I love sweet potatoes. They are such a great way to break away from having normal potatoes all the time. Now when I was growing up it sweet potatoes where nothing more than a holiday casserole dish which was always a big hit but then that was it you had to wait to the next big holiday to see them again. Which is really sad because there are so many ways different way to cook sweet potatoes you can have baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato french fries, mashed sweet potatoes and many, many more ways other than those wonderful holiday casseroles.

So I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you a few basic ways on how to cook sweet potatoes.

The first method on how to cook sweet potatoes is making mashed sweet potatoes. The method is nothing different than when you make regular mashed potatoes.

Wash and peel the sweet potatoes, then cut up into roughly the same size cubes. Though them in a large pot and cover with cold water toss the pot on the stove and boil until the potatoes are fork tender.

Drain the sweet potatoes then mash with a potato masher add little melted butter, heavy cream (or milk if prefer), salt, pepper, a dash of ground cinnamon, a little honey, and a small pinch of ground nutmeg. Mix until smooth.

For an added touch when you plate up your mashed sweet potatoes sprinkle them with a little toasted chopped pecans.

This how to cook sweet potatoes method is another very simple regular cross over. This time we are going to make a baked sweet potato.

Start off by preheating your oven to 400 degree F. Then wash the sweet potatoes and pat dry with a paper towel. Next brush the potatoes with a little oil and place on a baking sheet.

Once the oven is heated pop the potatoes on the middle rack and bake for roughly 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size (sometimes it may take even longer). You can tell it is done when you can still a fork in the center and it easily goes into the sweet potato.

While they are baking take ¾ a cup of softened butter and mix with ¼ a cup of honey. (If you like add a little cinnamon, chopped pecans and even a little golden raisins to the honey butter mix for a little added flavor)

Once the sweet potatoes are done them out of the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Split them open and top with a little of the honey butter mixture.

The next how to cook sweet potato method can be done a couple of ways. What we are going to do is make sweet potato french fries. Now these can easily be done be deep frying them but I personally try to avoid fried foods as much as possible, so we are going to bake them.

First preheat the oven 400 degrees F. Next wash and peel your sweet potatoes and cut into french fry shapes try to make sure that they are all roughly the same size.

Toss the sweet potato fries with a small amount of oil this help them from sticking and it also helps to crisp them up. Then lay the out in a single layer on a baking sheet and pop in the oven on the middle rack and bake for about 20-25 minutes depending on the size making sure to flip them about half way through the cooking. Again check for doneness by poking with a fork.

Once done take out of the oven sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and for an added bonus drizzle with some of the honey butter you use with the bake sweet potatoes.

Well that is just a few different way on how to cook sweet potatoes but in truth they can be used in place of potatoes in just about every recipe so don't be afraid to play around with them a little.