Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Let’s Talk

I just finished cleaning out my refrigerator, one of the most dreaded jobs a homemaker has to encounter.
Getting ready for the garbage pick-up the next day, I felt depressed. I could have fed a third-world country with what I was tossing out. I was  thinking about the starving people in Somali who are dying each day for lack of food and here I was throwing it away. The rest of the world is trying to help but can it get food to them in time?  
As I took on the rest of the world’s problems, I thought about an amusing statement made by a politician I heard on TV this week. Pay the doctor bill with chickens!  And I thought, what would be the price of a tonsillectomy — 25 chickens? More for a gall bladder operation? Forget about a brain operation.  
But what if the doctor says, I’ve already got five chickens. I’m in the mood for steak.  How does the patient get the cow to the doctor. And who is to assess its price per pound? The doctor would have to build a  humongous farm yard in back of his office.
Ridiculous as it sounds, that is the way people bartered in a by-gone era. Although my family never bartered, Daddy paid our family doctor the two dollars in cash for setting the broken arm of one of my sister’s.  And I think I recall an operation on our kitchen table – don’t remember what kind. And everyone recovered, a miracle by today’s standards.
It was common for doctors to make house calls in those days. I remember one doctor in particular who always called the telephone operator to tell her when he went to lunch or where to find him when he  was out of his office. “Mrs. so-and-so’s baby is due and you can reach me at this number if she goes into labor.” What dedication to service these marvelous doctors had.
I am more than grateful for the progress that has been made in the medical field.  But I miss the warmth of the family doctor who set our minds at ease and gave so much comfort in our times of stress. His presence always reassured us. Maybe that played a part in our getting well.
What wonderful ambassadors of healing they were. We owe them our heartfelt thanks.

So good!

Sweet Potato Balls
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

4 large sweet potatoes
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups shredded coconut, sweetened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large marshmallow, per potato ball

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the potatoes until tender, then peel and mash them.
Stir in the brown sugar, orange juice, zest and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, toss the coconut with the sugar and cinnamon.
Press mashed potatoes around each marshmallow, creating a 2 to 3-inch diameter ball.
Roll the balls in the coconut mixture.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Watch carefully for the last few minutes of cooking; the expanding marshmallows can cause the potato balls to burst open.
Serves 4 to 6.