Of Michael Jordan, Baseball, and Potatoes
In southeastern North Carolina, where many of Michael Jordan’s extended family still reside, the sweet potato holds a special place in gardens and in the cuisine. I still recall my astonishment when I gave a friend some fresh eggs, and her husband made me a delicious sweet potato pie.
North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes, and in 1995 the General Assembly selected it as the state vegetable. The name is actually a misnomer, because sweet ‘potatoes’ belong to the root family, while true potatoes are tubers. Regardless, sweet potatoes have…