Sweet Potatoes

I have always loved the glorious sweet potato!! I ate them frequently as a child since my mother was very nutrition-conscious and wanted to provide us with the best foods. Many people I know grew up eating sweet potatoes with marshmallows and brown sugar—the thought of which is a disgrace to this incredibly nutritious root vegetable. They are so naturally sweet and tasty, why would anyone want to mask all their natural goodness? Perhaps the reason was because they were served out of a can, which hardly does them justice. A real baked sweet potato is a sight to behold, when you cut through the dull orange brownish skin to find the magnificent deep orange flesh underneath. We are fortunate to have access to locally grown sweet potatoes right here in southern Vermont and New Hampshire, since the majority of sweet potatoes in this country are grown in the south. Their peak season is from early fall though many of the winter months, provided they are stored in a cool dark place. There are reported to be 400 varieties of sweet potatoes, and they with yellow, white, cream, orange, pink, and purple flesh. But the deep orange sweet potatoes are most commonly grown here.