K. K.’S RUMMY SWEET POTATO APPLE BAKE

KATHERINE CORTNER KEELING (Nashville, Tennessee) is known as K. K. to her three grandchildren and Great K. K. to her six great-grandchildren. Her oldest granddaughter, MANDY BUTTERS (Brentwood, Tennessee), remembers K. K. “putting up” creamed corn—dozens and dozens of ears, using the tip and scrape method (cut off the tips of the kernels; then scrape the knife down the side to get the pulp and juice off the cob). “There would be corn pieces and juice everywhere—on the walls, windows, floor, etc.,” Mandy recalls. And though the end is broken off and the blade has practically all been filed away, K. K. still has (and uses as her favorite) the knife she got on her wedding day, seventy-some years ago.

3 pounds sweet potatoes

Butter to grease dish

3 medium Golden Delicious apples

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup pecan halves

8 tablespoons butter

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons dark rum

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground mace

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Wash the sweet potatoes and prick each several times with a fork. In a large casserole dish or roaster, bake the sweet potatoes until tender, approximately 45 minutes. Cool and peel the potatoes. Cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices and place in a buttered 9 × 13-inch baking pan.

2 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3 Peel, core, and slice the apples lengthwise. Toss them in lemon juice. Add the apples to the casserole dish with the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with pecan halves.

4 In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, rum, ginger, mace, and cinnamon. Cook the mixture until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly.

5 Pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes and apples in the casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Baste occasionally with the butter sauce.

6 After 30 minutes, place the casserole dish under the broiler, just until the edges of the sweet potatoes and apples are slightly browned. Serve warm.

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS.

NOTE: Careful with the rum—adding too much may cause a fire in the oven, Just ask K. K.! She made that mistake once . . .