Candied Orange Sweet Potatoes

Candied Orange Sweet Potatoes
Dorcas Annette Walker

Last Sunday our home church had its annual home coming. Along with the huge crowd there were all kinds of casseroles, meats, salads, and desserts that overflowed several tables in our church fellowship hall. Even after everyone was stuffed there were enough leftovers to make another church meal. The sight of tables filled with food always captivates me with the possibility of discovering a new recipe. I think the one thing all good cooks have in common is curiosity. Just let a different dish appear before us or a familiar one with a new twist to it and our noses start to twitch. Not only is the taste of delicious food one grand delight, but chatting with all the other cooks and discussing recipes is the main highlight of church dinners. I’ve made more new friends discussing ingredients to a casserole or dessert over the years than in any other way. No matter what area of the United States I’m in as long as there is food around it is always an instant ice-breaker. Food has a way of breaking down any age or culture barrier. It was Granny in her nineties, who passed this recipe along to me a couple of years ago. What a joy to know that if I live to be a hundred years old I’ll still be interested in trying new recipes.

Our first frost up here on the mountain recently signaled that it was time to begin harvesting the sweet potatoes in my garden. My Candied Orange Sweet Potatoes recipe is a new twist on the sweet potatoes casserole topped with marshmallows. No matter how you prepare sweet potatoes whether by baking, frying, microwaving, simmering in butter and brown sugar, doing up in pies, or making into casseroles you can always be assured of a tasty and nutritious dish. I always keep a supple of canned sweet potatoes in my pantry. Not only do the jars give off a bright orange color, but they are available for instant use.

My Candied Orange Sweet Potatoes gives a hint of summer with its mild citrus taste and embodies the fall season with its bright orange color while the topping of toasted marshmallows is reminiscent of sitting around a campfire. This casserole is quick and easy to make and can be made up ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to pop into the oven for baking. Preparation time for my Candied Orange Sweet Potatoes is ten minutes and this recipe serves eight.

Candied Orange Sweet Potatoes

1 qt cooked sweet potatoes
½ c orange juice
¼ c syrup
½ tsp ginger
3 tb margarine
pinch of salt
cinnamon
10 oz bag of marshmallows

Mash the sweet potatoes in a medium-sized bowl and add the next five ingredients stirring until well mixed. Pour into a buttered 7 x 11 baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and top with the marshmallows. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes until the marshmallows are puffy and browned. Serve hot!

Weekly tip: To can sweet potatoes: cook the potatoes until almost tender and ready to peel, then cold pack the potatoes in quart jars with a medium syrup (3 c sugar to 4 c water), and can for thirty minutes!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com