Sweet Potato VS. Yam

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was full of festivities and cheer and as a little post-Thanksgiving trivia fun, I pose this question: What is the difference between A sweet potato and a yam?

I need to preface this whole post by informing the readers about Taylor and his culinary hobbies. Taylor loves cooking, and a few years ago he found a recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole in his Southern Cooking cookbook. He decided he wanted to make it, so we went to the store to get the ingredients. I went straight towards the yams and started putting some in a bag... This was when I got the lecture about how yams and sweet potatoes are two VERY different things.

Fast forward four years time. I was talking to my brother Mike, about how his Thanksgiving was. Somehow we got on the subject of Taylor's incredible Sweet Potato Casserole which ultimately lead us to the discussion of a sweet potato vs. a yam. My brother said that he had been confused between the two and that I should post about the difference to clarify any misconceptions. Actually after much research I've clarified some of my own misconceptions as well. This is what I discovered:


"Yams and sweet potatoes are both tubers that are roots of vines and both are vegetables; however, the similarities end there. Grocery stores are probably to blame when it comes to confusing the yam with the sweet potato. They seem to indiscriminately lump them together. " Very true. One year Taylor and I went to the store to find the ingredients for the casserole and came upon a display with "sweet potatoes", butter, marshmallows (FYI: Taylor doesn't use marshmallows) and brown sugar. All the fixin's for a great casserole.... WRONG! The store actually didn't have any sweet potatoes and the impostors that they were marketing under the same name were in fact, YAMS!

Sweet Potatoes are smaller than yams

Sweet Potatoes are grown in North America, Yams are grown in tropical climates (however, both are usually sold in grocery stores)

Sweet Potatoes have tapered ends whereas Yams do not

There are two different types of Sweet Potatoes. The first one must be what Taylor uses in his baking:
1) "thin, with light yellow skin. This type of sweet potato is starchy like a baking potato and its flesh is yellowish and, oddly enough, not very sweet."

2) "The other variety is what is usually masquerading as a yam. Its Halloween-orange flesh is a lot sweeter and its much thicker skin ranges from light to dark orange or even light red."

Yams contain more natural sugar than sweet potatoes and have a higher moisture content

There are 150 varieties of yams

This takes us to the end of my informative section of this post. I hope it has helped everyone become a little more savvy when taking a trip in the "tuber" section of the grocery store.

Now on to my very limited picture section of our Thanksgiving fun.

Proud Taylor and his smoked masterpiece (he must be happy with how it turned out, note the seldom seen, but always sexy smile)

Ruby Dog got dressed up in her finest for our holiday feast.

Taylor was so tuckered out from all of his eating that he couldn't even enjoy his pie sitting up. This is what I call some serious lounging.

I know this is a horrible picture of me, my face looks like a banana or a crescent moon of some sort, but I had to post this picture because it was such a good time. We had a Wii extravaganza and for any of you who haven't played the Olypmics, you are missing out! I wish we had video of this. We were running the 100 meter, but instead of running with your feet you run with your arms (obviously). It was so intense that my arms muscles are still aching.

I've had requests from out-of-state family members who want to see how baby girl is growing, hence the following pictures. The first picture was taken on October 28 and the second picture was taken on November 26. I posted both of them so you could see how much she's growing, and boy don't I know it! Putting on my shoes almost causes my eyeballs to pop out.