Feeding Frenzy

By GC

November 21, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this

Sweet Potato Pie is the best when it comes to flavor and tradition. I enjoy a good Pumpkin Pie but with Sweet Potato Pie there are distinctive differences. Don’t ask me what they are it’s just there. When it comes to Thanksgiving and preparing the meals time is important and I am not speaking of less time. Preparing a Thanksgiving dish is supposed to be time consuming. The meal is important to prepare properly and with much care. The meal brings out the best in everyone when it comes to recipes and preparing that dish. Each person contributes their specialty dish as the host of the occasion is always responsible for the “bird”. Preparing Sweet Potato Pie is no different. The time it takes to prepare one is satisfying and if you put the potatoes in the oven a day or so ahead of time it helps conserve a little of the time. However relax and enjoy taking the time to prepare your Thanksgiving dish, it only happens once a year and the time spent after the meal whether watching the Detroit Lions or taking a short siesta or just getting antsy about when it is time to go……enjoy the day!!

By upstater

November 21, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this

As an upstate NYer who now resides in GA, I went my entire childhood without trying my southern-bred grandmother’s sweet potato pie. As an adult, I have learned the error of my ways! My preference is sweet potato pie, although in a pinch, I will happily eat pumpkin since they really taste similar.

By J.D.

November 21, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this

Sorry… my preference is Pumpkin Pie. And if you’ve got some Cool Whip even better!

No matter how hard I try to accept Sweet Potato it still looks to me from the “stringy” appearance like someone tossed a handful of cotton into the filling.

It all works out though since everyone else in my family goes for the Sweet Potato and leaves the pumpkin alone.

I reckon I was adopted.

By MamaS

November 21, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this

Sweet Potato Pie is the best — hands down. J.D., if your family recipe produces a “stringy” pie, then they are cooking yams, not sweet potatoes.

By Born in Illinois

November 21, 2008 11:32 AM | Link to this

PUMPKIN PIE w/cool whip. The sweet potato is better served hot, it just doesn’t taste right cold.

By tye

November 21, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

It’s not Thanksgiving without Sweet Potato Pie. I love it. Pumpkin…I just don’t get it, there is no comparison for me. When I finish my Thanksgiving dinner, there had better be some Sweet Potato Pie or there’s going to be troubleLOL. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

By Cobia2000

November 21, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

Sweet Potato for me. Cornbread dressing, also.

My wife, a Yankee of Sicilian heritage, once put ravioli on the table. Right next to the turkey! I though mom was going to die, even though it was the first thing to go on the table.

What a country!

By Jessica

November 21, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this

Sweet Potato Pie is the BEST!!! I like it when it is nice and cold. It tastes so much better than pumpkin pie.

By clyde

November 21, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this

My sweet potato pie is lighter in texture than my Pumpkin pie.I prefer the sweet potato.My pie plate holds two pies.It’s huge.They take 85 minutes at 350 to bake.

J.D.——My friend G.A. from Jesup says he hates those stringy yams.

Cool Whip?How about genuine whip it in the bowl with a dash of vanilla and some sugar,real cream?

By Gagirl

November 21, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

Sweet ‘Tater without a doubt!!!!

By Robin

November 21, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this

Sweet Potato - Yum Yum Yum

And, when I was a child, my babysitter made a sweet potato cobbler. That was WONDERFUL. She is dead now, and I don’t know how to make it. Does anyone have a good recipe>

Pumpkin pie just tastes kind of bitter or something to me. My husband loves it. He came home with a pumpkin pie last night and said, “I have us some dessert.” I was so excited, my mouth started to water, then the big let down………Yuck it was pumpkin pie. I said, “No, you got YOU some desert!, not me!”

By Monique

November 21, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this

I love Sweet Potato pie! And I’m from Ohio.

By Detta

November 21, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this

I was born and raised in Georgia. I’m a true Southern girl. Sweet potato pies have been a staple at our holiday table since I can remember. I love sweet potato pie. I’ve watched my mother, grandmother and aunts make sweet potato pie from the time I was a child. There’s nothing that can compare to taste of creamy sweet potato filling baked in a buttery flaky pie crust. It’s just everything that’s Southern and delicious. I like pumpkin pie too, but it can’t hold a candle to a sweet potato pie. And unlike pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie doesn’t need to be garnished with cool whip or any toppings its delicious on its own.

By Detta

November 21, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

I was born and raised in Georgia. I’m a true Southern girl. Sweet potato pies have been a staple at our holiday table since I can remember. I love sweet potato pie. I’ve watched my mother, grandmother and aunts make sweet potato pie from the time I was a child. There’s nothing that can compare to taste of creamy sweet potato filling baked in a buttery flaky pie crust. It’s just everything that’s Southern and delicious. I like pumpkin pie too, but it can’t hold a candle to a sweet potato pie. And unlike pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie doesn’t need to be garnished with cool whip or any toppings its delicious on its own.

By 26belly

November 21, 2008 12:37 PM | Link to this

Of course it a Southern thang! I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned before, it Grits for breakfast, not cream of wheat or bagels.

It’s a staple food, that everyone grew, period! From the outhouse to the bighouse, we have all partook or parteked of it delicious and smooth flavor!

I learned from an aunt that the best way to prepare was to bake, not broil! Talk about “sliced bread”, great stuff. Hey, I have to head to market, all this talk has me drooling!!!

By 2BFree

November 21, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

Also born and bred in GA, and either are acceptable and many times both can be found on the table (we Southerners love to eat if you couldn’t tell). However I prefer my sweet potatoes in a soufflé and I’ll take a small piece of pumkin pie to compliment that piece of pecan pie.

By Homeschool Mom

November 21, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

Southern born & southern bred…and married to a southerner

Pumpkin pie…sweet potatoes are for the casserole…and that dressing pix looks like the stuffing just in another pan! I’ve never eaten dressing that looked like that.

As far as meat…I don’t eat ANY…but my family prefers turkey at Thanksgiving…ham is for Easter & Christmas

By Western Girl

November 21, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

Yuck. Both sweet potato and pumkin pies are nasty!

By KJ

November 21, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this

I’ll take either pie, although if it’s pumpkin pie, I agree with clyde, it has to be REAL cream whipped cream, nothing premade. Doesn’t cost as much either.

By Uncle Tom

November 21, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this

Its like carrot souffle and sweet potato souffle. Sweet potato souffle and sweet potato pies taste so much better than “lesser” dishes.

By David S

November 21, 2008 1:43 PM | Link to this

I have personally only made pumpkin pie, but have eaten both (homemade and storebought varieties of both). I have almost never eaten a pumpkin pie I have not liked, and I have never eaten a sweet potato pie that has not been disgustingly oversweet.

Why do these pies need to be so sweet? Sweet potatoes are a wonderful vegetable. I love to eat them year round. They are already naturally sweet. Pumpkin on the other hand tastes like most other squashes. Not terribly sweet at all. And yet it seems as though twice as much sugar gets added to everyone’s sweet potatoe pie recipe as their pumpkin. What gives?

By Aimee

November 21, 2008 1:45 PM | Link to this

I am a true Atlanta native. Since this is Atlanta I tell people to take a picture since there are so few of us here. My family is 7 generations of native Atlantans.

As such give me SWEET POTATOE PIE OR NOTHING AT ALL!!!!!

By Kimberly

November 21, 2008 1:46 PM | Link to this

My family has always made Pumpkin Pie, and they all love it. And we are very much from Georgia, also. We do always have a Sweet Potato dish, however, it’s a Sweet Potato Souffle, and my Granny’s recipe is awesome! So, I’m with “2Bfree” on this one… gotta have both on the table with the pecan pie! :D

By atlgal

November 21, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this

SWEET POTATO PIE!!!! CANT STAND PUMKIN, TOO SPICY.

By JJ

November 21, 2008 2:00 PM | Link to this

I grew up out West, and it’s pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream.

I never hear of sweet potato pie until I moved to Georgia.

And STUFFING, not dressing. It needs to go into the bird, not a separate pan. Never heard of “dressing” until we moved here either. My sister-in-laws mother brought it to thanksgiving and my Mom and I looked at each other like HUH? Southerns like dressing, northerners like Stuffing.

By Treat H.

November 21, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this

Aloha, I’m from NC, now living on Oahu. Myself & our 30yr old son LOVE sweet potato pie, my husband is in Afghanistan and he loves pumpkin pie and a pumpkin-pie shake, both daughters are in Iraq and they love pecan pie. This Thanksgiving I will make all of my families favorite foods and try them all in their honor. I’m spending the day with my best friend whose husband was killed by a suicide bomber this summer. She is thankful for her eighteen years that she and their four children had with him. Please include our military families in your thoughts and prayers this Thanksgiving. PS, she will try sweet potato pie for the first time, yumm-o

By ABBA!

November 21, 2008 2:10 PM | Link to this

Sweet tatar’s is fer them pur folks, that kint eford no punkims

By GNICH

November 21, 2008 2:22 PM | Link to this

I THINK I WILL PASS ON THE BOTH THE SWEET POTATO PIE AND THE PUMPKIN PIE BOTH ARE GROSS. I VOTE FOR A PECAN PIE.

By reservoirDAWG

November 21, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this

I’m a Georgian and don’t like either. Pecan Pie is the way to go.

By buckshotannie

November 21, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this

If you put your sweet potatoes in the crockpot on low for 7 hours or more, they come out great and are easy to peel. The texture is perfect. Also I make mine with all natural Stevia instead of sugar and no one says a word as they gobble up my pies. No fake oil-based cool whip—I whip my own whipped cream and there’s no need for sugar or splenda in it—real whipped cream tastes great with just a dash of vanilla in it when mixing. Healthy food can taste good, too!

By Bosch

November 21, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this

They are both gross. Lemon or pecan pie all the way.

By Becky

November 21, 2008 3:13 PM | Link to this

Sweet potato all the way.

By David

November 21, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this

I grew up in the south in North Florida but had a mother with mostly Pennsylvania style cooking so I was never a fan of green and pumpkin pie was the norm. Since moving to Georgia ive had sweet potato pie and its good, But to me theres not much better that chilled pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream.

By Andrea

November 21, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this

SWEET POTATO PIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This shouldn’t have even been a poll.

By Andrea

November 21, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this

SWEET POTATO PIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This shouldn’t have even been a poll.

By ex-texan

November 21, 2008 3:27 PM | Link to this

Just in case y’all didn’t know, you CAN buy canned sweet potato puree if you have neither the time nor the desire to cook them from scratch. I know for a fact you can get it at Whole Foods or Kroger.

By the way, it’s organic, so that makes it even better…

By v morris

November 21, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this

Georgia born and raised—Sweet Potato all the way! My Mom was the worlds best tater pie baker and it has long been the tradition for our farmily for Thanksgiving. I wil have the honorof baking this year, since Mom passed this May..but her spirit will be there guiding me along. Also, as a child she made sweet potato cobbler also….DDDDDD.licious…wish i had the recipe for that one….

By jones

November 21, 2008 3:50 PM | Link to this

Not sure about southern tradition being Sweet Potato. I was born and raised in Georgia and pumpkin pie was always the staple at Thanksgiving. YUM! It’s the best.

By Becky

November 21, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this

Born and raised in Georgia so…Sweet potatoes are always for the dinner table at my house…either in a souffle or just in yam form and pumpkin pie is for dessert. Love ‘em both!

By Lissa

November 21, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this

Pumpkin! I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere that served sweet potato pie and I’ve been living in GA all my life.

By Stan

November 21, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this

My all time favorite is 3.14159265.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Sweet potato is my fav of these 2 options. As I said in the other blog, I’ve never met a pie I didn’t like.

By SouthFultonMom

November 21, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

My mom, being from the north, wasn’t quite familiar with some of the wonderful southern traditions. Thank goodness for my southern grandma! Sweet Potato Pie is the only way to go! I can eat pumpkin pie, but there is a definite difference in the flavor.

By MountainDawg

November 21, 2008 4:43 PM | Link to this

I have a hardcore “sweet tooth”, so I enjoy both. If I had to choose, I’d say “Sweet Tater Pie”…by a slim margin! ;-) Happy Thanksgiving ya’ll!

By Bob

November 21, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this

A sweet potato or yam is not fit for human consumption; baking it into a pie can’t change that. Great deer bait, or a fair wheel chock, but not edible. HAND

By Smell the baloney

November 21, 2008 6:06 PM | Link to this

I love ‘em both, though I’ve never eaten a pumpkin pie where the filling doesn’t seem, well, a little watery, and I’ve tried plenty. But they’re both great and both worth respect. I’ve seen people try to blend both into one pie, but it just doesn’t work out well.

By noch

November 21, 2008 6:25 PM | Link to this

Sweet potatoe pie No way - you couldn’t pay me enough to make me eat it.

Pumpkin pie is my favorite pie, and I will quite happily eat the share of anyone who doesn’t want theirs. I eat it any time of year!

By Stormdrane

November 21, 2008 6:28 PM | Link to this

They’re both good, so I hope someone makes/brings both so there’ll be plenty to go around after I get some. :)

By Laura

November 21, 2008 7:19 PM | Link to this

I am from Argentina, I came in 2001, my husband is a southern guy and he cooks the best Sweet Potato Pies I ever tried. We don’t have sweet potatoes in Argentina, we have some types of yams. But when I start to eat my husband’s pies I cannot stop!!! They are beyond delicious, they are ridiculous! ;-) For the stringy part of some sweet potatoes pie experiences, I saw my husband use a hand held blender, all the strings end attached around the beaters, the result: smoothness, softness, creamy heaven…

By blacksheep

November 21, 2008 7:46 PM | Link to this

Butternut squash makes a better pie than sweet potatoes or pumpkin.

By fer

November 21, 2008 10:49 PM | Link to this

Sweet potato in a heartbeat. Pumpkin is good for lots of other things — cheesecake, muffins, etc., but not pie!

By Sheila

November 21, 2008 10:55 PM | Link to this

I don’t know what all the arguing is about. Ideally, you have sweet potato, pumpkin (no evaporated milk in it, please!), and pecan pies for Thanksgiving, and Christmas, too, while you’re at it. Plus, you make real whipped cream for them, not that awful Cool Whip. God meant for pies to have real whipped cream.

By tye

November 21, 2008 11:41 PM | Link to this

The only thing pumpkin I like are those little mellow creme pumpkins they have at Halloween. Yep, that’s it. No recipe for the sweet potato cobbler? D.A.R.N. When they cut the pumpkin open for Halloween and clean out all that stuff, how can anyone eat that in a pie, YUCK. I love a slice of sweet potato pie when it’s warm with a nice glass of ice cold milk. YUM sweet potato sweet potato:-) Take care everyone.

By BottomLine

November 22, 2008 4:24 AM | Link to this

Sweet Potato Pie hands down. Don’t like pumpkin at all! Can’t have Thanksgiving without Candied Yams, Sweet Potato Pie, Collard Greens, along with cornbread stuffing and yellow turnips and red rice. YUM YUM YUM Born in Sumter; lived 40 years in NYC; then back to the south in Georgia and there’s nothing like soul food on this good earth and I’ve eaten sweet potatos all my life. My grandfather and his brothers and sisters used to THROW DOWN in the kitchen and their cooking and baking could teach Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines and Pillsbury an thing or three.

By Sybil Holcomb

November 22, 2008 6:40 AM | Link to this

You are not eating yams. It is sweet potatoes and I can’t imagine making anything w/them without removing the strings. Makes for a smooth creamy mixture. Not difficult, just put them on a baking sheet vs boiling or microwaving so that all the sugars can caramelize. Makes for a delicious pie. Pumpkins are ok, and similar but not anywhere close to as good as the sweet potatoe pie. If you must have whipped cream make the real thing. Happy Thanksgiving! From another true Georgian.

By NotAgain!

November 22, 2008 8:00 AM | Link to this

Sweet potato wins in a landslide, but only if it is my wife’s Nobel worthy invention…sweet potato/pecan pie!

By L. Andrews

November 22, 2008 8:22 AM | Link to this

The holidays wouldn’t be the same without sweet potato pie and i didn’t know there was a diff in yams and sweet taters, i just know that my mom always explained that you can’t get the really big one’s cuz that’s what makes them stringy and you have the mash the dickens out of them. while i love a good sweet tater pie, buttermilk pie was a requirement for me until i transitioned to vegan, and for at least 5 years, i discovered and made sweet potato pound cake which was a big hit at the office instead of bringing the pie.

By Sweet P

November 22, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this

On tuesday’s they served sweet potato. The nuns would patrol the lunch room tables and you ate those sweet potatoes. You ate them or else. Sweet potatoes: the scourge of St Mary’s. On Tuesdays.

Now you say they make pies out of sweet potatoes?

Where’s the supervision?

By Jeffrey of Nashville

November 22, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this

Has anyone compared the nutritional value of the SWEET POTATO vs. PUMPKIN? Though Jeanne didn’t mention it, but Tennesseans are all about the sweet potato pie. Now this industry thing got folks relocating from all over the place to the Great Southern Riviera of America (All Southern States) and they eat that Pumpkin Pie, Stuffing, Unsweeten Tea, and all other things that keep the SEC the KING of Collegiate Football; Division 1,2 & 3. So let’s not get this confused. On Thanksgiving Day the Southern table will look like this: Turkey, Dressing, Mac & Cheese, Turnip or Collard Greens, Yellow or White Squash,Green or Blackeye or Field Peas, Green Beans, Potato Salad, and Cranberry Sauce. All of this will be complimented by: Sweet Tea and a deep dish slice of SWEET POTATO PIE!

By Brenda from Winder

November 22, 2008 10:59 AM | Link to this

Pumpkin by far— with real whipped cream— no cool whip for me— lol

I will admit though I am from So Calif.

I have tried Sweet Potato pie and dont really care for it— although I do love sweet potato souffle— which I believe is more southern— as in Calif we ate them traditionally candied with marshmellows

By Brenda from Winder

November 22, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this

Pumpkin by far— with real whipped cream— no cool whip for me— lol

I will admit though I am from So Calif.

I have tried Sweet Potato pie and dont really care for it— although I do love sweet potato souffle— which I believe is more southern— as in Calif we ate them traditionally candied with marshmellows

By stan

November 22, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this

There is a guy in the DC area name Mr.Hi that what we call him,he a DJ,but since I tried his sweet Potatoe pie about 14 years ago. I haven’t touched anyones else.Simply because you can’t improve upon perfection. He only bakes them now around the holidays,matter fact i got ten coming my way this Tuesday.I give 6 away I keep four.Trust me when I say it is the best.

By sweetpea

November 22, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this

Pumpkin has an undertone or aftertaste that makes me gag. But man, I love sweet potato pie. My daddy said that butternut squash makes a better pumpkin pie than sweet potato does, but I wouldn’t know, never having had a butternut squash pie. He was from Kansas, so what would he know? lol!

By Dr. R

November 22, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this

Pecan, which in the South, of course, is pronounced “pee-can.”

By Al Key

November 22, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this

I need a good southern Sweet potato pie recipe.PLEASE.PRETTY PLEASE

By Amber

November 22, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

I’m from Macon, Ga, so I’m entirely familiar with both pie preparations; however, sweet potato and pecan pie are definitely my favorites. Pumpkin pie is too spicy for my taste; it seems like there’s usually too much nutmeg or something in it, but I’m sure that someone’s grandmama has a perfect recipe. I will say that I do make a killer pumpkin BREAD straight from the real thing, so it’s fresh pumpkin bread with real butter and warm sweet potato pie with homemade whipped cream on my down-south Thanksgiving dessert table every year.

By Amber

November 22, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this

Whoops, almost forgot: HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!! SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!!! =)

By Karen

November 22, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this

My parents are both from NY, and my sister and I were both born there (though we have lived in GA most of our lives). Pumpkin pie wins hands down in our family, along with stuffing over “dressing” (which is usually dry and underflavored in my experience). Although I think my sister was adopted, because she doesn’t like sweet potato or pumpkin pie, only a chocolate one! (I think its a ploy to get a whole pie to herself)

By Dr. R

November 22, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this

Karen, you just haven’t had dressing prepared properly. But perhaps it’s what we’re used to growing up. To a Southernor, it isn’t Thanksgiving without cornbread dressing.

By Midwesterner in the South

November 22, 2008 4:37 PM | Link to this

I was raised with PUMPKIN PIE, with an occasional chocolate pudding pie or an apple pie for Thanksgiving dessert. I think when you are used to pumpkin and then try sweet potato pie, it doesn’t taste right. Maybe the reverse is also true. But give me real pumpkin pie with homemade pie crust and a spoonful of whipped cream any day!

By Midwesterner in the South

November 22, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this

I AGREE!! Cornbread dressing (a.k.a. stuffing) is THE BEST!

By Buttermilk Pie 4 me

November 22, 2008 5:16 PM | Link to this

It not close! Sweet potato pie is much better with vanilla bean ice cream. And warm the pie first. Get your personalized Christmas cards with your family portrait and personalized message by emailing printwerx@yahoo.com. Sweet potatoe pie all the way!

By Sandra

November 22, 2008 5:38 PM | Link to this

Sweet Potatoe Pie is the best - No Holds Barred. Pumpkin Pie is definitely a Custard even though you use the same ingredients. You have to know just how to pick the Sweet Potatoes - after you boil them and began to mash them, check to make sure if there are indeed strings and remove them. It all depends on the ingredients you use and as an Okie, where the best vegetables and fruit are grown (Bixby, Oklahoma), I know how to pick them and know how to cook them. Enjoy your holiday and thank God for his goodness.

By Birdie

November 22, 2008 6:35 PM | Link to this

Pumpkin pie by far! Sweet potato comes as a close second. Either way count those delicious calories as you attempt to eat as much as you can. Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll.

By MariLaTica

November 22, 2008 8:02 PM | Link to this

Sweet Potato Pie please!!! Pumpkin pie is for those who have no taste buds, in my opinion. I can eat sweet potato any day!

By Lisa

November 22, 2008 8:11 PM | Link to this

Well, I grew up in Kansas, and I’m used to pumpkin pie. When I was pregnant (here in Ga), I craved pumpkin pie and my dh went out late one night to find me some. He came back with sweet potato pie, which I had never tried before. It just wasn’t what I was craving, and I have never tried it since! After reading all of these comments, I guess I’ll have to give it a 2nd chance!

By Larry

November 22, 2008 9:48 PM | Link to this

Lived my first 26 years in NY, but I prefer all things Southern, including grits with salt, pepper and butter. ‘Course, I still loves me some pumpkin pie, but I do love Southen cooking!

By Matt

November 22, 2008 10:17 PM | Link to this

Y’all are going to make me go grocery shopping! Definitey sweet potato pie AND pecan pie…. no pumpkin pie here! Have a great Thanksgiving everybody! BTW- I know what I am having for breakfast tomorrow…. thanks Larry! (smile)

By EveningEdge guy

November 23, 2008 12:19 AM | Link to this

To Al Key: For a good sweet potato pie recipe, check our Thanksgiving recipe page

Brian O’Shea, Evening Edge

By Alicia

November 23, 2008 3:21 AM | Link to this

Every holiday like clockwork my sister is requesting I make sweet potatoe pies. I am the only one who can make them like my mama. Pumpkin tastes very bland.

By Lynn

November 23, 2008 6:15 AM | Link to this

Pumpkin pie is much better when made with fresh pumpkin. How to cook fresh pumpkin:

Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the stem section and stringy pulp. Save the seeds to dry and roast. In a shallow baking dish, place the two halves face down and cover with foil. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees oven for about 1½ hours for a medium-sized sugar pumpkin, or until tender. Once the baked pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree or mash it.

Bake using your favorite recipe and I guarantee you will notice the difference. I like the idea of fresh whipped cream, lightly sweetened with a little vanilla - yummy! Happy Thanksgiving!

By skl

November 23, 2008 7:06 AM | Link to this

I spent more then 50-years in michigan and it is sweet potato for me….I never cared much for pumpkin pie with or without cool whip etc. pecan pie is like eating a bag of sugar….I do love pecans baked into rolls,etc.

By Southern Bella

November 23, 2008 8:20 AM | Link to this

First, let me say that I’d like to take a ruler to all of you who misspelled potato!

Second, sweet potato pie is my fave. I prefer it room temp or cold. I agree with the others that say that pumpkin pie is rather spicy and it leaves a horrible aftertaste!

By Shay

November 23, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this

I’m a NATIVE ATLien!! Sweet potato pie and cornbread dressing are the only way to have Thanksgiving!!!

By mp

November 23, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this

I don’t even have to read this. It’s SWEET POTATO all the way! I thank God I live in the south where I can get sweet potato pie any day of the week and not just on Thanksgiviing!

By Evelyn

November 23, 2008 9:34 AM | Link to this

Spotatoe seems a little sweeter and the consistency is different. I tried sweet potatoe by accident, I could tell immediately and got the box back out of the trash, yeap sweet potatoe not pumpkin. Either will do as long as you have pie crust leafs alone the edge and whipped cream, with a good cup of coffee, yum yum. Isn’t a holiday with out it..

By Susan

November 23, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this

They are both gross! How about a nice chocolate cake?

By NA

November 23, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

Sweet potato all the way. I was born and raised in Atl, then my husband moved us up to MI where I introduced sweet potato pie, cornbread dressing, and southern cornbread..not that sweet cornbread they make here.

Every year the teachers at my school request my sweet potato pie, and I am not a great baker by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just that sweet potatoes taste better than pumpkins.

We also have a traditional southern New Year’s Day dinner, and every year more and more people come for those greens and black-eyed peas.

By Pi$$onaDawg

November 23, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this

I like DAD’s “Sweet Tater” casserole or suflay(?). It is a glass deep dish bowl with whipped(my organic) “Sweet Taters” topped with Pecans, Corn Flakes, and Brown Sugar. I eat the leftovers as dessert days later with “BoNiller” Ice Cream on top. You can swap Corn Flakes with crumbled Gram Crackers.

By Cherie

November 23, 2008 12:10 PM | Link to this

I’ve lived in NY all my life. Sweet potato pie is the only pie my mom (who’s also a NYer) and my aunt make for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My mom swore she wasn’t cooking this year (all her kids are adults) but since we agreed that I’d bake her some chocolate chip cookies, she’d make me one sweet potato pie.

The aftertaste of pumpkin pie is horrible. Sweet potato pie is good especially when it’s cold.

By swolf

November 23, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this

Sweet potato is definitely best. But…if you want that pumpkin pie to “keep”, you’d best not leave it sitting out around our family!

By geenosr

November 23, 2008 2:43 PM | Link to this

Sweet Potato Pie I want sweet potato pie, sweet potato souffle with glazed pecans on top, and that’s it. OK, add a pecan pie too. If you have to add whipped cream to any pie (see all the pumpkin pie blogs), you know they can’t beat a good sweet potato pie that tastes good without any help. It is better warm so it just melts in your mouth.

By Chi-town girl

November 23, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this

This is so cute! As a Chicago native with roots that span below the Mason-Dixon line, I must say my preference is Sweet P.! Now, if there isn’t any Sweet P. available, I will “settle” for Pumpkin Pie. But now, as I settle into adulthood, my preference above both is Bean Pie, yes, I said Bean Pie. (Preferably from Supreme Fish) Like Sweet P. and Pumpkin pies, and any other dessert for that matter, a good Bean Pie depends on who baked it. It reminds me of a combo of both.

LOL at Cobia2000, that story is too adorable!

Anyway, no matter what you have set on the table, and who slaved over it, enjoy it and remember peace, love and gratitude are all that really matter on Thursday!

By tls

November 23, 2008 6:31 PM | Link to this

I am a northerner and I can’t stand sweet potato or pumpkin pie. My parents were from the south so they always cooked the sweet potato pies…yu, yuk, yuk…Give me pecan pie or any kind of cake…

Stuffing was what we ate although my parents would try unsuccessfully to introduce us to dressing. Since moving to the ATL my husband has converted me to the dressing thing…his is absolutely the best I have ever had.

By Thankful

November 23, 2008 6:42 PM | Link to this

People, we’re talking Thanksgiving here right? HAVE BOTH!!!

By Sharon

November 23, 2008 8:19 PM | Link to this

**PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN, PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE,PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE, PUMPKIN PIE!!!! SOUTHERN GIRL FROM FLORIDA!!!! :)

By Georgia Peach

November 23, 2008 8:19 PM | Link to this

I don’t know what planet some of you folks are from, but my family is split between Georgia and Alabama, and most of them eat pumpkin. Fact is, most of them make their pies from fresh pumpkins. I like sweet potatoes too, but usually split in half, warm with some butter melted. Pumpkin is not a northern thing, so take that off you fact sheet.

By Historian

November 23, 2008 8:31 PM | Link to this

Some pertinent facts: A sweet potato is large somewhat round, and tends to have few if any strings. Yams are smaller and long and very stringy, so don’t use yams. I had an aunt that had a recipe for making either, with only a connoisseur of pies knowing the difference of which one she actually used (custard based). I like pumpkin because the flavor is bolder, and I love sweet potato casserole (topped with marshmallows), served with the turkey or ham.

By brittany

November 23, 2008 9:05 PM | Link to this

it’s just not a real thanksgiving with out a southern spread: collards, black eye peas, baked mac and cheese, yams(don’t ruin them w/marshmallows!)turkey, cranberry sauce,mashed potatos, corn bread, corn bread DRESSING. and SWEET POTATO PIE. Pumpkin is not terrible, but it’s not as homey and yummy :)

By Eric

November 23, 2008 11:08 PM | Link to this

As a newly relocated “northerner” I accidentally got a piece of Sweet Potato Pie at Piccadilly a few years ago and I complained to the management that it was the worst Pumpkin Pie I had ever had. They laughed and then I was let in on the joke.

Honestly, I cannot part with the Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Potato Pie just doesn’t compare if that is how you were raised.

On a side note, Trader Joe’s is selling canned Pureed Sweet Potatoes if anyone out there is willing to cut corners or is in a pinch. I understand that tradition is tradition however, but I must say canned pumpkin is such an easy convenience to a delicious Pumpkin Pie, I would hope that Sweet Potato Pie lovers could benefit as well.

By ljican

November 24, 2008 12:16 AM | Link to this

Pumpkins are for soups and Halloween! I’m a southerner from Tennessee who relocated to Arizona, I had to educate every one here on sweet potato pies they seem to enjoy them (they keep asking for them). Also the unfortunate people never had collard greens??? Who would had thought someone could go their whole life not tasting greens? Well, its a good thing I came to town :)!

By kay

November 24, 2008 1:19 AM | Link to this

Sweet potato pie & cornbread dressing….add in some good greens - either turnips or collards - and you won’t get any more southern than that….bah humbug on stuffing!

By brian

November 24, 2008 6:46 AM | Link to this

I am a Marietta native but now live in Maryland after retiring from the USAF in 2004. I have to go for the SWEET TATER PIE!!! The hospital I work at serves Pumpkin throughout the year but only rarely do they buy SWEET POTATO and they do purchase Pecan Pie as well. So I am lucky for that!!! It is has to be DRESSING not stuffing (yuk).

Grits- CEREAL or SIDE DISH? Marylanders treat as a cereal not as a side dish. And they serve chipbeef gravy on english muffins!!! What sins these people commit!!!

By scott

November 24, 2008 7:43 AM | Link to this

Sweet Potato pie is great hot or cold with a piece of that left over ham on the side . HAPPY THANKGIVING

By Babidol

November 24, 2008 7:49 AM | Link to this

Sweet potato pie of course!

By danel

November 24, 2008 10:44 AM | Link to this

I was born and raised in Detroit, MI but my maternal family is from Huntsville, Alabama and my paternal family is from New Market, Tennessee. I hate pumpkin pie and stuffing. I love sweet potatoe pie and dressing just like both grandma’s used to make.

By nypeach

November 24, 2008 1:25 PM | Link to this

Which ever is on sale at Publix that week…I’m a Yankee…can’t tell the difference. Someone served me fried cornbread balls last night. Never had it before, and while it was quite tasty, I couldn’t get past all the oil. Why fry cornbread? It already tastes great coming out of the skillet or the oven. By the by, I am charged with making homemade mac and cheese for the family Thanksgiving gathering. Can somebody please give me some tips or point me to a store that sells it?

By Spelling Bee

November 24, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this

Folks, it’s spelled POTATO!

NOT “potatoe”.

STOP IT!

By Sheila

November 24, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this

Paula Deen’s The Lady and Sons cookbook recipe is really good. You don’t have to make a time-consuming cooked cheese sauce, so it is a quick recipe. The recipe uses butter, sour cream, and a lot of cheese. You can probably find it on the foodtv.com. Go there and look for Paula recipes or type Paula Deen macaroni and cheese in the input field.

By nypeach

November 24, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this

Oh thanks, I’ll try that.

By Julia

November 24, 2008 2:57 PM | Link to this

Not only Southerners like Sweet Potato Pie. I was born and raised in Germany, then lived in Upstate New York where I was introduced to Pumpkin Pie, and then moved to the South where I was introduced to Sweet Potato Pie and I have never looked back. Sweet Potato Pie is the greatest, with REAL WHIPPED CREAM. But please never serve me peanut butter pie. That is an awful invention.

By Nicole

November 24, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this

I lived in New Jersey till I was 10 Florida till I was 15, and Ga since. I am now 28. I lived more of my life in the south, and more of my life in Georgia at that. However, growing up with family from the north: Its stuffing all the way baby! which means…stove top, chicken flavored stove top to be exact, and nothing else will do. When it comes to pie…Pumpkin! Sweet potatos(potatoes?) anyway… are our side dish at Thanskgiving, smashed and mixed with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon and nutmeg, then covered with mini marshmallows, baked till golden brown. But its pumpking pie on the table for dessert, along with Pecan, and a moist delicious chocolate swiss cake roll, that we apparently didn’t have enough of, because it was what everyone wanted..they totally skipped over the pumpking and pecan and went straight for the swiss roll, there were no left overs much to my regret..so next year, I think we will have two of those and one pumpkin pie. We don’t use cool whip..we use whipped cream.

By Larry

November 24, 2008 3:09 PM | Link to this

I also am belly under feet for my roommates’ sweet potato souffle surprise. It’s similar to the one above, w/o the corn flakes. It was supposed to be something else, but a little extra brown sugar and Lord knows what else, Sweet Potatos Rule!

(but, I still LOVE pumpkin…but it IS better with whipped cream. And PLEASE don’t get me going on collards, black-eyed peas or grits vs. cream of wheat)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

By Sheila

November 24, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this

If you don’t like pumpkin pie, it might be that whoever made that pie committed a crime against God and Nature by using evaporated, canned milk in it. That stuff leaves a horrible taste. Instead, make pumpkin pie with the same amount of half and half, which makes a tremendous, delightful difference.

By Jean

November 24, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this

Being a southerner, sweet potato is the best as it does not have that “bitter” taste that pumpkin always seems to have. Maybe it is the kind of milk used, but no matter what - you cannot beat sweet potato. Not in my book. Have a happy turkey day.

By Carol

November 24, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this

Sweet Potato Pie is heavenly. I adore it. It’s light yet it has substance. Pumpkin Pie weighs heavier on the tongue. It doesn’t melt in your mouth.

By Bruno

November 24, 2008 5:42 PM | Link to this

Maybe it takes the objetivity of a Yankee to answer this one. Sweet potato pie has a less predictable consistency that makes it more suprising and enjoyable to eat than pumpkin pie, which is generally of a uniform smoothness.

By Victor

November 24, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this

I will try and make a sweet potato pie for my wife as soon as I can find a box of instant sweet potatoes.

I am off to Publix.

By jim

November 24, 2008 8:21 PM | Link to this

It’s swee—eat ta-er, P-ea—can, then Pump—can for—uns me.

By DecaturCyn

November 24, 2008 8:23 PM | Link to this

I’ve never been a huge sweet potato pie fan. For real decadence, try one of S&S cafeteria’s sweet potato balls. Yes, they’re over-the-top, complete with a thin marshmallow layer and a Ritz-cracker crust.

By Pie Fanatic

November 24, 2008 8:59 PM | Link to this

Pumpkin pie. It’s not even a contest for me.

By sami

November 24, 2008 9:47 PM | Link to this

Definitely sweet potato pie. I will not make it myself, but I am blessed to have some terrific people who bless me with great sweet potatoe pies every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will cook the entire dinner but am worn out by the time it’s time to make desserts, so I don’t bother.

By Richard

November 24, 2008 11:14 PM | Link to this

I hate to tell you folks this, but there are parts of the South other than Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama. Quite a shock, I know. In the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, it was a pretty even split. In my own family, my father would not touch a pumpkin pie while many among us favored pumpkin pie over my Dad’s sweet potato. The hills were good for growing pumpkins, so we always had a good supply of them to work from for cooking from scratch and, of course, you did have the canned pumpkin option. While in the old Deep South sweet potato might be the tradition, there were some folks up in those hills who had some other traditions going on. Us hill folk, for example, just don’t get this rice thing …

By Bishop R.C.Green

November 25, 2008 1:40 AM | Link to this

I was born in Newark,N.J. and my mother make the best sweet potato pie.But after coming to atlanta,Ga. I went on aurbun ave to the aurbun bread co. and my lord i was hooked but my mother will be here for thanksgiving and her pies she’ll make and will stay here for to eat!!!!!!

By Khrish

November 25, 2008 2:37 AM | Link to this

My preference is Sweet Potato Pie. I have tried to eat Pumpkin because it looks so good, Sweet Potato pie beats it by a long shot. To the person above concerned with strings, perhaps you should try putting your potatoes through a sieve before mixing the batter.

By bakingrrl

November 25, 2008 8:15 AM | Link to this

…Pumpkin Pie with just the right amount of cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of ginger. …Real whipped cream lightly sweetened with sugar and vanilla.

That’s what’s UP!

By emjay

November 25, 2008 1:17 PM | Link to this

I think you answered your own question when you said : ” At least with pumpkin pie you can open a can of pureed pumpkin and you’re halfway done. There’s no getting out of cooking those sweet potatoes.”

Southerners rely heavily on tradition, and in my family, opening a can of pureed pumpkin is not the tradition. Learning how to cook the old family recipes from scratch while sharing invaluable bonding time with the matriarchs of our family is what it’s all about.

By Northerner In The House!

November 25, 2008 3:38 PM | Link to this

I don’t think the choice is necessarily region related, in my case I think pumpkin, in any form, tastes terrible.

I’m a born & bred northerner who grew up on candied sweet potatos and SWEET POTATO PIE for the holidays!! Yes my relatives were southern (from South Carolina). We NEVER had pumpkin pie at our family gatherings. We didn’t even buy pumpkins on Halloween! We’d also serve peach cobbler, apple pie or some kind of cake.

But I will say we always had STUFFING in my northern household. I’m going to try dressing this year for the very first time cuz so many people keep warning me about the bacteria in stuffing when you stuff the turkey so I’m gonna try the dressing this year, got a recipe from my cousin. BUT if the dressing isn’t all that, I’ll be eating bacteria filled stuffing at Thanksgiving 2009!

I love sweet potato pie cold or warm, but when it’s warm it melts in your mouth like butter. Mmmmm!!!! That with a hot cup of joe is literally a little slice of heaven!

By Claire

November 25, 2008 4:30 PM | Link to this

This Yankee just loves Sweet Tater Pie! Never tasted it until I moved to St. Louis. Baked one last night and another is in the oven. Yee haw - You Betcha.

By Scott Stanford

November 25, 2008 7:18 PM | Link to this

Having been raised in South Carolina on my grandmother’s recipe, there is nothing better in this world than sweet potato pie, including pumpkin pie. My wife has taken my grandmother’s recipe and played with it until she has something nearing perfection, and she know makes several four our friends here in Colorado during the holidays. I like my sweet potato pie cold and lathered in cool whip. I like it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or late night snack. As foods go, it just nudges out breakfast burritos and pork tenderloin as the best there is.

By Carolyn

November 27, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this

This will be the 1st time I’ve tried sweet potato pie. One of our daughters came over for dinner with a “surprise” for us — sweet potato pie. I’m midwest born & raised - now living in the U.P. of Michigan. I’ll let y’all know after dinner today.

By Julian

November 27, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this

Im from Decatur, GA born and raised and sweet potato pies are the best pies period. Cant have thanksgiving without collard greens (smoked turkey necks in the pot), macaroni an cheese (generous amounts of mild cheddar), cornbread (crumble and mix with the collards on your plate), cranberry sauce, a beautiful turkey, and a sweet potato pie. This is how its done where i’m from.

By Carolyn

November 27, 2008 4:58 PM | Link to this

well, dinner’s done ….. I like the sweet potato pie. Hard to say after only one piece if I like it better than pumpkin, but I’ll definitely have some again.

By His Lord Majesty

December 5, 2008 5:17 PM | Link to this

Sweet potato pie is just a sugared down poor excuse of pumpkin pie, and that’s the truth.