Tater Pie

Sweet Potato Pie with Candied Nut Cream:

2 medium sweet potatoes
12 graham crackers
5 T unsalted butter, melted
2 T granulated sugar
1, 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped candied nuts or peanut brittle

Heat oven to 400. Pierce potatoes all over with fork, place on rimmed baking sheet, and bake until very tender, 50-60 minutes. Let cool, then halve and scoop out flesh.

Reduce oven to 350. In food processor, process graham crackers until fine crums form. Add butter, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pulse until moistened. Press mixture into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate, using a straight-sided dry measuring cup to help. Place on rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and set, 10-12 minutes. Let cool.

Wipe out food processor and add sweet potato flesh, condensed milk, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and process until smooth. Pour mixture into crust and bake until set in the center, 45-55 minutes. Let cool completely.

Before serving, using an electric mixer, beat cream on medium-high until soft peaks form. Gently fold in nuts and serve with pie.

New Favorite

Sweet Potatoes are a favorite of mine. I don't care if they are mashed, smashed, glazed, baked, or roasted. I love them all. Although, I have never really had that all time "favorite" go to recipe. That is, until now.

For Thanksgiving, I decided to make Pioneer Woman's Soul Sweet Potatoes, and I am so glad I did!!!! This will now be my "go to" recipe when I want sweet potatoes. Everyone loved them, and I think you will too.


4 Sweet Potatoes
1 cup sugar
1 cup Milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Pecans
1/2 cups Flour
3/4 stick of Butter


Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 400 degree for one hour. When they are cool, slice them open and scoop the flesh into a large bowl.

Add 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of salt. With a potato masher, mash them until mixture is smooth.

In a separate bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup pecans, chopped, 1/2 cup flour, and 3/4 stick of butter. With a pastry cutter or fork, mash together until thoroughly combined.

Spread the sweet potato mixture into a greased baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Ham and Yams

Tonight we had the best dinner. I made maple ham and alongside it we had Paula Deen's yams. Everything was so yummy, and it was nice to actually eat something that tasted great.

Often times, in the summer when it is so unbelievably hot, it is hard to actually enjoy eating. Not to mention how much of a hassle cooking can be when it's too hot outside, but fortunately for us, we at least used the crock pot for part of the meal.

Somehow, eating food that comes from one of Paula's cookbooks or shows just makes me feel good. It seems to be a good sign that we started the week off just right!! Having leftovers for lunch the next day isn't too shabby either.

I adore sweet potatoes, and the hubs has grown to like them too. I found this recipe many years ago, and it has always turned out. This seems to be a good recipe to convert those that have never been sure about sweet potatoes before.

Sweet Potato Yams:

3 large sweet potatoes
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes, and prick them with a fork. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes for an hour. Thirty minutes into the baking process, make the sauce on the stove. Bring the water, butter, sugar, vanilla and spices to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Once sweet potatoes are baked and cooled, peel them and slice them into 1/2 inch rounds. Place them into slightly greased baking dish and cover with sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I am linking this recipe to Mommy's Kitchen for Potluck Sunday.

Holiday Staple

Sweet Potato Casserole With A Crust:

3 cups cooked, peeled, mashed sweet potatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 stick margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg

Mix together and pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix together and put on top of the potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes to an hour until the center is set.

Tater Bread

Sweet Potato Bread:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (2 medium sweet potatoes)
1/2 cup oil
6 T orange juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients. In small bowl, whisk eggs, sweet potatoes, oil and orange juice. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in pecans. Transfer batter to greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 60-65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Recipe from Taste of Home's Halloween issue

Side Dish With a Squishy Surprise

Everyone on my side of the family loves sweet potatoes, and we eat them quite often. Hubby is even a willing participant every time, even though he is not their biggest fan. It was no surprise when it was discovered that our oldest nephew enjoys them as much as the rest of the family.

This Paula Deen recipe is one of the many ways that we enjoy making sweet potatoes. I felt that it was appropriate to share just in time for your holiday cooking.

Sweet Potato Balls:

4 large sweet potatoes
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups shredded coconut, sweetened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large marshmallow per potato ball


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the potatoes until tender, then peel and mash them. Stir in the brown sugar, orange juice, zest and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, toss the coconut with the sugar and cinnamon. Press mashed potatoes around each marshmallow, creating a 2 to 3-inch diameter ball. Roll the balls in the coconut mixture. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Watch carefully for the last few minutes of cooking; the expanding marshmallows can cause the potato balls to burst open.

Prelude to a Feast

Back in early October, I bought the Taste of Home Halloween Magazine. I love Taste of Home Magazine, and I buy just about every issue. I noticed this recipe and mentioned to hubby that we needed to try this. Then, I noticed that Crockpot Lady made it, and I knew we had to try it. We loved this, and it was so different. We will most likely be having this at Thanksgiving this year. I love to switch up the Thanksgiving side dishes from year to year, and I think everyone will like this. Crockpot Lady adapted this somewhat from the original version. I then took a step out from her modified version. If you have the Taste of Home Halloween magazine, you will find this on page 48. Thanks to Crockpot Lady, we now might have to purchase an additional crockpot before Thaksgiving approaches.

Crockpot Pecan Crusted Sweet Potatoes:

4 peeled and sliced (1/4 inch thick) sweet potatoes
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup nonfat evaporated milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 T butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes and stack in the crockpot. Cover with the 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Spoon the cranberry sauce all over the top of the sugar and potatoes. Mix the 1 tsp of vanilla with the cup of milk, and pour over the sweet potatoes. Slice the butter into about 8 pieces. Dot it on top. Sprinkle pecans over the top. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-6.

Not Just for the Holidays

The first Thanksgiving that James and I were together, we made these sweet potatoes. He doesn't like sweet potatoes too much, but he ate them.... HHHHMMM, wonder if he ate them because he liked them or just because he liked me?

Sweet Potato Casserole

5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. miniature marshmallows

Boil the sweet potatoes until tender. Mash with a potato masher, and then combine with margarine, brown sugar, orange juice, vanilla, and spices. Spread into greased 13x9 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with miniature marshmallows and return to the oven until they are melted.