Sweet Potato Casserole

Good thing yall don't sit around and wait to eat, based on my posts, huh? Sorry about the long silence. Life's just been a little hectic lately.
Anyway, I figured I'd start featuring some Thanksgiving loves of mine. The first and (according to my husband) most important...

Sweet Potato Casserole!!

This is a staple at our big family feast. All of my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc meet up at my grandparents' house, and my aunt always makes the sweet potato casserole.

The recipe comes from an old cookbook... it was actually made the year I was born (1982). It has special meaning to me. You see, my family used to build custom homes. My great granddaddy started the company from practically nothing, then my granddaddy took it over, and my dad joined in too. My dad actually started sweeping out the houses in 5th grade and worked his way up (no entitlement complexes in my family, thank God!).
Unfortunately, a few years ago, the housing economy took them out. Because they designed and built custom homes, they couldn't compete with the cheaper, mass production style homes. It broke my heart to watch it collapse, mainly because my daddy worked SO hard to keep it going. I'm proud of him for at least trying.

Anyway, during the good years, my grandmother, along with my mom and several other special ladies in my life, headed up the Women's Auxiliary of Home Builders Association. Together, they put together a cookbook filled with all kinds of classic (and a few creative) recipes. Basically, those old southern recipes Paula makes? Yeah, she's just sharing what southern women have known how to do for generations (which is probably why I love that woman so much).

The first time my husband spent Thanksgiving with me (we were still dating then), everyone kept telling him to try it. So he got the tiniest portion ever, just to appease them.

He ended up eating half the dish.
My aunt now makes two.

(photo courtesy of About.com)

Original recipe by Mrs. Betty Chillcott from the Whirlpool Corporation

Ingredients:

• 3 c sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (do yourself a favor and don't use canned)
• 1/3 stick butter or margarine
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 scant tsp sherry flavoring (I usually skip this; it won't hurt anything if you don't have any on hand)
• 1 scant tsp pure butter flavoring (yeah, don't skip this one)
• 2 eggs

Topping:

• 1/3 stick butter or margarine
• 1 c light brown sugar
• 1 c chopped pecans

Mix the first seven ingredients. Pour into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with topping made with the next three ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. To freeze or refrigerate, do not bake first.

Hope you enjoy it! It's seriously like eating dessert...