I just realized I should have posted this on the garden forum. Sorry about that.

After letting them cure outside for a week or so in a protected area, I usually just store them in large paper grocery bags in a cool dark place. I've read some people like to wrap them individually in newspaper, but we eat them too fast for me to worry about it :)

I love sweet potatoes just baked like a russet....and served with butter and salt and pepper.

Or peel and cut up equal parts of sweet potato and white russets, add a couple of gloves of garlic ( peeled) and boil until a fork pierces the potatoes easily.
Drain and mash ( the garlic too) with a little milk and butter and salt and papper.

Or peel and cube and boil....and mash and use just like pumpkin for pie....or for pumpkin bread...or muffins.

Or peel and cut into wedges, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake in a 375 oven until slightly browned....about 25 to 35 minutes.
Sweet potatoes are a good thing!
Linda C

This is how I store most of my sweet potatoes. Wash and bring to a boil and let boil about 12 minutes. Put into cold water and as soon as you can handle the sweet potatoes, remove the skins. Cut in desired size pieces. Roll in brown sugar and put in plastic bags and freeze. When ready to use thaw and use. Really easy way to freeze them. Or you can remove the skins, run the sweet potatoes through your food processor and measure out the amount needed for either pie or sweet potato casserole or what ever amount you need for your recipe and then freeze. Thaw and use. I also like to keep several in a cardboard box in my cool garage, keeping them covered.

Sue

If you don't have room in your freezer, dehydrating is another option. -Grainlady

Dehydrated Sweet Potatoes

-2-pounds sweet potatoes = 4 servings.

-Cook (using any method you prefer), drain (if boiled), and mash.

-Spread mashed sweet potatoes on lined trays (or fruit leather sheets) in 1/2 c. amounts, spreading very thin.

-Dry at 135F.

-When dry enough to peel off lined trays or fruit leather sheets, remove and place on trays to finish drying until CRISPY dry.

-When crispy, remove a 1/2-cup portion and blend to a powder in a blender. Place in a small snack bag to use for 1-serving of sweet potatoes.

-To rehydrate: Slowly add hot water until you reach a thick mashed potato texture.

grainlady-that sounds like a great way to store! I have an Excalibur dehydrator that gets used for just about everything, but mashed sweet potatoes never occurred to me. Would the same process work for any potato?

vwtx -

I haven't tried it with white potatoes. I would think the mashed potatoes would darken from oxidation unless you added an acidic ingredient (ascorbic acid or citric acid) to white mashed potatoes.

I used to do sliced white potatoes, but they take a lot more preparation and are notorious for mold if they aren't dried properly. We don't eat enough white potatoes to bother dehydrating them these days....

-Grainlady

My favorite way to roast wedges of sweet potatoes:

~ peel potatoes, cut in half, then slice half moon wedges

~ dip each wedge into olive oil

~ sprinkle each wedge with chili powder

~ bake in an oiled pan at 400 F for 45 minutes to 1 hour until crispy and cooked through.

Thanks to everyone for the storing advice and recipe suggestions. Now, time to make pie crusts to experiment with sweet potato pie. :)

Sweet potatoes are the easiest of all root crops to store. First handle them very, very gently. They bruise easily; though you may not see the bruises, it will cause them to spoil. Second, cure them by placing them in a very warm spot for several days. I put them in my car on sunny days with the windows closed.

Then store them in a slatted box or cardboard carton in a dry place. It doesn't even have to be cool, though a slightly cool place helps. I keep them in my pantry, take them from the top without moving them around much, and they store into the following summer.

Thanks grainlady :)

I agree, sweet potatoes store very well, as long as they aren't banged around. I've stored them from September until the following February or March, but I always run out before they ever spoil.

As has been mentioned, they do need to be "cured" to toughen the skins, I just lay mine out on a plastic tarp for a week or so and let the sun shine on them, then store them. Mine get spread out in wooden boxes, covered with a layer of straw, then another layer of potatoes. We have a root cellar but they keep very well in my basement, which is much warmer than the root cellar.

I don't clean them before storage either, that seems to shorten the storage life.

So what do I use them for? Well, I like them just baked with butter, salt and pepper and I often take one to work and put it into the microwave for lunch. I like sweet potato fries and I have this bread recipe that calls works well with squash or sweet potatoes. I use my bread machine to mix, knead and rise, then I shape the rolls and bake them in the oven.

Butternut Squash Rolls

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
1 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup warm fat free milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
1 cup mashed, cooked butternut squash
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes Stir in the milk, squash, butter, brown sugar and salt. Add whole wheat flour. beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with nonstick cooking spray, turning once to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down and turn onto a floured surface; divide into 20 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Place 2 in. apart on baking sheets coated with nonstick cooking spray. With a sharp knife, make shallow slashes on top of rolls. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees F for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

I make this sweet potato salad:

Sweet Potato Salad

3 pounds sweet potato, cooked, peeled and cubed
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, red pepper and onion. In a small bowl, blend mayonnaise, salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Pour over potato mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

I also use sweet potatoes or squash in place of pumpkin in pumpkin cake rolls and I use a mix of white and sweet potatoes in regular potato salad.

I really like sweet potatoes, but I don't care for them topped with a lot of sweet stuff, like brown sugar or marshmallow. My girls do, however, so they always look forward to that sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving, full of brown sugar and topped with miniature marshmallows.

I haven't tried it, but I'll bet sweet potatoes could also be used in that butternut squash ravioli recipe that someone posted here...

Annie

regarding "curing" the sweet potatoes - I can't lay them out on a tarp in the sun because we have a new puppy, 2 dogs and I have no idea how many (outdoor only) farm cats. If I lay them on a table on my porch, not directly in sunlight, for a week, will that be sufficient? It is supposed to be in the 60s for the next few days.

country smile, I think that should be fine, although a good curing temperature is closer to 65. Grandpa used to put them on his front porch and turn a little electric heater on to heat the place up. I always counted on the sun shining onto that black plastic tarp for heat.

Annie

Thanks again for the advice on curing. Before the sun came up this morning I was in the yard laying black plastic over the picnic table and spreading out the sweet potatoes. Fortunately it was almost 70 degrees today so if was a good day to start. I'll know better for next year that I should dig them before the days are too cold for curing.

Annie - You have been helpful to me before and I really appreciate your input. I have a feeling I could learn a lot from you regarding cooking and gardening! -- as well as from others who so willingly share their wisdom - i.e. laceyvail, linda, teresa, marilyn, etc. :)

Country smile, thank you for that vote of confidence.

There are very many much better cooks than I am right here on this forum, and I'm sure not the most up to date or technologically advanced gardener either, but I usually know the cheapest/easiest way! (grin)

Annie