ft. The Crown & Sweet Potato Casserole

November 13, 2020 by Sydney Grant

What’s scarier than Friday the 13th? Friday the 13th in 2020, of course! At least it’s officially socially acceptable to start watching Christmas movies, meaning I can lock myself indoors with some hot cocoa and Buddy the Elf. In other news, Thanksgiving is somehow two weeks away, meaning two weeks until my extended family gets to ask me if I’m still single via Zoom. If you’re planning on cooking this year, I’ve included some recipes to test out this weekend to prep for the big day.

However you’re planning on spending your weekend, enjoy these quarantivities!

Quarant-streams

‘The Crown’

Watch this if you still get fashion inspo from Princess Diana:

All hail the queen (of streaming)! Netflix’s reigning champ as one of the best dramas out there returns Sunday for its fourth season, so that gives you two whole days to catch up. That’s like three weeks in quarantine time. The Crown follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II, from her ascension to the throne in the 1940s to the present day. While Season 3 chronicled the darker times of the ’60s and ’70s, Season 4 picks things up in the ’80s with the arrival of Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana, making it the most anticipated season of the series for all my fellow Diana stans out there.

I know, I know, I’m recommending a show about politics as we’re all still nursing our political hangovers from these last few exhausting weeks. But there’s something about watching a show that highlights a different country’s leadership fails that makes you feel just a liiiitle better about your own. Like looking up your ex on Facebook.

Stream it via Netflix.

‘Dash & Lily’

Watch this if you already watched Holidate:

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is nearly here (or arrived at the stroke of midnight following Halloween, depending on who you ask), and Netflix is here with the holiday #content we need. Based on the YA books Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, Dash & Lily is better than a Christmas movie — it’s a whole Christmas series! After the very cynical and holiday-hating Dash (Austin Abrams) stumbles upon a red notebook in the famed Strand bookstore in NYC, he discovers that it belongs to a girl named Lily (Midori Francis), a hopeless romantic who’s found herself alone during Christmas.

The two begin leaving messages back and forth, sending each other on excursions across a glistening, pandemic-less New York City in hopes that they’ll eventually find each other IRL. Would exchanging numbers after the initial notebook discovery have been easier? Probably. But before you go all Grinch-mode on this one, let me just mention that it currently has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes… so do with that information what you will.

Stream it via Netflix.

Quarant-reads

‘Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork’ by Reeves Wiedeman

Read this if you want some real-world drama that’s not about politics or the pandemic:

Honestly, I’m game for anything that involves some good ole’ fashioned scandal. While we all anxiously await Obama’s new memoir to drop this Tuesday, I’ve got another nonfiction for you. In Billion Dollar Loser, Reeves Wiedeman delves deep into the spectacular rise, and equally spectacular fall, of WeWork and its founder, Adam Neumann. Armed with charisma and the promise to “make the workplace cool,” Neumann won over the hearts (and billions of dollars) of the world’s most sought-after investors, only to catapult the company into turmoil. This juicy nonfiction uses real interviews to include all the deliciously painful details of WeWork’s eventual ruin. Can you say scandalous?!

Purchase now via Amazon.

Quarant-eats

Sweet Potato Casserole via NYT Cooking

Make this for a sweet take on a Thanksgiving classic:

Photo: David Malosh for The New York Times

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE FILLING:

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
6 large sweet potatoes (about 4 pounds), scrubbed
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt

FOR THE TOPPING:

1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup lightly crushed cornflakes (optional)
½ packed cup light or dark brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted
2 cups mini marshmallows, plus more to taste

PREPARATION

Prepare the filling: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Poke the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and place on the baking sheet. Bake until soft, about 1 hour; let cool.
When sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them using a knife, then add the flesh to a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) and mash with a potato masher or fork.
Add the 1/2 cup butter, eggs, condensed milk, granulated sugar, vanilla and salt to the bowl. Combine well with a hand mixer or a stand mixer on medium speed. Add the mixture to the prepared baking dish and, using a spatula, smooth out the top.
Prepare the topping: In a medium bowl, stir together the pecans, cornflakes (if using), brown sugar, flour and butter until thoroughly combined. Spoon the topping evenly over the sweet potatoes.
Bake the casserole until slightly browned, about 35 minutes. Remove the casserole from the oven and add the marshmallows in an even layer. Return to the oven and bake until marshmallows are toasty and melted, about 5 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Caramel-Pecan Hand Pies via Food & Wine:

Bake these for a socially distanced-friendly Thanksgiving dessert: