First Snowfall & Yam Fries Recipe

For the first time since moving to Alberta, I woke up to find the view from my window altered by a fresh dusting of snow. The snow has continued to fall lightly throughout the morning. I spent a couple of cosy hours reviewing Mandarin at my desk before pulling on my winter jacket and boots to make the trek to Mandarin class. It was only a five-minute walk through dry powdery snow -- an improvement on the messy slush we get in Victoria.

Apparently the city of Edmonton spreads dirt on its roads to increase friction in winter, as a non-corrosive alternative to salt. The result is brown muddy roads -- a good excuse for not washing my car, despite it being long overdue for a clean. I'm going to see how driving goes this winter without winter tires. Ideally I'll be able to minimize the amount I drive by taking the LRT to and from work. At $4.80 a day, LRT fare will be comparable to what I would pay for parking. Although it'll be a little less convenient to take the LRT, I'm hoping the extra time will be made up by avoiding traffic and snowy roads.

On the walk home from the university, I passed a couple of people clearing snow off the sidewalk. Although there was hardly enough snow to warrant getting out a shovel, it was nice that they were doing their part to help out pedestrians. In Edmonton each homeowner is responsible for keeping the stretch of sidewalk in front of their home clear of snow. For those of us who live in condos, that's where part of the monthly maintenance fee ends up!

Though the temperature outside is -6 degrees Celsius today, I surprisingly haven't had to turn on the furnace yet. I guess that's one of the advantages of living in a small apartment; the heat from the water heater and surrounding units has been sufficient to warm up the space. I've also had the oven going, which efficiently helped to heat the house while satisfying my craving for yam fries. Here's how I made them (it was so simple I don't think it qualifies as a "recipe"!):

I started by peeling two yams and slicing them into sticks.

I laid the yam sticks in a single layer on two baking trays and poured a bit of olive oil over them, mixing the sticks around to ensure each was coated.

I baked the yam fries at 350 degrees Celsius for around 50 minutes, flipping each fry halfway through. They smelled wonderful as they were baking! 

Though as expected these baked fries didn't attain the savoury crunch of the deep-fried variety served up on BC Ferries, they were sweet and satisfying nonetheless.