WHICH WOULD BE WHY THE WIFE AND I HOPE OUR SON FINDS A BLACK WIFE:

Celebrating Kwanzaa: Holiday honors African culture, culinary traditions (Donna Pierce, 12/29/05, Chicago Tribune)

Kwanzaa hugs two other holidays linked on December's calendar. And so you'll find it included in the tongue-in-cheek "Merry Chrismahanukwanzakah" greeting making the rounds this year.

But the Kwanzaa celebration created 39 years ago by an African-American professor, M. Ron Karenga of California State University Long Beach, is a new tradition when compared to the centuries-old Christmas and Hanukkah observances. And although Kwanzaa shares the emphasis on family traditions, charity and unity with those religious-rooted holidays, the harvest festival offers no nod to religion.

Each day of the seven-day celebration highlights a different cultural principle, referred to in both English and the pan-African KiSwahili (also known as Swahili) language. Food rituals also play an important role during Kwanzaa, which runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. [...]

Sweet potato pie

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Cooling time: 1 hour
Servings: 8

--This recipe is adapted from "Food for the Soul," by the Congregation of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Ingredients:
3 medium sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled while still warm
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. each: vanilla, ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. each: ground nutmeg, allspice
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the sweet potatoes with an electric mixer on low speed while the potatoes are still warm. Add the butter; mix well. Beat in the sugars, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice; mix well. Pour into the pie crust.

2. Bake until set and lightly brown on top, about 50-60 minutes; cool on wire rack at least 1 hour.

(Originally posted: 12/29/05)