Skip to main content

Nana's Yams & Apples

Nana's enamel casserole dish
Nana’s Yams & Apples
Nana brings this to dinner every Thanksgiving.  She’s 92 years old (2000). She always uses bright orange sweet potatoes, not yams, but I can't bring myself to change the name. I make it every Thanksgiving when we’re living away from home (and Nana) for the holidays. Sometimes I bake it the day before and reheat it the next day for Thanksgiving so that the flavors have had a chance to meld. 

It helps to buy yams that are all similar in size and width. I look for yams that are shaped like a cylinder (about 2-½  inches in diameter, rather than the ones in the shape of a huge football. 

[Update 2010: sweet Nana passed away when she was nearly ninety-nine. Guess which enamel casserole dish we use for yams and apples every year. Nana's.]

6 medium, narrow Garnet sweet potatoes, (about 3 lb total)
6 apples, peeled and sliced (half crisp & half baking apples)
1 C sugar
3 TBL cornstarch
2 tsp salt
2 C hot water
½ C butter (1 cube)
Juice of half lemon (2 TBL)
½ C marshmallows (optional)

  1. Fill a large pot halfway with water, cover and bring to the boil.  Add whole, unpeeled sweet potatoes to water, making sure they are covered by boiling water.  Bring back to the boil.  Boil for 35-40 minutes until very tender—insert point of a sharp knife to check for doneness.  Knife should not meet any resistance. 
  2. Drain and peel when cool enough to handle. (You can cook them up to half a day before making the sauce; just wait to peel them until you assemble the casserole).
  3. In medium saucepan add sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Stir to mix.  Add hot water and lemon juice.  Put saucepan over medium high heat.  Stirring constantly, bring to the boil.  Lower heat and stir for 1 more minute.  Turn off heat.  Add butter and stir until melted.  Remove from heat.
  4. Alternate layers of yams and apples in casserole dish. Pour sauce carefully over entire top, making sure the sauce covers every apple and yam slice on top. Do not overfill with sauce.
  5. Put a baking sheet in the oven on the lowest rack to catch any drips, just in case.
  6. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes on middle rack of oven.  Can top with marshmallows during last 5 minutes of baking.
  7. Let rest for 20 minutes before serving. We like it baked the day before Thanksgiving, cooled, refrigerated, then reheated just before Thanksgiving dinner.


Popular posts from this blog

How to Freeze Avocados to Use in Smoothies

How to Freeze Avocados to Use in Smoothies
We add an avocado to our daily smoothies, but it's nearly impossible to have a "just right" ripe avocado every day since they go bad quickly. Sometimes we only needed half an avocado. Here's a simple way: a smooth purée. For every avocado you need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and it keeps its bright green color if you purée it rather than mash it like you would for guacamole. Each avocado = 3/4 cup purée (12 tablespoons). Sometimes I will make a big batch, like 18 avocados, so I need over 1 cup lemon juice for that quantity of purée (4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup). Now it's easy to have that daily avocado!

6 avocados, ripe
6 TBL lemon juice, fresh-squeezed
6 sandwich-sized zip-loc plastic bags 
1 ice-cream scoop that measures 1/4-cup servings
1 large tray
Wash avocados. Make a cut around each avocado starting at the stem end, and cut all the way around. Twist to separate. The pit will stay in one half. You can easily remove the pit …

Easter Babies (Croatian Easter Bread Dolls)

Easter Babies
                                                    ******* Makes 12 Easter Babies
Keto Pancakes. Ingredients 1 cup almond flour2 tbsp coconut flour1 tsp baking powder1 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp sea salt4 eggs1/2 cup milk (whole full fat unpasteurized grass fed…you know the drill. Or coconut milk)1 tbsp coconut oil, melted (more for greasing your griddle or pan)1 tsp vanilla extract The How To’s Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl.Add the wet to the dry and whisk well.Refrigerate for about 10-20 minutes. If the batter is too thick just add a spoon full of milk at a time until it’s the proper consistency. It should be about as thick as a muffin batter.Heat your griddle to 350 degrees.Add some coconut oil to your griddle to keep the pancakes from sticking.Use a 3/4 oz ice cream scoop or a large tablespoon to drop the batter on the greased griddle.Cool for about 2-3 minutes then flip carefully and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.Top with…