Go Ahead, Make A Tzimmes

Hard to predict how many times someone will say, "Don't make a big tzimmes" at my Rosh Hashanah dinner Sunday night. Once my mother-in-law's tzimmes hits the table, I know I'll say it at least once and my brother John will say it at least twice. After all, it's fun to say and sums up our family dynamic. Historically, we're big tzimmes-makers. Take my mother-in-law, the decorator. For years she talked about getting a computer. But before she could get a computer (and learn how to use it) she had to get the downstairs bedroom just right. Over and over, we told her she doesn't need a special room, a laptop can go anywhere, on the kitchen counter, on the dining room table. So she'd sit there and smile, pretending to listen, but what she was really doing was envisioning how to make the same room she's reinvented 82 times look fabulous. A tzimmes of epic proportions, one that involves finding the perfect sofa and the perfect fabric and a lengthy debate over whether to leave the carpet or sand the floor, lose the dated shutters or refinish them. Oh, and what about the pillows that would tie the computer room all together? The pillows were the key to the makeover.

The good news: Eventually, she found the right everything, after scouring the city, and the result of the redo was stunning. (Stunning is a big word in her vocabulary.) And then she got the computer. And learning how to use it became a sizable tzimmes. Sunday night, I'll make a big tzimmes over her tzimmes once again. "This is the best tzimmes you've ever made," I'll tell my mother-in-law. "If Betty Crocker had a tzimmes cook-off, you'd win, hands down."

Here's my mother-in-law's recipe, more or less. God forbid someone in my family should write down a recipe. She's never put a mandarin orange in a tzimmes, that much I do know, but go ahead if it speaks to you.

SWEET POTATO AND CARROT TZIMMES

12 c. salted water 6 med. (about 3 lbs.) sweet potatoes, peeled & diced 1 lb. carrots, peeled & diced Salt, to taste Vegetable oil for pan 1/2 c. pitted prunes, halved 1 c. orange juice 1/4 c. brown sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 tbsp. butter 1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained (optional) 1 can mandarin orange pieces, drained (optional) In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and carrots and simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and mash. Add salt. Place in a greased 6 quart casserole with the prunes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine orange juice, brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour over sweet potatoes. Bake, covered, 30 minutes. Uncover and taste. If tzimmes tastes sweet enough, dot with butter, bake uncovered for 15 minutes more. Otherwise, add pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges, then dot with butter and bake an additional 15 minutes. Makes 8-10 servings.