RUDOLPH – When Elaine Lyons calls to share a recipe, it’s hard to turn her down – even if she’s already
been featured in the Cook’s Corner.
And when she offered to contribute a last-minute Thanksgiving Day dinner-dessert idea, the assignment was
set.
The pumpkin bread present, which is the norm for all her visitors, sealed the deal.
Lyons’ recipe is a Sweet Potato Casserole, which she created a few years ago at the request of a
grandson.
"I used to always make candied sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving," she said.
About 10 years ago, her grandson asked her why she didn’t make sweet potatoes like his aunt did.
The casserole that he preferred contained one unusual ingredient – which can put the dish on either the
main table or the dessert bar – pineapple.
Lyons went online and found a few recipes to try.
"And I wasn’t crazy about them. So I made up my own."
The combination of the sweet potatoes, pineapple, sugar and pecans make the casserole amazingly sweet.

"It think it’s almost like a dessert, than a side dish."
This Thanksgiving, there will be four at her table, including her son, daughter and her husband. The
grandchildren and great-grandchildren are scattered across the country.
Lyons will be serving "the traditional turkey and dressing. And I haven’t decided if I’m going to
make a green bean casserole or old-fashioned scalloped corn."
Also on the menu is a swiss vegetable dish and her daughter’s cranberry salad.
Lyons regularly makes up her own recipes.
"I’ll find recipes online. I look at two to three of them and look at what people say about them,
and change them to how I want them."
She’s mostly known for her baking, and her mouth-watering breads.
Lyons spends most weekends in her kitchen, creating all kinds of breads, especially zucchini.
They go to neighbors, friends and her colleagues at the Bowling Green Christian Food Pantry and Wood
County Hospital, where she volunteers. At the hospital, she greets people at the emergency room entrance
and shows them where they need to go.
Lyons retired in 2003 as administrative secretary at the Bowling Green Police Division, where she had
worked for 33 years.
Oh, and as for the recipe for the gifted pumpkin bread, that will have to wait for another column.
Sweet Potato Casserole
4 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 can crushed pineapple (15½ ounce can)
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons melted margarine
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup margarine
1⁄3 cup flour
½ cup pecan halves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Drain pineapple, reserving ¼ cup juice. Combine juice with the next 5 ingredients. Mix well. Add
pineapple and mix all together and pour into 2-quart baking dish.
Mix brown sugar, margarine, cinnamon and flour until crumbly. Add pecans and pour over the sweet potato
and pineapple mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.