Yammy-get it? Because sweet potatoes can be substituted with yams? My sense of humor is not for everyone:)

Growing up in Ukraine, I ate potatoes like it was my job. A meal without potatoes in some form was an incomplete meal. When we came to America, I heard of something called “sweet potatoes,” but, come on, how can potatoes be sweet? Well, it wasn’t until years later that the haze of ignorance was lifted from my taste buds and I had a taste of mashed sweet potatoes. Oh, and how my world changed! Then came sweet potato fries, and basically, game over. Well, last Thanksgiving, I decided to be uber traditional and so I made Sweet Potato Casserole, with marshmallows and all. I was a bit nervous, since it’s so American, and we are so Ukrainian, but it turned out to be a big hit! Since then, I’ve made it again for this Thanksgiving, as well as Christmas. Of coarse, my older brothers tried to act like eating orange potatoes is the worst thing that could happen to them, but they got over it pretty quickly.

The recipe I really like is found here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/classic-sweet-potato-casserole-10000001940936/

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes $
• 1 cup granulated sugar $
• 1/2 cup butter, softened $
• 1/4 cup milk $
• 2 large eggs $
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract $
• 1/4 teaspoon salt $
• 1 1/4 cups cornflakes cereal, crushed $
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans $
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar $
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted $
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows $

I follow it pretty closely, although I didn’t have marshmallows at Christmas, and so I just used pecans.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Step 1: Pick out sweet potatoes that are similar in size, this way they’ll cook at the same time.   You’ll need 4.5 lbs.

Step 2: Scrub them, and scrub them well. They are dusty little things.

Step 3: Bake the potatoes until you can easily stab them with a fork (about an hour…maybe more. ) Turn over down to 350 degrees.

Step 4: Once the potatoes are baked and soft, let them cool a bit so that you can peel them. But you don’t want them to get cold, because butter won’t melt itself!

Step 5: Place the potatoes into a nice sized mixing bowl, mash them, add 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter (softened), 1/4 cup milk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix it all together with a mixer until smooth. Spoon into a baking dish. I use whatever I have, but the suggested size is 11×7 inches.

Step 6: Combine 1+1/4 cups crushed cornflake cereal in a bowl with 1/4 cup chopped pecans, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Sprinkle over the potatoes in diagonal rows 2 inches apart.

Step 7: Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, take out and let sit for 10 minutes, sprinkle marshmallows in the empty rows. Bake 10 minutes, let stand 10 minutes, SERVE and ENJOY!

The taste is heavenly, crunchy, soft, chewy, all of those things combined. Makes me wish it was Thanksgiving and Christmas more often!!!