No matter how you slice it, Texas is a southern state. We endure more than our share of hot, humid weather. We have sub tropical plants and animals, and we are told that we speak with a southern accent (sounds normal to me). Our influences, culturally and gastronomically speaking range from Old Spanish to French to Hill Country German to Appalachian, depending on what part of the state you find yourself in, and where the immigrants came from. Some of the food we love even has Native American origins. ( though the archaeologists tell us that even they migrated from Siberia!) The singing group “Alabama” has a song “sweet potato pie and shut my mouth. “
Well, I’ll do the latter, right after I tell you how to cook the former! Them sweet potatoes are getting ripe!

Boil several sweet potatoes after they are peeled, so that you can mash them to a beautiful orange pulp. Now add a quart of the pulp to a quart of milk, four whole eggs, beaten lightly, a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of nutmeg, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and as much sugar as you need to satisfy your own personal sweet tooth (but not enough to raise your doctor’s eyebrows!) Make up four aunt Betty’s pie crusts, and pour in the mixture. Bake them for almost 10 minutes at 400°F then turn down to 350°F and continue to bake them until they’re solid in the middle.
Now that’s southern! (But I’d never slap m y granny!)