Looking for a unique gift this holiday season for that one person that is always hard to shop for?  You may need to look no farther than your own kitchen.  Perhaps you might have bought some sweet potatoes (or were they yams?) for Thanksgiving but succumbed to the seductive convenience of the 28 oz can instead, only to later find the neglected tubers still lurking unawares in the countertop shadows, now curiously sprouting what look to be small leaves.

If so, Congratulations, you’re a winner!  Wrap that sweet spud up, put a bow around it, and give it to someone you love.

We first discovered the magic about 3 years ago when cleaning the kitchen.  Like mostly everyone else who is a human, we were quite familiar with the regrettable fact that old brown potatoes start sending out gangly whitish roots after months in solitary in a dark cupboard. But this here, this was clearly different.  Here was a sweet potato that was actually growing several true and pretty little purple and green leaves.   Whereas the logical impulse upon encountering a knobby metastasizing russet is to shut the cupboard door and pretend you didn’t see it, conversely, a sweet potato with cute baby leaves seems to call instead upon the instincts to nurture.  Quite clearly the sweet potato has the smarter gig going, evolutionarily speaking.  Not surprising given that it is a relative of the shrewd and relentless morning glory vine.

So nurture we did, at least at first.  We planted the leafy sweet potato in the ground in our community garden plot in the spring, mostly underground such that only the very top little tiny leaves were exposed.  For a few weeks we watered it, tended its soil, waiting patiently, kind of.  Then, just as if it were in the kitchen, we promptly forgot all about it among the other plants.

It wasn’t until late that summer that we began to wonder about the vine with the purplish-green leaves that was suddenly growing strong, which incidentally we thought was owing to some beans we had planted.  Months later, after the vine had effectively colonized the entire plot, with not a bean to show for, we cursed the fruitless vine and one day in late fall decisively began to yank it out.  But it turned out to be anchored mightily, everywhere.  The amazing revelation came upon unearthing the first of several substantial reddish-orange roots – sweet potato gold mine!   We dug our hands happily into the soil, feeling for buried treasure and came up with a harvest of nearly 20 pounds in all – all from one neglected kitchen potato.  We even found the original progenitor sweet potato which by now had grown thick with roots in all directions and looked like some kind of mutated baboon heart.  Out of a combination of respect and fear we pretended we hadn’t seen it and pushed the soil back over, a fortuitous gesture it turns out, which has resulted in the vine faithfully coming back each summer three years running to deliver a bountiful autumn crop .

This yearly event provides wintertime sustenance and a bonus surplus of potatoes that closes the circle, inevitably resulting in the endowment of a few unsuspecting souls with a holiday gift that bewilders and amuses.   So this holiday season, why not give the gift that keeps on giving?  Don't throw away that leafy sweet potato.  Start a tradition.  Here are some recipes for tasty oven-baked sweet potatoes fries and delicious dipping sauce or to pass along with your gift.

Sweet Potato French Fries (Courtesy Food Network)

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
• Cut 2 lbs sweet potatoes into large fries.  Don’t make them too small or they will become charcoal. Peel or leave the skin on at your own discretion, before cutting.
• Toss cut potatoes in a bowl with 3 Tablespoon olive oil, 1.5 teaspoons each of brown sugar and salt, ¼ teaspoon each of cumin and chili powder, and pinch of cayenne pepper to spice things up.
• Arrange on a cookie sheet in a single layer, bake 25-30 minutes, turning all fries at the midpoint with a pair of tongs.

Sweet Spicy Thai Dipping Sauce (amalgamated from various internet recipes)

• Whisk 1 Tablespoon corn starch and 2 Tablespoons cold water together in a small dish until well combined and set aside.
• Chop 2-3 cloves garlic, a generous pinch of fresh cilantro leaves, and 1-3 hot peppers of your choice (jalapenos work well), removing seeds and stems from the peppers.
• Peel and grate about 1 Tablepoon of fresh ginger,
• Toss all of the above except corn starch mixture in a food processor along with ¾ cup water, ¼ cup rice vinegar, and 2 Tablespoons soy sauce.   Process for 10 seconds or so until well combined.
• Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer, whisking occasionally, over medium heat for 3 minutes until sauce thickens a bit.
• Pour the starch mixture into the sauce while whisking and simmer about 1 more minute.
• Let cool to room temperature or chill before dipping.