• Sweet potatoes don’t get ripe like other crops. They will continue growing as long as the plant has green leaves 120 to 150 days after harvesting.

• Sweet potatoes are more nutritious if cooked with the skin on.

• Fresh sweet potatoes can be stored for up to a month.

• When using candid yams, add them at the end of the recipe because they are already pre-cooked

• When grilling sweet potatoes, metal skewers are a must because it will cook the inside of the vegetable and speed up the cooking time.

• Sweet potatoes should not be refrigerated unless cooked.

• Store at 55 degrees to 65 degrees F.

• Always use a stainless steel knife when cutting a sweet potato, using a carbon blade will cause the yam to darken.

• Sweet potatoes are roots.

• African slaves called sweet potatoes “nyami” because it reminded them of the starchy, edible tuber of the name that grew in their homeland. The Senegalese word “nyami” was shortened to “yam.”

• The Beauregard has a sweet, rich flavor, bakes well and is disease-resistant.

• In 1987, Dr. Larry Ralston, an entomologist with LSU Agriculture Center’s research branch developed a more insect-resistant sweet potato and named it Beauregard.

• Sweet potatoes were grown in Peru as early as 750 B.C.

• George Washington, the first US President, was a sweet potato farmer

• A bad crop of cotton turned farmers in south Louisiana to sweet potatoes as a cash crop in the 1930’s.

• Louisiana sweet potato farmers started using the term “yam” several decades ago as a national marketing tool to help distinguish their variety from those grown on the East Coast.

• Native Americans were already growing sweet potatoes when Columbus arrived to America in 1492.

• Both Louis XV’s and Empress Josephine’s fondness of the sweet potato encouraged two short periods of popularity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

• Sweet potatoes have been growing in the South since as early as 1648.

**

Louisiana Sweet Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

¾  Pound sweet potatoes

1 ½  Cups all-purpose flour

3 ½  Teaspoons baking powder

1  Teaspoon salt

½  Teaspoon ground nutmeg

2  Eggs, beaten

1 ½  Cups milk

¼  Cup butter, melted

Instructions:

Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter. Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble. Credits: Allrecipes.com, Inc., 2012. SWIZZLESTICKS

Serving Size:  8

Cook Time: 30 minutes