My first Thanksgiving as a newlywed with my new in-laws was definitely a memorable one. My mother-in-law put little ol’ me in charge of the most important dish of all for the Richardson family--the beloved yams and apples. These people go nuts about these silly yams and apples--you wouldn’t believe how much they talk about them. Most people don’t typically have their Thanksgiving yams recipe any other time of the year, but oh no, not the Richardsons. They’ll have them at Christmas, Easter and any other dang time they please!

Anyway, my mother in-law had written down the recipe for me and I was at our home, making this special, buttery sauce stirring for the last 20 minutes, just waiting for this “magical” moment when the sauce was supposed to glisten and turn into a beautiful, pearly sheen. 


There was no magic happening. Same lumpy mess I started with 18 minutes earlier. Why, oh why, was I put in charge of the single most important thing on that table?!


Come to find out, she didn’t write down the butter on the recipe card, so while it wasn’t my fault, I still felt some guilt and shame that I couldn’t make these all-important potatoes for the family.

All the feelings came back again this year when I was put in charge of them yet again! And once again--they were a hot mess! I am quite an impatient cook and I cranked that sauce up to high from the start. When I added the cornstarch to the mix, I dumped it in, and it soon had quarter size cornstarch balls in the should-be smooth, silky sauce. Thankfully my mother-in-law was right in the kitchen with me and she was so sweet and tried her hardest to save this poor sauce and make me feel like I still succeeded, but it was a true epic fail in all its lumpy glory! She whipped up another perfect batch in less than 10 minutes and these all-important yams and apples were saved. A true Thanksgiving miracle!!

I realized that I have a new mission in life: learn how to make perfect Richardson yams and apples. I think my mother-in-law keeps assigning these to me because she wants the wife of her only blessed son to be able to partake in his most beloved side dish at any given moment! I’ll get the hang of this, don’t you worry! You just have to have a little patience and believe in a bit of magic! 

Have you ever biffed up a beloved family recipe for a big moment? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below! Maybe I’m not the only one out there that’s done this…...twice! We can all share tears together--whether tears of laughter or shame :)