tasty tuesday's: thanksgiving edition!

So...is everyone as excited for Thanksgiving as I am? I have been looking forward to delicious food, family and friends for a few weeks now and am excited to share with you today one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes! It has been a huge hit at our houses so I'm sure they will be with yours. One thing's for sure, I'm very thankful to have each and every one of you in my life and even if we can't spend the holidays together, I'm glad I have you. :) Enjoy.

Maple-Pecan Sweet Potatoes
 This is from a Cooking Light magazine. My mother-in-law found this recipe for me about two years ago and everyone has loved it! If you're cooking for a lot of people I would definitely double the batch...Now I know Thanksgiving is not one of those days we watch what we eat, but I do like that they added in the nutrition facts so I'll throw them in for ya too. In a half cup serving: 185 calories, 7.3g fat, 3.2g protein, 28g carb, 3.4g fiber, 41mg chol, 1mg iron, 315mg sodium, 57mg calc. So relatively good for you as far as Thanksgiving food goes. Alright, let's get down to business.

What you need:
  2 3/4lbs sweet potatoes
  1/4 cup half and half
  3 tablespoons butter, melted
  3 tablespoons maple syrup
  1 teaspoon kosher salt (kosher salt really makes the difference here, so buy it! trust me!)
  1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  1 large egg, lightly beaten
  Cooking spray
  mini-marshmallows
  pecans, chopped

What you do:
  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Pierce your potatoes, place them on foil-lined baking sheet and bake for about an hour or until tender. Let them cool a little bit, peel them, and them throw them in a large bowl and mash them up. Reduce your oven temp to 350. Stir in the half and half, butter, syrup, salt and pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and egg. Spray at 2 quart baking dish and spoon the potato mixture in. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. After the first fifteen minutes, take it out, sprinkle the potatoes with the pecans (as many or as little as you like) and then add your marshmallows in top (same thing goes here, go to town if you like!) Pop it back in the oven at 350 for about 12 minutes or until the marshmallows are slightly melted and golden-brownish looking. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!! :)