V’s Famous Yams

Cooking runs in my family. From my mother to my brother and uncles included. I don't have any biological aunts - only through marriage. You see my mother was the only girl out of seven brothers, so you can just imagine holidays in the Hunter/Bailey household, LOUD! However, I would always drown out the noisy football game arguments and spades tournaments by basking in my pile high dinner plate! One thing in particular that always stole my heart was my uncle Terry's (Pookie by nickname!) yams. I would always save them for the last thing on my plate to eat. One day while visiting his apartment on the north side of Chicago, I confessed my love for his yams and he gave me the recipe. I felt honored! Now, every holiday I am the one expected to cook the yams and it is quite the honor. My brother is convinced that it's the only thing I can cook, but being the big brother he always has to find something to tease me about. There are many ways to prepare yams, but here is my version – on the stovetop!

6-8 medium size yams

1 cup of sugar

½ cup of brown sugar (your choice of light or dark)

½ stick of butter

2 tbsp of vanilla flavoring

Sprinkle of nutmeg

Start by cutting the yams into quarter pieces. In a medium sauce pan, add about half an inch of water and half of your yams to the pot. Cover yams with sugar and add stick of butter on top. Repeat for the rest of your yams. Top it off with your vanilla flavoring ( I love the taste of vanilla so I always add a bit more :O) ) Cover and cook on low heat for about 30 mins. When yams are done, sprinkle with nutmeg for color. There you have it folks - Yams Roni style. Highly requested in the Hunter/Bailey home!