KIzer Family Sweet Potato Casserole - A Thanksgiving Tradition

Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Casserole

The smell of this fabulous casserole has been a part of my Thanksgiving memories for as long as I can remember.  At one particular Thanksgiving gathering when I was about 4 or 5 year old, I remember seeing my grandmother, 'Dear', pull her sweet potato casserole out of the oven.  I have a distinct memory of thinking, "I want to learn how to make THAT in my oven."

Our family's version of Sweet Potato Casserole has been served at family gatherings for much longer than I have been alive and I am grateful that the recipe has been handed down through the generations.  It is so sinfully good that I like to have it for dessert the few days after Thanksgiving!  

Kizer Family Sweet Potato Casserole

3-4 cups sweet potatoes (4-5 large sweet potatoes) - I tend to lean toward more sweet potatoes when I prepare this dish

1/4 - 1/2 cup butter, melted (Y'all know I tend to cut back on the butter and the base of this recipe works just fine with less butter.  The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter.)

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup milk (I use skim)

1/3 cup of sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Boil sweet potatoes.  This will take some time.  Once you can easily put a knife into a potato, they are ready to put into your colander.  Let your potatoes cool so that you don't burn your hands trying to take the peeling off of the sweet potatoes.  (Yes, I know from experience.  Sometimes I'm not very patient.)  Mash potatoes in a large bowl using a hand mixer.  Slowly add sugar, butter, eggs, milk and vanilla.  Beat mixture until potatoes are smooth.  Pour potato mixture into greased 9 x 13 dish.  

Topping - 

1/3 cup melted butter (no skimping on this part)

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix topping ingredients well and sprinkle on top of potatoes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bottom is slightly bubbly.  Serves 10-12.  

What you need to make the Sweet Potato Casserole base

The ingredients needed for the topping

After you boil and peel the sweet potatoes beat with hand mixer until potatoes are smooth

Pour Mixture into prepared dish

What your casserole will look like after you add the topping

Kizer Family Sweet Potato Casserole

Did y'all notice that I didn't show the entire finished dish?  That would be because Honey couldn't help himself and took a serving before I could photograph it!  After he took a serving, I threw caution to the wind and got a serving for myself as well.  It was delicious!

We do have a few members of our family who are gluten free.  To make sure everyone can enjoy this dish, we cut the topping recipe in half and only put the topping on half of the casserole.  You could always put marshmallows on half of the recipe and the brown sugar /pecan topping on the other half so everyone can enjoy this wonderful dish!

What recipe has your family 'passed down through generations? I would love to hear.  

I hope y'all enjoy this as much as we do!

Hope

Thanksgiving Corn Casserole

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I plan on sharing all of my family's favorite Thanksgiving dishes this week.  Honey came home to corn casserole and pumpkin gooey cake that I had made for picture taking purposes and was thrilled.  His response was, "I think I'm going to like this blog thing!"

Thanksgiving is my favorite family holiday.  I grew up with a big family and even bigger family gatherings for Thanksgiving.  We reserved Christmas for immediate family gatherings so Thanksgiving has always been a fun-filled, big family gathering.
Honey grew up a little differently and, bless him, my family was probably a little much to take in that first Thanksgiving.  I knew it would be an adjustment for him so I promised to make his favorite Thanksgiving dish for the massive spread of food.  I was hoping his response would be something that I already knew how to make because I was in my 2nd year of law school and extra time was not a luxury I possessed.

Honey proudly announced that his favorite was corn casserole.  I had never eaten corn casserole but we were in that blissful newlywed state and I wanted to show I was up to the task of making the perfect corn casserole.  I scoured recipes, reviews and made a few versions before I settled on a combination of recipes I had found.  It has now become a favorite for both sides of the family.

What you will need

I hardly ever make corn casserole throughout the year because, to be honest, I just don't normally cook with much butter.  *GASP!* Terrible for a Southern girl I know.  Honey teasingly claims that I am depriving the children of a Southern staple.  That's ok though.  This mama tries her best to provide a healthy version of things the children love but I'm not one to deprive them of the occasional chocolate chip cookie.

This recipe is very easy and always comes out perfectly.  Be careful to not overcook the casserole.  It can be easy to do with so many dishes in the oven at once.

Thanksgiving Corn Casserole
1 (15 oz) can of cream style corn
1 (11 oz) can of whole kernel corn, drained
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (I always use 'light')
1 (8.5 oz package dry corn bread mix  (I use Jiffy)
1/4 - 1/2 cup butter, melted

This what your mixture will look like in the dish

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8x12 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray.  In a mixing bowl, combine cream corn, whole kernel corn, eggs, sour cream, muffin mix, and butter.  Pour mixture into prepared casserole dish.   Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until mixture becomes slightly firm in the middle of the dish.  The cooking time really depends on your oven and if you are cooking other dishes in the same oven so you sadly have to 'babysit' this one if you are cooking multiple dishes.

I hope y'all enjoy this as much as my family does.

Hope

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