My Thanksgiving feast

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I started cooking the night before. The candied yam recipe came from my brother and was based on our grandmothers recipe. I omitted the nuts as I don't care for nuts in cooked stuff. I had a cup of raisins left over from the cookies I haven't baked yet so I tossed them in. It came out great even though I forgot about the vanilla *oops*. After chilling overnight I added the marshmallows and browned them. Maybe I am just getting old or have lost my appetite for really sweet stuff but I didn't like it with the marshmallows on it. I may have added too many or whatever but after the first serving I scraped most of them off. As for "to taste" I used a heavy 1/2 teaspoon of each spice. I bought a 3 lb bag of sweet potatoes and after peeling ended up with about 2-1/2 lbs. Word of caution: don't measure 1/4 teaspoon of salt in hand with cut in finger joint. :o)

2-3 pounds of sweet potatoes
1/2 stick real butter (not margarine or spread) at room temp., per pound of potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
ground cinnamon (to taste)
ground nutmeg (to taste)
ground allspice (to taste)
OR 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice instead of cinammon, nutmeg,
and allspice
1 or 2 cups brown sugar (enough to turn potatoes from orange to burnt-orange/golden brown)
1 or 2 flat cans of crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon REAL vanilla extract (not vanilla flavoring)
1 cup crushed pecans (Grandmother used walnuts, but pecans taste better)
1 bag miniature marshmallows enough to cover (or cut large ones in half, but that's a PITA)


Peel, chunk, and steam the sweet potatoes just until al dente (15-18 minutes), the drain thoroughly. (do not boil them)

Blend spices into the butter first. (The butter will carry the spices throughout the dish to ensure even distribution. The spices will bloom overnight, so be modest about it.)

In large mixing bowl with hand mixer, add sweet potatots, spiced butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Start slow to combine, then speed up to whip up to fluffy.

Fold in pecans and pineapple, turn into casserole, top with marshmallows.

Can be stored in refrigerator overnight to allow it to set. Bring to room temp an hour (eliminates condensation) before browning tops, then brown marshmallows in hot oven 5-8 minutes, or just until tops begin to brown.




Starting with the standard Campbell's recipe for the green bean casserole I used cheddar cheese soup and added shredded cheese on top. Not sure I particularly cared for the outcome. I used some sour cream instead of milk with the butter in the mashed potatoes. I had also intended to saute some garlic in butter for the potatoes but by that time I was tired of cooking. The gravy is the last of the McCormick's jar from Costco, now I will get starter from Better than Bullion like I have for beef gravy. I have a real gravy boat but is was just me and the measuring cup is easier to wash. The turkey is a breast I grilled too dry, but that is what the gravy is for. :-)



I was stuffed after just this one plate full.
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