Sweet Potatoes

I know sweet potatoes.  Or maybe they are yams... 

Sweet potatoes (is that darker one a yam?), our half eaten pie,
and small 'crustless' pie.
Just playing with my food.

Whatever this vegetable is, I do know how to make pies with it and this is my favorite recipe.  The recipe makes two 9 inch pies.  I experimented with this batch and I made one of my pies without the crust - would that make it pudding?  or a casserole? 

I could have added to my crustless pie a half cup of Bourbon, 3 more tablespoons of melted butter, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, and thrown miniature marshmallows on top and it would have been my Aunt Jo's Sweet Potato Casserole (I remember it was a great side dish/dessert at family gatherings - as long as we didn't let it get too close to candles).

I got this recipe from my friend, Freddie.  Sadly, she died just over a year ago.  She had lived a long, full life and was well respected by everyone who knew her.  For me, she lives on in my memories  - her sweet smile, soft southern voice, gentle ways, and even in her pie.

Recipe -  Freddie B's Sweet Potato Pie

Before you can make this pie you'll need to wash, peel, cut up, and boil your sweet potatoes.  I used  three large sweet potatoes in this recipe (and had some left over).  I cut them in to small pieces and put them in a pot, added just enough water to cover them, a dash of salt, and put the lid on.  Put the pot on the stove top with medium heat.  I set my timer for 22 minutes and just let them cook.  I stirred the pot 3 or 4 times.  When the timer went off, I turned off the heat and just left the pot there while I made the pie crust.  Here's a link to my pie crust recipe.  After I made the crust, I drained the sweet potatoes and mashed them.  The recipe mixes up best if the potatoes are almost room temperature.


1 3/4 to 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (really, this is a very flexible recipe)
1 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring (that was my idea - Freddie's recipe only calls for a teaspoon)

Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, keep the mixer on low, mixing until everything is well blended.

Pour 2 2/3 cups of the mixture into each pie shell (I've added a little more and nothing terrible happens - you just have to cook a bit longer).

Place into oven and then turn it on to 425F / 425 degrees.

Bake 20 minutes, maybe a little longer, until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool 20 minutes (minimum) I think an hour or two is best.  Tastes good hot, warm, or cold.

Vanilla ice cream is a nice garnish or a little whipped cream.

This is what Autumn tastes like. 

Enjoy.

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