Sweet Potatoes

Who does not like sweet potatoes, especially someone born and raised in the south?

Think of all the ways you can prepare sweet potatoes. I like plain baked sweet potatoes brimming with butter and maybe a dollop of brown sugar and cinnamon. And sweet potato casseroles, mashed with butter and vanilla. cinnamon brown sugar eggs and perhaps a gooey marshmallow topping.Or our favorite topping; nuts butter and brown sugar. Also:
Sweet potato pie. Yummy.

One Thanksgiving, my grown and married son who was about 30 at the time, said no thanks to a serving of our family's old stand by, sweet potato casserole. He said " I don't like sweet potatoes." I asked "Since when. You always ate sweet potatoes growing up?" He replied, "No I did not, didn't you notice?
I guess I just drew a blank or my mind refused to acknowledge that my own flesh and blood did not like sweet potatoes. The thought of anyone NOT liking sweet potatoes is beyond my comprehension. :)
Maybe there was a mix up at the hospital nursery? ;)


All About Sweet Potatoes

"The sweet potato is a native crop in North Carolina grown in the Coastal Plains. American Indians were growing sweet potatoes when Columbus discovered America in 149 Sweet potatoes have been around since prehistoric times. Some scientists believe that dinosaurs might have eaten these delicious vegetables. ( and just remember how big they grew)


When European people first came to live in North and South America, they also learned to eat a lot of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes were a main food of European people living in America in the 1500's, 1600's, and 1700's AD.

When African people came to North America, they called sweet potatoes "yams". That's because back home in Africa, they had eaten a food that was a lot like sweet potatoes, which in Africa was called "nyami" or "anyinam". They aren't really the same plant, but they look and taste a lot alike, so the African people called sweet potatoes "yams." They cooked them the way they had back home, and ate a lot of them."


SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

This tasty sweet potato casserole contains butter, vanilla, mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar, butter, and pecans.
INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
.
Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans
PREPARATION:
Beat eggs, granulated sugar, and 3/4 cup butter. Add milk and vanilla. Combine with the mashed sweet potatoes; spoon into a greased 2-quart casserole. Combine brown sugar, flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter, and pecans, mixing until crumbly; sprinkle over sweet potatoes. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
Serves 6.