Sweet Potato Pancakes with Persimmons

Black Friday. A holiday for bargain-hunters, early birds, and those stricken temporarily insane from the incredible savings. Shop 'til you drop (or shop 'til someone dropkicks you for the last iPad /vacuum cleaner/Sing-a-Ma-Jigs).

This year, I'm going to pass on the lines and the crowds of shopping zombies with their deal-crazed eyes. No 4 am doorbuster for me. No, this girl is going to be sleeping in and waking up to a leisurely breakfast. It will be a shocker if I even change out of my PJs while the sun is still shining.

Like you, I'll most definitely have a little tower of Tupperware looming in my fridge. No doubt there will be sweet potatoes in the mix – sweet potato casserole, sweet potato pie, maybe even a baked sweet potato or two. Mash some up (go ahead, include the marshmallows if you must) and combine with the ingredients for your pancakes. Voila! Sweet Potato Pancakes. Your first Thanksgiving leftovers makeover meal of the day is complete.

With some butter and maple syrup coursing through your veins, you are now primed and ready to shuffle your fuzzy slippers on over to the computer and celebrate Black Friday online. Just because you've sworn off the crowds, doesn't mean you need to miss out on all the deals. Welcome to the wonderful world of e-commerce:

Amazon: Amazon has been offering Black Friday Lightning Deals all week, with free shipping to boot. Pick up that cookbook/breadmaker/smoker you've had your eye on. If you are so inclined to face the crowds, arm yourself with Amazon's new free iPhone app called Price Check, which allows users to make in-store price comparisons by scanning the barcode of a product, taking a picture of an item, or saying the product's name into the phone. If the item is listed on Amazon, the app will display prices sorted from lowest to highest, and allow customers to purchase it right there.

Macy's: Admittedly, the puppies and kitties in the window at the Union Square Macy's are adorably cuddly, but they'll be there until January 2nd so no need to bum rush them on the busiest shopping day of the year. Black Friday deals will be sold both online and in stores. If you're in the market for some spiffy new kitchen appliances: Cuisinart 7-Cup Food Processor (on sale for $69.99, reg. $149.99) and KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer (on sale for $179.99, reg. $299.99).

Etsy: Online marketplace for the homespun and artsy fartsy, find the best Black Friday deals on Etsy by searching the term "Black Friday Etsy" on the site. Of note: if you're looking for a unique, quirky foodie gift, this is a good place to start.

Best Buy: The same products promoted in its Thanksgiving Ads will be available online. Best Buy is also offering free shipping on online orders through Dec. 21, excluding laptops, iPads, iPods and some major appliances.

Apple: Even the almighty Apple is hopping on the Black Friday gravy train this year. For one day only, select items will be on sale at Apple stores and online.

To get the skinny on more Black Friday deals, check out Black Friday Online.

*****
Sweet Potato Pancakes
Have some sweet potatoes left over from Thanksgiving? Remix it into this breakfast treat!

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup mashed sweet potato
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 F (to keep the pancakes warm as you finish each batch).
2. Whisk together in a large bowl the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Whisk together in another bowl the wet ingredients: milk, sweet potatoes, egg, melted butter, and vanilla.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently whisk them together until just combined (don't overmix).
5. Cook pancakes on a hot, buttered griddle or frying pan until the top of the pancakes bubble a bit, then flip and cook until the underside is lightly browned.
6. Keep warm on a foil-lined baking sheet in the warmed oven until all the batter has been used up. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Well Happy Black Friday, everyone, if there is such a thing.

Typically, I love Fridays. To me, the day means the promise of free time, friends, and martinis in any given order.

Usually, I see Friday as the bright, shiny spot to my week. Black Friday, however, is a different story:

If you are one of the 12 people who hasn't heard this term used ad nausæum over the past few days, "Black Friday" refers to today, the day after Thanksgiving, which is, according to retailers, the official first day of the Holiday Shopping Season-- a day when millions of American-types have the day off and, presumably, enough money burning holes in their pockets to warrant getting up at 4 am to trample some poor Walmart worker to death in search of great bargains.

It just makes me cringe. I want nothing to do with either the day or any of its trimmings.

To someone like me, who may have the bad fortune of having holes in his pockets, but the good fortune of having nothing burning anywhere near them, it makes sense to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving holed up in order to recover from the orgy of food, wine, friends, and family.

I don't want to leave the house. I want to curl up on a couch and watch movies, or sleep off the thousands of calories I consumed the day before. I don't want to go to Union Square to see how pretty the lights are on the giant Christmas tree, I don't want to think about Holiday cards, and I definitely don't want to go shopping-- not even for food. I will wait out the crazy in the comfort of my own home and wait for next week, when I can start humming one of my favorite tunes with conviction:

Until then, here's a recipe that might help you avoid the madness, too...

Turkey Hash with Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4 to 6

...or anything else you have that's left over from Thanksgiving dinner. All the ingredients should be on hand (which is precisely the point). Turkey, sweet potatoes, russets, onions-- you know you've got them. You've been on a role with the heavy food intake, so why not carry it over to breakfast? Oh, hell, you know you're going to carry it over until the New Year. I don't know who you think you're fooling if you say otherwise.

Turkey, on it's own, is boring (and potentially dry)-- it needs help. Sweet potatoes turn mushy and, naturally, sweet, so they need some assistance from their firmer, starchier friend, the Russet. All of them need salt to help them along, and salt needs them, otherwise, no one would us it and then where would it be? This is a beautifully co-dependent start to the day-after.

Ingredients:

2 cups diced turkey meat, white or dark

1 cup medium-diced onion

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup diced sweet potato, baked for 30 to 40 minutes in the oven. Or just pick off the marshmallows from the dish you had last night-- no one will notice, since the sweet potatoes will more than likely disintegrate during cooking.

2 cups baked, diced Russet potato

1 small jalapeño pepper, diced on the small side.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup turkey stock, if you still have some on hand. Chicken stock will do nicely, too. This dish needs a little moisture before browning to give the turkey a chance. For extra decadence, substitute 1/4 of heavy cream for the stock. Seriously.

About 2 teaspoons of salt-- more depending on taste. I like more.

A generous amount of freshly ground black pepper-- at least a teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Parsley for garnish. Or chives. Or whatever. I'm just into parsley these days.

Preparation:

1. In a large cast iron skillet, heat oil and butter over medium-high heat. Pre-heat your broiler to hi. Add onion and bell pepper and cooking, stirring all the while, until they begin to brown (3 to 5 minutes). Add garlic and jalapeño and cook for one minute more.

2. Add sweet potato, Russett potato, salt, and turkey at this point. Stir occasionally until the potatoes begin to brown (8 to 10 minutes). Add broth (and cream, if you are using) and cook down for another 3 or 4 minutes, shaking and scraping the pan from time to time. Taste to adjust salt levels, if you must.

3. To finish the browning by getting a nice crust on top, I like to stick my hash under the broiler for a couple of minutes-- obsessively checking it-- until such a state has been achieved. This is more than likely cheating in the minds of all good line cooks across this land of ours, but my skills are limited and I do whatever I must to attain my goals.

4. Sprinkle with the cayenne, grind over the pepper and add a little fresh green with a handful of parsley meted out over the top. Serve hot with poached eggs, or whatever else you've got left over from Thanksgiving that you think might work well with hash. Do not, however, serve with egg nog. To eat, curl up on couch, wrap yourself up in your favorite blanket or pashmina, pop in any vintage movie starring an adorable, precocious child like Margaret O'Brien, Natalie Wood, or Peggy Ann Garner, and go to town. Or, rather, don't, because that's where all the crazy people will be.