Kids on Food Book Review: The Gigantic Sweet Potato by Dianne de Las Casas & some Sweet Potato Pie

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you enjoy turkey day & that you have many blessings for which to be thankful... Salud!

photo credit

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Isn't it funny how in the midst of pie baking, bread rising, turkey brining, stock making, cranberries bubbling, apples smooshing, sweet potatoes baking, green beans casseroling...regular day to day life still wants to continue?  Sheesh.  I mean, people still expect to be fed and clothed and helped with their homework.  Sometimes they even want to sit down and read a book to you...or be read to.  So, take a deep breath and read a book with the kids.  Even better, read one in the spirit of the season!

The Gigantic Sweet Potato by Dianne de Las Casas is a fun little adventure into the garden.  Ma Farmer develops a craving for some Sweet Potato Pie that she just can't shake.  Unfortunately she doesn't have any sweet potatoes growing in her garden, and since she prefers  home grown food, she decides it's time to plant one.  With a lot of love and care, that sweet potato grows bigger than she ever imagined, and it took the help of many to pull it from the ground.  It demonstrates the fact that no matter how small you are, you can do anything you set your mind to!  The Gigantic Sweet Potato is a great story for younger kids...and it ends in the sweetest way possible...with a recipe, of course!  Ma Farmer finally satisfied that urge for some Sweet Potato Pie...and we added it to our Thanksgiving table.

A few thoughts from the kiddos themselves...

Sweet Thang:  If you try, you can do anything!  It was great.

Drama Queen:  That sweet potato was gigantic.  Oh look, there's a recipe!

Both: Can we make it!? (of the pie)

...pshaw.  Like they even needed to ask.  It was a bit different from my "usual" version of sweet potato pie...which includes Bourbon...but we liked it!  And it super easy to make.  Dump all of the ingredients into a bowl and let the kids mix away.  Pour into your unbaked pie shell, bake...that's it!  The kids had a blast making it and can't wait to share it with the extended family.

Ma Farmer's Sweet Potato Pie

“From THE GIGANTIC SWEET POTATO by Dianne de las Casas, illustrated by Marita Gentry © 2010. Used by permission of the publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved.”

1 lb. sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled

½ c. butter, softened

¾ c. sugar

¼ c. brown sugar

½ c. sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 (9") pie crust, unbaked (my pie crust)

In a mixing bowl, mash the sweet potatoes.  Add butter.  Mix thoroughly.  Stir in sugar, brown sugar, condensed milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.  Pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm with a large dollop of whipped cream.  Mmm, mmm, mmm.

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*Although I received this book free of charge to review from the publisher, the opinions in this post were all mine.  And Sweet Thang's.  And Drama Queen's.