Traditionally only second to the turkey when it comes to planning your Thanksgiving feast is the sweet potato. (And do not refer to a sweet potato as a yam, as they are two very different vegetables.)

The sweet potato, a yellow or orange tuber, is a root of a vine in the morning glory family. The yam, native to Africa and Asia, is the tuber of a tropical vine related to grasses and lilies. They are two different botanical families and are not even distantly related.

Sweet potatoes are native American plants that were the main source of nourishment for settlers, homesteaders and soldiers during the Revolutionary War. They were even eaten at the first Thanksgiving. Today they are the sixth principal world food crop.

When Columbus landed on America’s shores in 1492 he found Native Americans growing sweet potatoes. He found them so tasty he took them back to Europe. In 1543 Spanish explorers found sweet potatoes growing in "Indian gardens" in what became Louisiana. They were ...