(And speaking of Irish taters, Wikipedia online says sweet taters are more closely related to morning glories than to Irish taters! Click this link to read the Wikipedia information.)

My wife Mimi's momma, Opal Graham of Hurricane, Mississippi, kept a stash of baked sweet taters on the stove for the children to eat as candy. The older folks kept some buried in the warm embers of their fireplaces. You could warm your insides while scorching the back of your blue jeans pant legs.

That good old Mississippi dirt grows the finest sweet taters. Vardaman, in the black prairie area, is a major producer. Vardaman has the Sweet Potato Festival each November.

You will be amazed and enjoy the many delicious ways sweet taters are prepared and included in many baked goods. Mimi and I ate several at the Vardaman tent at the Crystal Springs Fall Garden festival last year. Opal still makes the best sweet tater pies.

~~~~~~
Ye Editor notes: There’s not a thing tastier than a sweet potato. Try these recipes:

SWEET POTATO PIE

• 4 ounces butter, softened
• 2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 small can evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 - 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 unbaked pie shells

Blend well: butter, potatoes, sugar and evaporated milk.
Add and mix well: vanilla, eggs, and cinnamon.
Pour into pie shells. Bake in a 350° oven for about 1 hour.
Ingredients make two pies.

………………

FRIED SWEET POTATOES

So easy! And so delicious!
More and more an alternative to French Fries.

• 4 sweet potatoes, medium to large
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• dash cinnamon (optional)

Boil sweet potatoes in skins until tender; slice about 1/4-inch thick. Heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat and brown sliced sweet potatoes quickly. Sprinkle with sugar, along with cinnamon, to taste.

………...........

SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Cut in 1/4 cup butter and the shortening with a pastry blender or forks until mixture is crumbly. Add mashed sweet potato and milk; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead only a few times.

Roll dough out to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet and brush with the melted butter. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Makes about 15 to 18 biscuits.

Carl Wayne tells us about himself:
"I write gardening articles for the Collierville, Tennessee, Independent, the Southaven, Mississippi, Press, and Desoto Magazine, all from a Southern perspective. I point out the correct pronunciation of ants (aints) and peonies (peOnies) and advise always to plant hydrangeas on the north side of the house. I've been in software development forty years, the last twenty with a large overnight express delivery company. I have taught computer science as adjunct faculty at local universities over twenty-five years. We have a small farm in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, where we raise a large garden with my in-laws. My in-laws were there when the REA strung the first electric wires in that area. They were killing hogs. That night for supper they had liver and lights."


Write Carl Wayne at this e-mail address: Rows of Buttercups

Read more of Carl Wayne's stories at USADS:
Southern Snakes
Laws Hill Fish House
Eco-friendly gardening: Yes, It's Weeds
Me and Mimi in the Garden


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