NEVER Peel Your Sweet Potatoes Again, Try This Old Appalachian Trick

My Mama never once peeled a sweet potato before it went in the water, and that woman didn't waste a peeling, a crust or a drop of grease. There was a reason, and you can see it in the pot. Folks say five things about sweet potatoes at every table: that yams and sweet potatoes are the same, that they belong in the crisper drawer, that you should peel and cube them first, that boiled is as good as baked for pie, and that a store sweet potato won't grow. We put every one of them to the test in my kitchen, side by side. Only one is flat true. See if you can pick which before I tell you. Then Mama's candied sweet potatoes exactly the way she made them, my never-fail pie crust, and the sweet potato pie for the Thanksgiving table. THE RECIPES MAMA'S CANDIED SWEET POTATOES (feeds 10) - 5 lb sweet potatoes, whole, skins on - 1 cup packed brown sugar - 1/2 cup butter, plus more for the pan - 1/2 cup water - 1 tsp cinnamon - 1/2 tsp salt 1. Boil the whole potatoes 20 minutes, until a fork goes in but still meets a little push back. They finish in the oven. 2. Cool enough to hold, then press with your thumb and slip the skins off. Cut in thick rounds. 3. Heat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9x13 pan and lay the rounds in overlapping, like shingles. 4. In a small saucepan, boil the brown sugar, butter, water, cinnamon and salt 2 minutes into a syrup. Pour it over. 5. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, spooning pan syrup over the tops twice. Done when the syrup is thick and bubbling at the edges and the tops have a little color. 6. Leftovers in the icebox within 2 hours. Eat within 3 to 4 days, reheated until steaming hot all through. Nothing on top but syrup. (My sister Nell uses marshmallows. We haven't fallen out over it.) MAMAW'S NEVER-FAIL PIE CRUST (page 255 in the book) - 3 cups flour - 1 tsp salt - 1 Tbsp sugar - 1 1/4 cups cold lard or shortening - 1 egg - 5 Tbsp cold water - 1 Tbsp cider vinegar 1. Mix the flour, salt and sugar. Cut in the cold lard until the lumps are pea-sized. 2. Beat the egg with the cold water and vinegar. Stir it in just until it holds. Don't knead it. 3. Wrap and chill 30 minutes, then roll it out. SWEET POTATO PIE (one 9-inch pie, page 269 in the book) - 3 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 lb), whole - 1/2 cup soft butter - 1 cup brown sugar - 2 eggs - 1/2 cup evaporated milk - 1 tsp vanilla - 1 tsp cinnamon - 1/2 tsp nutmeg - 1/4 tsp salt - a little grated orange peel, if you have an orange - 1 unbaked 9-inch crust 1. Bake the whole potatoes at 400°F for 1 hour, until a fork slides right through. Do it the day before and the filling takes 20 minutes. 2. Heat oven to 350°F. Slip the skins and measure 2 cups of hot mash. Beat in the butter until it melts. Push it through a sieve if it's stringy. 3. Beat in the brown sugar, then the eggs one at a time, then the evaporated milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and orange peel. Beat 1 full minute, until smooth as pudding. 4. Pour into the crust and bake 55 to 65 minutes. Done when only a small circle in the center shivers and a knife slid in an inch from the edge comes out clean. 5. Cool completely, then into the icebox within 2 hours. CHAPTERS 0:00 Skins on, twenty minutes 0:39 Who I am 1:05 Mama's recipes, written down 1:38 Yam or sweet potato? 2:42 The crisper drawer 4:05 How to store them 4:30 Peel and cube them first? 5:57 What's in that orange water 6:58 Mama's candied sweet potatoes 8:28 A can vs five loose ones 8:58 Grow them from a store sweet potato 10:01 Never-fail pie crust 11:02 Boil or bake for pie? 11:57 Sweet potato pie 14:03 What to remember