Help - I've been invited to a Thanksgiving dinner...

[MrsMills]

...tomorrow and been asked to bring yams. They expect them to be cooked.

So are they the same as sweet potatoes? I know there are no shops around here which sell yams, so if they are not the same, are they similar (i.e. would it be o.k. to use sweet potates?). Then, how exactly would they expect them to be cooked? I would normally use them for wedges, but is there a particular recipie used for Thanksgiving?

Anyone?

odd to have thanksgiving on a friday but hey ho. yams are exactly same thing as sweet pots. if they haven't specified a receipe then you can just bake them like normal pots, but they take less time. try martha stewart's website for something more inspirational!

When Americans say yams, they normally mean sweet potatoes. I used to live in the US and Thanksgiving meant candied yams (basically, cooked with marshmallows). Sounds vile, but I like them and they are "traditional".

recipe

We never had candied yams at our table. We always did roasted and/or mashed. For a bit of variety with the mashed you can mix with other root vegs to give a more interesting mash (e.g. potato or parsnip, swede)

No candied yams??!
This thread is making me miss pecan pie

Thanks for all your replies. I refuse to eat potatoes with marshmallows, so I'll adapt the recipie. How about baking them with butter and a little brown sugar as a compromise?

They are having the dinner on a Friday, just to accomodate me as I couldn't make it tonight.

My lovely American friends