Diane's Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes
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Here's a recipe from our friend Diane. She made these for us on Thanksgiving, during a wonderful meal. Most sweet potato recipes are too sweet for me. But this one is just right.

The original recipe from Diane uses raisins, but we found by accident that we like the tartness of dried cranberries better.

3 large sweet potatoes
1/3 cup of real maple syrup
 1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the sweet potatoes on the baking rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes (they should still be firm). Remove the potatoes, allow them to cool, and remove the peel.

Toast the pecans in a dry skillet over high heat for about 2 minutes.

Cut the potatoes into 3/4 inch slices. Place the potato slices in bottom of a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with cranberries and nuts over the potatoes, and then drizzle the maple syrup over the top. Cover and bake until the potatoes are tender, but not soft (about 30 - 40 minutes). Remove the cover during the last 8 - 10 minutes.

Cliff Note 1: Feel free to use raisins instead of the cranberries. It gives the overall dish a sweeter flavor.

Cliff Note 2: Be sure to use real maple syrup for this recipe, and not imitation flavored pancake or waffle syrup. We prefer the grade A dark syrup.