This is a two-part blog.   A precursor to the next  blog about Sweet Potato Pie.

I had always believed that the orange fleshed sweet potatoes were called Yams and true sweet potatoes are white.  You even see that at the grocery store.   It turns out they are both sweet potatoes.  We do not have yams in stores in North America (unless you are at some kind of African ethnic store) 

Yams are a starchy, non sweet tuber native to Africa and not very tasty.  We definitely do not eat yams.  Apparently when Louisiana producers started to market orange coloured sweet potatoes they tried to differentiate themselves from the white fleshed version by calling them Yams.  (marketing guys what can you say) 

They are no more different than red skinned potatoes are from white potatoes. 

I only point this out because I have pontificated at meals with my kids by referring to the orange sweet potato by the misnomer Yam.  My bad. 

We actually prefer the orange fleshed version.