Sweet Potato Pie

  I've been trying to decide what to put as the first recipe on this blog. I'm from the South, so I wanted to do something Southern, first, and then go from there.  I can't take credit for this recipe. My grandmother, Eva Clenney, would cook all the time, and not really go by a recipe. She would use a dash of this and a dash of that. My mom and all my aunts always wondered how she did everything she cooked, from homemade biscuits to even sweet potato pie.  So this recipe is her's. From what I understand, my family took time to watch her as she cooked and wrote down guess-timates of how much she put in what recipe. My mom told me she followed my grandmother around on this recipe and took notes.  It definitely works for my mom, because she cooks great sweet potato pies, too.  So, they did pretty good on writing it down, and I know it works because I tasted it all the time growing up. I guess that's where I got some of my ability to throw things together and not always use a recipe, or sometimes stray from a recipe and make it my own. One thing I do, though, is write down the recipe after I throw things together, without one. So, here's the recipe that everyone's been asking me about, around here.  Just know that you can slightly vary the amount of the ingredients and spices to your taste. Very important to taste things as you cook, especially on this recipe. Hope you like the sweet potato pie!  For those who've never tasted a sweet potato pie, imagine a pumpkin pie only alot sweeter! :-)  No bitter taste with sweet potato pies! :-)  Well, here's the recipe, below, and have fun cooking! :-)

Sweet Potato Pie
4 cups cooked sweet potatoes
4 eggs
1 stick of butter
3 cups of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla flavoring
1 tsp of lemon flavoring
1/2- 1 cup dark Karo syrup
4 to 5  8 or 9 inch pie shells, or make your own
*mix with 1/2 sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon, & 1 tsp of nutmeg.
*adjust spices and flavoring to taste

Mix mashed potatoes and 1/2 of sugar, then butter and eggs. Beat well with mixer. Add
spices mixed with  1/2 of sugar. Add flavorings, then syrup. Pour into pie crusts, and smooth the tops with a spatula.
.
Cook at 350 degrees for about 30-35mins.

Makes 4 to 5 pies.

Welcome! :-)

  Welcome to "Southern Bre(a)d! :-)  Friends have been after me to create a general blog, an art blog, a film blog, and a cooking blog.  I tried doing all of it on one blog, The Blarrrg!, but it was a little to much to do random, then add specific things I wanted to do, in one blog.  I have several interests, and God has given me many talents, among them also includes cooking.
  The title, as you may have figured out by now, comes from an Alabama song, "My Home's in Alabama", which says,"Southern born, and Southern bred!"  Also, of course, Southern bread, could be any form of breads we cook.  I'm from the south, and I make no bones about it, nor do I apologize for my southern courtesies and slang. It's a part of me, just like my art and my cooking.  Living in New Mexico some people think that what we do in the south on a daily basis is something I dreamed up, and could never happen in real life.  I know even the way I was brought up, alot of it is still  done that way in the south~~including the cooking.  Some things are worth the humidity, gnats, and mosquitos. Yes, there's still talk in the south, of "the South shall rise again", but that it not anything negative about the south. It's just pure southern pride, and there's nothing wrong with that. New Yorkers have their own brand on pride, and so do New Mexicans~we just all relate it to different things, and with the south, it's their southern hospitality, cooking and culture, among many other things!
  Well, I wanted to do a cooking blog, and my roots are all southern, but I live in New Mexico. Some of the things I cook are basic things I learned back home, and others are new things I learned since I moved to New Mexico.  I do love New Mexican cooking, but I'm also adamant about southern cooking.  The south is known for it's biscuits and cornbread, and New Mexico for it's sopapillas and tortillas.  The south is known for it's Cream 40 peas, and butter beans. New Mexico is known for it's red and green chile. I could go on and on.
  So, you can see my dilemma in creating a cooking blog.  True, I don't have everything I need to cook all the southern dishes I normally would, out here, and back home you can't get Hatch red and green chile~it's only found in New Mexico.  Much the same way Mayhaws are only found in the southwest Georgia area, and true Vidalia onions only come from Vidalia, Georgia.  So, no matter which way I went to do recipes, some people aren't going to be able to get all the ingredients. See, and you thought I was confused already, as an artist, huh?! LOL
  Well, this is my attempt at a cooking blog.  It will have tips, recipes, cooking, baking, Southern, Southwestern, New Mexican.  Yes, there is a big difference between New Mexican food and Mexican!  You never confuse the two once you move out here, and they will tell you so, too. But I'll teach you all of that, and along the way, with my experimenting with recipes, I'll learn alot of new things myself.
  So, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this as much as I will.  I will try to post often between this blog and my other blog, as well.  Everyone has been asking for it, so I guess I'll give the cooking blog a try! :-)
   Hope you enjoy it! :-)