cinnamon and brown sugar baked sweet potato

My entire house smells of cinnamon. It's wonderful. So warming and cozy, it makes me want to sit in front of a fire place and roast marshmallows or something; it makes me feel like drinking some Spanish hot cocoa or something.

Cinnamon evokes the holiday feel like no other even though we're nowhere near Christmas. The rich aroma takes me back to my English teacher's classroom from my junior year of high school. Every other day I had her class, and every other day walking into her classroom would be like entering a small café on Christmas Eve. It would be spring or summer and her classroom would still smell of sweet apples and warm cinnamon.


My English teacher, Mrs. H, was actually one of the few people who inspired me and encouraged my baking and cooking. One of her first assignments was to create a brag sheet. I think my brag sheet is still stored somewhere in my old broken computer, but I remember I put pictures of food I made and wrote about how much I loved baking. She passed back our assignments the next day and told me she expected baked goods from me.

It made me a bit emotional, in a good way. Mrs. H always eagerly asked me what I would bake for her next, adding that she preferred less sugary treats. She inspired me to explore and revise recipes and soon come up with my own; recently she even suggested that I create a website and start taking orders!

At the end of junior year we had awards in her class. Students wrote down other students' names next to whichever slot seemed most deserving: best dressed, class clown, most likely to be a millionaire, etc. On my Certificate of Achievement, Mrs. H wrote "Accomplished Cook/Baker" with a blue happy face sticker above it. I wouldn't say I'm accomplished just yet, but I'll keep going and hopefully I live up to that title :)

So much nostalgia in a day. Who knew a whiff of cinnamon could bring back so many memories.

Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Baked Sweet Potato 

adapted from The Healthy Chef
yields 1 serving

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced into wedges
1 tsp olive oil
1 generous tsp ground cinnamon
1 generous tsp brown sugar
dash of salt

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 300° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
- Combine the sweet potato wedges with the olive oil, ground cinnamon, and brown sugar until the wedges are all evenly coated. 
- Transfer the wedges onto the parchment paper and spread them out so that they'll bake evenly. 
- Sprinkle a dash of salt over the wedges and bake for about 30 minutes or until they are tender.
- Remove and serve warm.