiDAR mapping, the lake's existence may have never been discovered, the scientists said.
The area affected by the landslide-caused dam accounts for about 58 percent of the modern Eel River watershed. Based on today's general erosion rates, the geologists believe that the lake could have filled in with sediment within about 600 years.
“The presence of a dam of this size was unexpected in the Eel River, given the abundance of easily eroded sandstone and mudstone, which are generally not considered strong enough to form long-lived dams,” Mackey said.
He and colleagues were drawn to the Eel River – among the most-studied erosion systems in the world- – to study large, slow-moving landslides.
"While analyzing the elevation of terraces along the river, we discovered they clustered at a common elevation rather than decreased in elevation downstream paralleling the river profile, as would be expected for river terraces," said Mackey.
“That was the first sign of something unusual, and it clued us into the possibility of an ancient lake,” Mackey said.
The third co-author on the paper is Michael Lamb, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology.
The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping also provided LiDAR data used in the project.
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A bit of a discrepancy exists surrounding the difference between sweet potatoes and yams. Many of us will serve sweet potatoes as an accompaniment to our Thanksgiving meals, perhaps candied or mashed, but will refer to them as yams.
And who can blame us? Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are sold in stores as yams. Even promotional Web sites, such as the one which markets Louisiana sweet potatoes, contribute to the confusion with recipes such as yam bisque and a mascot named “Yamster the Hamster.”
The truth is that what we know as yams in North America is almost always a version of sweet potato. True yams, native to Africa and Asia, are another genus of plant, completely unrelated to sweet potatoes, which have their origins in South America.
So why does this overlap in names exist?
Several decades ago when orange fleshed sweet potatoes were introduced in the southern United States, producers and shippers dubbed them yams to distinguish them from the traditional lighter fleshed ones. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that the label "yam" always be accompanied by "sweet potato.”
True yams may be found in Latin or Caribbean grocery stores, and I’ll write about them separately in another column.
Not only are the sweet potato’s large, tuberous roots edible, but the young shoots and leaves are sometimes used as greens. Sweet potato blossoms reveal the plant’s membership in the morning glory family, as they bear a striking resemblance to that climbing garden flower.
The smooth skin of the long, tapered roots can be purple, red, brown, or beige, with flesh that ranges from beige through yellow, orange and purple.
They’re beloved around the world, where they hold a place in the cuisines of Africa and Asia, as well as in the Americas.
They’re a favorite street food in places such as Egypt and Japan, where vendors typically bake them.
Dried slices of sweet potato roots are a staple food in Uganda, and in West African counties, such as Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, the young leaves and vine tips are widely consumed as a vegetable.
In Asia, a variety of cuisines utilize the sweet potato, including in China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore.
Sweet potatoes are important in the typhoon-prone countries of the Pacific, as they’re not as affected by flooding as other staple crops.
Sweet potato soup flavored with ginger is made in China, Koreans use sweet potato starch to make cellophane noodles, and the Japanese use it in tempura and to make pastries, particularly the purple variety, which was developed there.
Multinational pizza chains in Korea use sweet potatoes as a topping.
There’s an interesting twist to the sweet potato story. While the center of origin and domestication of the sweet potato is thought to be in Central or South America, it was also grown in Polynesia before western exploration there.
Current thought holds that the sea-faring Polynesians brought the sweet potato back from travels to South America. From there it likely spread to Hawaii and New Zealand, where the Maori people also cultivated sweet potatoes before European contact.
I just experimented with making a sweet potato soup that turned out to be surprisingly delicious in its simplest form. I boiled three peeled, cubed orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (marketed as garnet yams) in a quart of vegetable broth until tender and pureed the mixture in batches in a blender.
It was perfect just as it was, rich and flavorful, even with no added seasonings. With a little less cooking broth, it would have made a nice side dish of pureed sweet potatoes.
When I attempted to develop it further by adding coconut milk, it took some time to balance the flavors with curry powder, peanut oil and lemon juice. I was happy with the end result; even so, it didn’t quite measure up to the soup in its purest evolution.
Sweet potatoes are versatile in that they may be cooked by many processes, including baking, steaming, boiling, deep-frying or pan frying, microwaving, and cooking in hot ash or coals.
To cook them in the ash or coals of a barbecue or fire pit, prick them several times and wrap in aluminum foil (use a double wrapping if they’ll be among coals) and place them among the coals or immersed in hot ash. (Use a double wrapping of foil if among coals). Check them for tenderness after about 20 minutes.
If desired, they may be rubbed with spices prior to cooking. Chef Jamie Oliver suggests a mixture of crushed chili peppers, cumin, and salt, and served with a squeeze of lime after they’re done.
Sweet potatoes are full of beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in our systems. They also contain good amounts of dietary fiber, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.
Sweet potatoes are beautiful when baked into a pie, and having one on your Thanksgiving dessert table may be a nice change from (or an addition to) the pumpkin pie that’s typically served. Maple syrup or bourbon are flavorful additions to sweet potato pies.
Today’s recipe is a unique one, a sweet potato “butter” that may be used as a dip or spread. It’s wonderful with corn bread or a nutty whole wheat loaf.
Sweet potato butter
2 garlic cloves
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Put unpeeled garlic cloves on aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 10 minutes, until soft.
Boil potatoes and carrots until tender; drain.
Put vegetables in a food processor and squeeze in the baked garlic. Add 1/2 cup broth and blend. With motor running, add oil and keep blending, adding more broth until puree is fairly smooth and full.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in optional chopped fresh herbs if using dip immediately. Otherwise, see below.
Dip can be made as long as a day in advance, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature for serving and stir in the optional herbs right before serving with raw vegetables and bread sticks.
Makes six servings.
Esther Oertel, the “Veggie Girl,” is a culinary coach and educator and is passionate about local produce. Oertel gives private cooking lessons. She welcomes your questions and comments; e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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