Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

Thanksgiving! I have to say is my favorite holiday, because you get to cook up a storm! I first cooked a Thanksgiving meal when I was 16, this will be my third year at planning the meal. I absolutely love it! While I do enjoy the cooking and preparation of the meal I don't like to do it on Thanksgiving day. Yes that's right I make the whole dinner the day before. With the exclusion of the turkey.
I find that nearly all of my dishes lend themselves well to preparing ahead of time. You will see me go as far as to freeze the dinner rolls and bake them the day of. My world famous sweet potatoes (or at our church anyway) lend themselves particularly well to advance preparation. While I find myself only making them on Thanksgiving, my sister tells me they grace her table more often. Sweet potatoes are always a treat whenever you eat them especially in this way...

Bethanne's Sweet Potatoes

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
1 pound tart cooking apples (I just used red delicious)
5 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I like to use more)
1/2 ginger
4 tablespoons butter, diced
Bake the potatoes in their skins for thirty minutes at 400 degrees
(or until done)Peel them and cut them into thin slices. (sometimes I cook the potatoes the day before). Core and peel the apples and slice them
thin. Mix three tablespoons of the sugar with the cinnamon and ginger. Butter a casserole dish ( 8 by 8) with one tablespoon of the butter and put a layer of sliced apple into it. Sprinkle a little of the sugar spice mixture and bits of the dice butter over them. Cover with a layer of sliced potatoes, sprinkle them with some of the sugar spice mixture and dot with butter. Continue layer apples and potatoes as above until all are in the casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining two tablespoons of sugar. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. or till tender. Serve hot