This past Thanksgiving was officially my second as a married woman…and in our family the married women do all the cooking. Being that I love to cook, I counted it pure joy to be able to use some of my elbow grease. Last year, mom asked to take charge on the sweet potato casserole. We found one that was from Texas called “‘Slap Your Momma Good’ Sweet Potato Casserole.” Well, to say the least, I didn’t want to slap my momma good after eating those…as a matter of fact, I didn’t want to to slap her even the slightest bit. What I’m trying to say is that they were nothing special.
This year I came armed with a new recipe that I knew would conquer. It was the Pioneer Woman’s recipe, so I knew it would bring me victory (and redemption for that matter). She is one of my favorite blogs to watch. She provides style and character to her food, but never sacrifices flavor. Like I said, I knew I was in good hands with her. So, I got started following the recipe. I got to the end of the recipe and realized that my crumble topping wasn’t all that “crumbly.” Rather, it was creamy, almost like a thick icing. I went back to the recipe to double check my work, and there it was… 3/4th of a stick of butter NOT 3/4th CUP of butter…and in case your math is not that great, that is DOUBLE the BUTTER. No wonder it was so deliciously creamy!! But hey, it’s hard to mess things up with butter…so with the help of my hubs, I just added more pecans and brown sugar to make a perfect carmelized crust…or what I hoped to be perfect.
It actually did come out beautifully, but looks only get you so far. So after the prayer was said, my hubs immediately jumped into that casserole. With his fork still in his mouth, he groaned in approval. Others followed behind him, and after one fork-full myself, I couldn’t resist but to agree whole heartedly. Pioneer Woman wasn’t kidding when she said that this recipe would change your opinion about those old sweet potatoes. Though I’m not sure I will use all that butter next time (for the sake of our arteries), this recipe will always be served with my Thanksgiving feast. Oh, how I love new traditions, especially those with “double the butter.”
P.S. If you’re wondering whether these were “Slap Yo Momma Good”…well, I would say yes, but I could never do such a thing, no matter how much butter was added. But I would imagine that if there was ever such a thing as good as that, then this would be it- so maybe tell your momma to be stand clear, just in case.
