i had never heard of sweet potato casserole until i met my ex husband's family. we had just started dating and went over to have some thanksgiving dinner with them. it was the first 'real' thanksgiving that i felt was like home to me. the dodson family is all from tennessee and cook great southern style foods...no matter what it is....so yummy! i fell in love with the family and their food that day :) one of my favorite things (which everything has become my favorite for the holidays) is the sweet potato casserole. i asked for the recipe. i see looks flying across the table....uh oh....what had i done now....i had experienced people telling me they don't share their recipes, so i was thinking fast as how to save this situation with declining needing it.....then the story came out.... it was from my {then} boyfriend's ex girlfriend. seems it was a secret family recipe of her family that she shared to win this family over to her. it wasn't supposed to be shared, but guess what????? i got it ;)

and as in most of my recipes, as i am sure you do, it has been changed....~~to protect the innocent~~ to make it my own. one year -- and many since then, our family has not been eating white sugar or white flour. so i made some changes to it to make it more healthy, and no one seems to take notice and its really good.

Sweet Potato Casserole

2 C. sweet potatoes, baked
1 C. sugar (I use 1/2 C. honey)
1/2 t. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 C. butter
1/2 C. milk, maybe more
1 t. vanilla

Mix these together and top with:

1 C. brown sugar (I have used sucanat, but not as good)
1 C. chopped pecans
1/2 C. flour--i usually use whole wheat, but this year will experiment with gluten free ingredients
6 T. butter

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

this recipe, the biscuits with cranberry sauce and the turkey and gravy are the ONLY things my family will eat for left overs....I am left with all the other good stuff :)