Cooking Tips & Recipes :: Amazing Eggnog Spice Latte Recipe

Every holiday brings certain traditions and for the espresso coffee makers flavored drinks are definitely a lot of fun and a great way to spice up the season. There are many recipe combinations for espresso drinks especially the lattes and this Eggnog Spice Latte is a true all-time favorite. It is very easy to make once you have a basic latte perfected and it allows one to use a little creativity as well. Follow the directions below but don?t hesitate to be a little innovative so that you might have a latte with your own personal signature.

   The basic ingredients for an Eggnog Spice Latte in a 12 oz wide mouth cup are:

 1) Two shots (ounces) of extracted espresso, adjust the amount of espresso to your personal preference.

 2) Six ? eight ounces of eggnog. Light or low fat eggnog can be used if calories are a concern. You can also use a 50/50 combination of low fat milk and eggnog if you prefer.

 3) Whipped cream.

 4) Nutmeg.

 5) Pumpkin Spice (a dash or two) ? Optional in place of nutmeg.

 6) Brown Sugar ( ? to 1 heaping teaspoon)-- Optional

 The basic directions are as follows:

 1) Pour eggnog (and milk if used) into frothing pitcher, preferably stainless steel with a thermometer.

 2) Add brown sugar and pumpkin spice if desired to eggnog and stir. As mentioned above, if the pumpkin spice is used the nutmeg should be eliminated as the two combined seem to be a little to harsh.

 3) Heat or froth eggnog keeping temperature below 150 degrees. Do not exceed 150 degrees as this tends to break down the eggnog.

 4)  Pull the two shots of espresso (or desired amount) directly into a pre-heated cup. Pour the eggnog mixture into the cup and add a whipped cream topping and then sprinkle with nutmeg. The nutmeg should be used sparingly but is highly recommended as it seems to leave the pallet with a clean and crisp feeling without a sweet after taste.

 A couple of other ingredients that can be added or substituted are pumpkin puree (a tablespoon or two) and or vanilla (one teaspoon). Obviously using all of the ingredients listed would be a little over the top for most of us so it is recommended to start with the basic recipe and then add one ingredient and maybe subtract or lesson another at the same time. All of these ingredients are complimentary to the eggnog base and are not meant to overtake it.

 As always we hope here at espressomakerempire.com that this will help you enjoy your espresso coffee making experience during this Holiday Season and throughout the New Year.

Amazing Top 5 Diabetics Breakfast Ideas

Breakfast which means breaking from night fast, is the most important meal, and you shouldn't skip especially if you are trying to reverse or cure type 2 diabetes. My post will be exposing you to top 5 diabetics breakfast ideas you can draw in your diabetics diet plan for this month.
 Based on dietitian recommendation, you should take your breakfast after two(2) hours when you wake up and a healthy breakfast provides calories of 20%-35% of your guideline daily allowance. Here comes the top 5 diabetics breakfast ideas you can incorporate in your diet plan and you can pick them up when you are going for shopping.

 Diabetic breakfast ideas
 1. WHOLE GRAIN FOOD
 RICE
 CEREAL
 CRACKER
 GRANOLA
 BREAD
 2. FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
 Banana
 Broccoli
 Blue berry
 Brussel sprouts: it's loaded with vitamin A, folic acid, potassium, and calcium. Plus, this cruciferous vegetable is an excellent source of fiber. Brussels sprouts are also extremely high in Vitamin C, which is a potent antioxidant.
 It's nutritional properties are beneficial in the maintenance of digestive health as well as immune system health, and regulation of both blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
 3. LEAN MEATS I.e meat low in saturated fats
 Lean meats are low in saturated fats and must contain less than 10 g of total fat, including fewer than 4.5 g of saturated fat. To qualify as extra-lean, a 3-oz. serving should have less than 5 g of total fat and 2 g of saturated fat.
 If you have being avoiding lean meat for some time, its high time you incorporate lean meat in your diet plan.
 Beef and pork: when shopping for this, look for the one labelled as round or loin, and when preparing it, try as much as possible to cut of the fats and avoid frying to prevent further fats.
 Poultry: be sure to keep the meat lean as low as possible by removing all skins and visible fats.
 4. BLOW OR FAT FREE DAIRY
 Plain non-fat yogurt
 non-fat light yogurt
 unflavored fortified soy milk
 5. HEART HEALTHY FOOD
 Fish: fish such as cod, flounder, perch, red snapper and shrimp and many more were recommended by New York Sea food Council and are great source of omega 3 fatty acid which is very important for the heart.
 Canola oil: its made from seed of canola, very low in saturated fats and contains omega 3 for heart health.
 They are diabetic breakfast ideas carefully selected and geared towards naturally curing diabetes, follow it, and take cognizance of other means like exercise and a best diabetes supplement. Remember! combination of all these will lead to your testimony.
 Breakfast which means breaking from night fast, is the most important meal, and you shouldn't skip especially if you are trying to reverse or cure type 2 diabetes. My post will be exposing you to top 5 diabetics breakfast ideas you can draw in your diabetics diet plan for this month.
 Based on dietitian recommendation, you should take your breakfast after two(2) hours when you wake up and a healthy breakfast provides calories of 20%-35% of your guideline daily allowance. Here comes the top 5 diabetics breakfast ideas you can incorporate in your diet plan and you can pick them up when you are going for shopping.
 Diabetic breakfast ideas
 1. WHOLE GRAIN FOOD
 RICE
 CEREAL
 CRACKER
 GRANOLA
 BREAD
 2. FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
 Banana
 Broccoli
 Blue berry
 Brussel sprouts: it's loaded with vitamin A, folic acid, potassium, and calcium. Plus, this cruciferous vegetable is an excellent source of fiber. Brussels sprouts are also extremely high in Vitamin C, which is a potent antioxidant.
 It's nutritional properties are beneficial in the maintenance of digestive health as well as immune system health, and regulation of both blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
 3. LEAN MEATS I.e meat low in saturated fats
 Lean meats are low in saturated fats and must contain less than 10 g of total fat, including fewer than 4.5 g of saturated fat. To qualify as extra-lean, a 3-oz. serving should have less than 5 g of total fat and 2 g of saturated fat.
 If you have being avoiding lean meat for some time, its high time you incorporate lean meat in your diet plan.
 Beef and pork: when shopping for this, look for the one labelled as round or loin, and when preparing it, try as much as possible to cut of the fats and avoid frying to prevent further fats.
 Poultry: be sure to keep the meat lean as low as possible by removing all skins and visible fats.
 4. BLOW OR FAT FREE DAIRY
 Plain non-fat yogurt
 non-fat light yogurt
 unflavored fortified soy milk
 5. HEART HEALTHY FOOD
 Fish: fish such as cod, flounder, perch, red snapper and shrimp and many more were recommended by New York Sea food Council and are great source of omega 3 fatty acid which is very important for the heart.
 Canola oil: its made from seed of canola, very low in saturated fats and contains omega 3 for heart health.

Thirteen top memories of 2013: Amazing Walt Disney World food experiences

You might not think of fine dining when you think about Walt Disney World unless you're a fan of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, but the resort actually has some amazing dining options all year 'round. I got to enjoy quite a few of them during the course of 2013, and they made some of my best memories.

The festival has quite a few special events each year, and this year one of them was a Scottish dinner. When you think of food from Scotland, haggis probably pops into your mind. Yes, they had it there, and I actually loved it! But there were many, many other tasty dishes that I grazed on throughout the night. You can see some highlights in this article.
I also enjoyed a wonderful meal at Bistro de Paris that included the best escargot I've ever tasted. The luncheon was part of the festival, but this gem of a restaurant is open every day in Epcot. I highly recommend making a reservation and trying it out for yourself. Check out the video accompanying this article for some highlights.
Still another unique and delicious dining experience was enjoying food from around the world, all of which incorporated cranberries in some way. That experience was topped off by a wading session in the Ocean Spray cranberry bog. There's something so delightful about getting the chance to don hip waders and slosh through the cranberry bog while Spaceship Earth looms behind you. You can read about my experience here.
The California Grill at the Contemporary Resort also reopened in 2013 after an extensive remodeling. I had the great pleasure of getting a preview of the new cuisine (and some old favorites). Read more about it here.
Those are just a few of the tasty treats I enjoyed at Walt Disney World this year. I don't want to think about the sum total of all those calories, but they were well worth it.
For the rest of my top 13 memories of 2013.

Amazing Dragon Cake Designs

Wedding cakes bring a great deal of happiness and delight along with them to everyone who lays an eye upon them. After all, a child is always excited about the shape and color of his or her birthday cake each year. A wedding comes only once, so imagine all that excitement and thrill of childhood concentrated into one event and then multiplied by about two hundred times. That is the effect created by the guests gathered at the wedding, all visibly palpable in their curiosity to see how the wedding cake turns out to be. Here in this entry, we discuss about one such wedding cake type which captures the magic of being a child. Here we will talk about some amazing dragon cake designs.

You may incorporate dragons in a number of ways in your wedding cake. Let us take them one at a time-
Fairy tale Dragon Wedding Cake
This is a wonderful wedding cakes where you may employ a cake designer to recreate a dragon from your childhood fantasies. The scaly fire-breathing dragon of fairy stories makes for a visually striking addition to the wedding cake. For example, picture this—
A snowy white two tier cake, with a similarly pristine, ivory castle rising from the top tier of the cake. And at the base of the top tier, scaling the cake and inching towards the castle, what do you see but a wonderful majestic dragon- created painstakingly scale to scale from marzipan or hardened sugar. The color of the dragon may easily vary according to your choice. It could be an emerald green, an electric blue, or a chocolaty brown (whatever best suits the color code of the cake). You may also make other additions to the cake like growing vines along the side at the base of a castle (created by icing through a piping bag), a prince and princess cake topper (or a princess and a knight). I have seen a couple of dragon themed cakes successfully recreating themes from movies like Shrek and Sleeping Beauty with a flourish of splendor and boundless imagination. Perfect if you are tired of the formal monotony attached to the other wedding aspects and want a change when it comes to the wedding cake.
Wedding Cake Dragon Topper
If you are a little short on cash but still want to have a dragon inspired wedding cake, there is a wonderful solution to satisfy your desire. You may not really get a cake design to build a scaly dragon for you, but you may just purchase a ferocious dragon cake topper just for the event. There are a plethora of glint eyed, luridly colored, talon wielding, miniature versions of the fire spouting reptiles. Get one which you like, perch it on top of a simple wedding cakes and at the dragon's feet, you may place the wedding ring set of the bride and groom's rings for maximum effect.
Chinese Dragon Cake Designs

There are entire galleries of photographs dedicated to unique wedding cakes based on the Chinese dragon uploaded online and just a click away.
So if you ever feel like incorporating a little bit of the "giant lizard-y sizzle" to your wedding cake, do not get embarrassed to do so as a lot of people before you have already tried it out and achieved great results. Here's to seeing your wedding cake dragon on your big day!

How to Cook The Worlds Most Amazing Lasagna

I have been graced in my life with a passion for cooking and I am very skilled at it.I have never taken cooking classes, everything I cook I learned from watching others and experimenting. Since I was young I have taken pride in feeding friends and family. I put all of my heart and soul into the meals I prepare for them. I love hearing how great my food is.

When my children tell me that they want me to make their favorite meal and I ask what it is they tell me they want "Lasagna",..."mom's lasagna".
I am going to tell you how to make MY lasagna, remember that on top of the ingredients that go into the meal, the most important ingredient is LOVE.
To make this dish you will need the following ingredients.
The amount of ingredients needed depends upon the size of the pan you are using to prepare it, so the following ingredient's listed are meant to make about 24 servings. This pan weighs about 35 pounds once the lasagna is prepared.
Use a 9x13x4" NON STICK pan to bake the lasagna.
CHEESY MEAT LOVER'S LASAGNA WITH CHEESY GARLIC BREAD
You will need:
1 Pint Mushrooms (optional)
2 Large Green Peppers
2 Large Onions
6 Sweet Italian Sausage Links
6 Hot Italian Sausage Links
1 Large Stick Of Pepperoni (about 6 oz)
3 Pounds of 85% Lean Ground Hamburger
2 Pounds of Lasagna Noodles
3 Pounds of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
3 Pounds Cottage Cheese (1 lg or 2 med size containers)
2 Pounds Ricotta Cheese (1 lg or 2 med size containers)
6 Large Eggs
6 Cans Of Hunts Spaghetti Sauce (or prego or ragu or make yourself)
GARLIC BREAD
1 Large Loaf of Italian or French Bread
Butter
Garlic (fresh or jarred)
Garlic Powder
In a large pot bring water to a boil and add the lasagna noodles until cooked, about 15 minutes, Drain.
WHILE THE NOODLES ARE COOKING:
Chop the green peppers and dice the onions, put them in an extra large skillet. Crumble up the hamburger, slice up the pepperoni, and take the sausage out of the skin, place all the meat into the same skillet as the peppers and onions and cook on medium heat until completely brown, making sure the sausage is cooked through. Once done, drain the meat and place into a large bowl, slice the mushrooms if you choose to use them and place them in the same bowl with the meat,add your sauce of choice and mix completely.
MIX IN A LARGE BOWL:
Combine all 3 pounds of cottage cheese and 3 pounds of ricotta cheese in a large bowl, once mixed together add the six eggs (use the whole egg) mix until it is smooth and creamy, using a spoon or whisk.
Set the oven to 350 degree's.
Take your 9x13x4" pan and put a layer of the meat sauce in the bottom of the pan, top with a layer of mozzarella cheese, add a layer of noodles, top the noodles with the cottage cheese and ricotta cheese mix, top with mozzarella cheese, top with noodles, add another layer of meat sauce, top with mozzarella cheese and add more noodles, then cottage cheese and ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. continue to layer in this manner, make sure to top off each and every layer with mozzarella cheese. The very top layer will be meat sauce topped heavily with mozzarella cheese. Place in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
While this is cooking, slice your French Bread or Italian Bread length wise, mix softened butter with crushed garlic (fresh or jarred, either is fine) add a little garlic powder, spread this on your two loaf sections then top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Put this in the oven about 10 minutes before your lasagna is done.Should be done at the same time as your lasagna.
You can also make your favorite salad to go with this. I personally like making a tossed green salad with tomatoes and cucumbers and a little cheddar cheese.
After you remove the lasagna, let it sit and cool for a few minutes. The recipe should make about 24 servings, more if you like smaller pieces.
Slice your lasagna. Serve with a piece of cheesy garlic bread and a bowl of salad!
Enjoy!!

Ramadan Recommendations: We Asked Foodies for Their Top Picks for Fetar & Sohour...

Ramadan has been abuzz with all manner of gastronomical revelry, with this year in particular being one of the most fruitful times for elaborate fetars and sohours. But with options comes indecision; everyone has their own opinion on the best places in Egypt's for a perfect Ramadan experience ? including Cairo 360, of course (check out our Ramadan tent recommendations here).

But in looking for a different opinion, however, who better to ask than Cairo's most prolific foodies? We got in touch and had them reveal their own personal recommendations for fetar and sohour?

Ramadan has been abuzz with all manner of gastronomical revelry, with this year in particular being one of the most fruitful times for elaborate fetars and sohours. But with options comes indecision; everyone has their own opinion on the best places in Egypt's for a perfect Ramadan experience ? including Cairo 360, of course (check out our Ramadan tent recommendations here).

But in looking for a different opinion, however, who better to ask than Cairo's most prolific foodies? We got in touch and had them reveal their own personal recommendations for fetar and sohour?

-Foodista Egypt (@foodistaegypt)

"3al Borg is our favourite go-to for for its great service, great fetar buffet catered by Caracas and sohour from Zooba, alongside a delicious desserts section by Nola Cupcakes & By Bike. The place also gives a whole new experience with a Kareta ride around Zamalek and you get to go up Cairo Tower as well."

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-Omar's Food (@omarsfood)

"El Hara Tent inside Palm Hills Club is definitely one of the gems in 6th of October City for an unbeatable hangout. The service is excellent, the food is delicious and the weather is extremely refreshing. However, you might need to know a resident or a club member to make a reservation."

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-The Food Review (@thefoodreview)

"If you are looking for a fancy fetar spot, we totally recommend Cairo Marriott Hotel. Their open buffet has a wide variety of options and their food is made with extreme excellence ? it definitely has it all."

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Hungry Egyptian (@hungregyptian)

"You can't go wrong with Tamara Lebanese Bistro. The fact that they have always managed to sustain their quality makes them a go-to place for any occasion."

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Ramy Soliman (@ramysoli)

"The Edward's is one of my favourites for its cosy and comfortable vibe, as well as its scrumptious food ? particularly their Cordon Bleu and Fish with Bisque Sauce. In addition, Upper Deck at Four Seasons Nile Plaza for its relaxing ambiance and delicious eats, especially the Seafood Tajine and Om Ali with Pistachio."

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Karim Petsadsis (@karimpetsadsis)
"I've had many bad fetar experiences in the past, but Enab beirut proved me wrong this year with their delicious Lebanese treats. As for sohour, I highly recommend Taghmisa in Nasr City, as they bake their own fresh bread and their sohour menu has many amazing and unique choices."

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Taste and Tell (@taste_and_tells)

"Soma3 basha at Cairo Marriott offers a wonderful Oriental setting, thanks to its foul cart well as the sweet potato and liver carts. We also recommend Taboon for their excellent service; they serve the best ma7mar and juicy grills in town."

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The Hungry Giraffe Eats (@thehungrygiraffeeats)

"Ayadina's open buffet has a lot to offer, from yogurt chicken fatta, Lebanese mixed grill and fattoush, to delicious konafa with akkawi cheese. As for Enab Beirut, their mixed grill platter is light and delicious; but our absolute favourite is the superb chicken fereek with pines, almonds and pistachios."

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Bite and Brag (@biteandbrag)

"Carlo's at Le Pacha1901 has delicious food and a breathtaking Nile view. Naguib Mahfouz Caf? in Khal El Khalili is also one of our favorite sohour spots for its authentic vibe, coupled with some of Egypt's tastiest authentic dishes and live Egyptian music."

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The Food Scope (@thefoodscope)

"For those who want to eat in outdoors, we recommend the Smokery, as it has an amazing view, great ambience and a full fetar buffet, while Lanterns tent in Uptown Cairo is definitely a go-to for sohour for its chilling atmosphere and toothsome eats."

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Cairo Munch (@cairomunch)

"Taghmisa have surely proved themselves as one of the top sohour places; their service is excellent, the food can be described as 100% homemade and the atmosphere is just amazing. We highly recommend their 'foul be salset taghmisa' and taghmisa bread; they also have a creative and a must-try 'Zalabya bel gebna' sandwich. "

Top Healthy Food for Autumn Cooking

As summer comes to an end, so does the availability of British grown seasonal foods such as berries and crisp salads.  But foodies shouldn?t fear ? while Autumn may bring with it long nights and cold weather, it?s also the perfect time of year for some of the very best fresh produce the UK has to offer, many of which contain disease fighting nutrients.

Autumn is a great time of year for English apples, and not only do these taste amazing but they are full of flavonoids, potent antioxidants that are known to lower the risk of heart disease, heart attacks and some cancers.  They are completely versatile, and can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, including apple pies and crumbles and sauces to accompany Sunday roasts.  Apple?s aren?t the only fruits Autumn gives us - pears are almost as versatile as apples, and are high in fibre, lowering blood cholesterol levels and improving blood sugar control.  They can be used on salads or in sandwiches or can be poached for a warm, sweet dessert.

Often ignored until Christmas day, parsnips have a sweet, delicate flavour and are a great source if of fibre, vitamin C, calcium and iron.  The best flavour comes from smooth and firm, small to medium sized parsnips, and these can be boiled and mashed together with carrots or steamed, boiled or roasted or saut?ed as a side vegetable.  They also make a great addition to soups.

Autumn is the perfect time of year for pumpkins and squashes, but too often pumpkins are thought of as a Halloween decoration rather than a food full of beta-carotene, an important antioxidant, as well as vitamin C.  Even the seeds of pumpkins are packed with nutritional value, and can be roasted from a fresh pumpkin in a hot oven.

Winter squashes are one of the few vegetables that do not loose quality after picking and can be stored for months on end.  In fact, during storage, the vitamin A content increases, making them a great source of heart-healthy nutrients.

Turnips, or swede depending where in the country you live, have a tough outer skin with a white flesh that?s bitterer in flavour than potatoes.  They are a member of the mustard family and are a great source of fibre and cancer fighting toxins.  They can be cooked in a number of ways, including boiling, roasting or mashing.

Finally there?s the sweet potato.  Not normally associated with British gardens, the sweet potato is easy to grown in sheltered spaces and contains one and a half times the amount of vitamin C found in an ordinary potato.  However the name is slightly misleading ? sweet potatoes are not related to the traditional potato, and is in fact a root vegetable rather than a tuber.

Firm, smooth skins are a sign of a good quality sweet potato, and as well as vitamin C, they contain four times the recommended amount of vitamin A and are an ideal choice diabetics since they are full of slow release carbohydrates, helping to steady blood sugar levels.

The Cookery School at Braxted Park, Essex, combines a stunning location with award-winning chefs and a diverse range of courses to suit all abilities.  Perfect for corporate hospitality and food fanatics alike, it is the ideal way to learn new skills from the some of the country's finest chefs; Paul Boorman, Mark Webb, William Grinsted and Peter Bayless to name just a few.

Whether you are looking to explore the world of cooking with a new cuisine, throw the perfect dinner party or create the ultimate team building experience, you will find the ideal solution for you at Braxted Park.

For more information on the Cookery School at Braxted Park or the courses it runs, visit the Cookery School website!

Amazing yam recipe: Delicious with meringue on top

ams or sweet potatoes are a wonderful side dish for any meal.  This yam recipe is so delicious it's hard to decide whether it's for dinner or dessert.  The sweet potatoes or yams are cooked, then mixed with a tasty mixture of spices and topped with delicious marshmallow-like meringue.  You will love this!

Yams and sweet potatoes really aren't the same thing.  Yams are native to Africa and are from a totally different family of plants.  In the United States, sweet potatoes are what we usually get in the stores.
The nutritional value of sweet potatoes makes you want to include them in your diet on a regular basis.  Filled with Vitamin A, potassium, beta carotene, and fiber, as well as a slew of other vitamins and minerals, it's hard to find a more perfect food.
Sweet Potatoes/Yams with Meringue Recipe
Ingredients for Sweet Potatoes/Yams with Meringue:
Meringue:
Directions for making Sweet Potatoes/Yams with Meringue:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil a 9-inch square baking dish.
For the meringue:  In a large mixing bowl, put the egg whites, cr??me of tartar, and vanilla ' do not mix ' set aside.
Place the sweet potato chunks in a saucepan, fill ?? full with water, and boil until tender.  Drain.  Mash well with a potato masher.
Whisk the eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, milk, vanilla, and salt in a bowl until frothy.   Add to the sweet potatoes and mash together until blended.
Put the sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35  - 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven.
Whip together with an electric mixer the egg whites, cr??me of tartar, and vanilla until soft peaks form.  While continuing to mix, add the sugar a little at a time.  Keep whipping together until peaks form (when picking up the beaters from the mixture).  The result should be thick and marshmallowy.
Pipe the meringue on the sweet potato mixture or spread it on, creating peaks.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 ' 12 minutes or until the peaks are lightly browned.  Let sit for 15 minutes, cut into squares and serve.
(Adapted from eatingwell.com)
OTHER DELICIOUS SWEET POTATO/YAM RECIPES:
Sweet Potatoes Recipe -- delicious with pears  
Sweet Potato Salad Recipe ' unforgettable
Sweet Potato Pancake Recipe ' amazing pancakes!
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