My Favorite Vegetable and NC's as well: The Sweet Potato

I stumbled across an old Our State magazine back from 2012 that had an article, NC Sweet Potato Queen that caught my eye. You can read the article here.  Sweet potatoes have always been my favorite vegetable. I prefer a good ole sweet potato over a baked potato and sweet potato fries over normal fries any day. As long as I have adored a good sweet potato I had no idea that it was our state vegetable. Who am I kidding? I didn't even know NC HAD a state vegetable. (: When I found out we did indeed have a state vegetable and that it was the sweet potato and read the story behind how that came to be it instantly warmed my heart! We can thank a group of fourth graders in Wilson NC for persistently writing letters demanding legislators to name the sweet potato our state vegetable. After reading the sweet article it inspired me to do a little baking so I made my first attempt at a sweet potato pie. It turned out even better than I imagined and is definitely a new favorite! If you're looking for a dish to contribute to Thanksgiving meal look no further! 

Sweet Potato Pie 

1 pound sweet potato
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1 cup sugar 
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 9 inch unbaked pie crust 

Boil your sweet potato for 40 minutes or until done. Run cold water over the potato, remove the skin and break apart in a bowl. Add your softened butter and mix together. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is smooth. Poor the filling in your unbaked pie crust and bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes. Enjoy!