Last week's Desperation Dinners!:

Today’s installment in “Foods to be Thankful For” is my Mom’s amazing Sweet Potato Casserole. If there is one side dish that is her signature dish, it is this casserole. A plain baked sweet potato, with just a touch of butter is enough to have me singing the veggie’s praises. (And I always throw a few extras in the oven when I prepping for this casserole so I can do just that.) But these baked beauties stirred into Gayle’s Sweet Potato Casserole is enough to make me belt out the Halleluiah Chorus! Seriously folks, you haven’t tasted perfection in a casserole form until you’ve sampled this one. To my knowledge, in the 40 plus years I’ve been eating this casserole, there has never been a soul that tastes this classic holiday dish and doesn’t practically swoon.

Now before you faint at the calorie count, know this is a no-calories-saved-old-fashioned-Southern-recipe. And Paula Dean would definitely be proud at the amount of butter and sugar that goes into Mom’s super side-dish. Some in my family even save it for dessert, it’s that rich. Leftovers, if you’re lucky enough, are wonderful as well. See the recipe notes for the do-ahead hints. Thanks go to my mom, Gayle Brady, for this classic holiday dish.