Family Holidays are Sweet in Southern West Virginia

November 21, 2012
Lots of our holiday traditions are all about food. Many family recipes have been handed down for generations. That often means that the recipes  include an item grown in home gardens.

The “root” of the holiday recipe that appears on the table of Kay Bess, Marketing Director of Visit Southern West Virginia, is sweet potatoes. It’s a locally grown item that makes its way onto the table of many WV holiday dinners.

Sweet Potatoes for Thanksgiving

Sweet potatoes can be traced back at least 5,000 years to Central America. They were on the menu for even the earliest Thanksgivings.

Here’s Kay’s take on sweet potato casserole.
Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
  • 3 Cups Sweet potato (mashed)
  • 3 Eggs
  • ¼ Cup of milk
  • 1 stick of butter
  • ½ Teaspoon vanilla
Mix all together with mixer and place in 2qt baking dish.
Topping
  • 1 Cup of brown sugar
  • ½ Cup of flour
  • ½ Stick of butter
  • 1 Cup of pecans
Mix well with a spoon and spread over sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Enjoy.
This is such a sweet and nutritious (well almost) dish for your holiday celebrations. Sweet potatoes are part of many different recipes this time of year, but are almost always prepared in a candied manner.
So while you are enjoying your Thanksgiving dinner, take a look at all the things on the menu and see how many of them are a family tradition or have been locally grown.
Happy Thanksgiving from your friends in southern West Virginia!
What’s your favorite traditional Thanksgiving dish?
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