ChickenCoupe, I would say that the orange looking small sweet potatoes were probably the Beauregard, though I am not an expert, I have never seen any white looking ones. Of course I bought the one's that I raised at the grocery store to make slips so do not know what kind they are for sure. I have read post that state they didn't like the Beauregards or that they were not as sweet as other kinds. But I have read that the Beauregards are famous for they're turn out. But if they are not sweet enough a little sugar can help that. A little dark brown sugar or molasses can is fantastic. I believe sometimes the soil has something to do with the way things taste. I know it does with watermelon & cantaloupe, as they will seem to taste sweeter if raised on sandy land than on dirt natured soil. Sweet potatoes may be the same way. I think onions taste different on different types of soil as some are more stronger tasting on some soils than others. But like I said that is just my opinion. And it doesn't count for much.

Terri- I've wondered about doing powdered mashed white potatoes, but haven't tried it. I do dried potato slices and shreds, but you have to be careful with potatoes because they tend to mold if improperly dried. I believe you can make a slury in the blender with skinned/seeded tomatoes and dry it on fruit roll-up sheets until crispy. Powder in a blender when thoroughly dried. Dehydrated Potatoes 1. Wash and sort potatoes. Use like-sized potatoes if possible so they dehydrate in about the same time. Peel, if desired, or leave skin on. 2. Using a cutting mandoline (a really quick way to slice food for dehydrating) or knife, cut the potatoes into 1/8- to 1/4-inch slices and drop into cold water to prevent oxidation. 3. Then place the potato slices in boiling water (in small batches) and blanch potato slices for 5 minutes (or 6-8 minutes if using a steam blanch). 4. Drain and drop into a lemon juice/water solution - 2 quarts of cold water and 1/2 c. bottled lemon juice. Soak for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. (Other recipes omit the lemon/water soak, but an acid treatment is important to prevent microorganisms, such as Salmonella and E. Coli 0157:H7. These bacteria are hearty enough to survive basic drying methods, and new procedures are needed for safe dehydrated food. Use lemon juice/water, ascorbic acid/water, or citric acid/water.) 5. Drain and dry potato slices (I used my lettuce spinner and gently drained the water from the potatoes by spinning them.) 6. Dehydrate in a single layer, 12-18 hours at 120°F. (or temperature according to the manufacturer instructions of your model of dehydrator). Make sure the potatoes are brittle and semi-transparent. Incomplete dehydration will cause the potatoes to mold. Do not eat dehydrated potatoes with mold on them. Turn the potato slices once or twice during drying. 7. Store in an airtight container. To re-hydrate: Mix equal amounts of dehydrated potatoes and boiling water and allow to sit for 25 minutes. You can also slice washed potatoes into 1/2-inch shoestring strips for "hash browns" using the same method. -Grainlady

I use the water that the potatoes are boiled in instead of milk...a stick or two of Parkay Margarine and salt. My daughter loves it with sour cream added. DH likes alot of black pepper, so I sprinkle that(sometimes) on his individual servings... I like to experiment with food, and have added Cheez Whiz to the mashed potatoes...not bad.

Both pumpkin and winter squash are squash in the vegetable kingdom under the edible gourd section. The canned pumpkin is Curcurbita moschata "Dickinson" a winter squash butternut variety, and the carving pumpkin is Curcubita pepo, a winter squash too but doesn't taste good in a pumpkin pie because it is so watery it never would hold together to become a "puree" which is what canned "pumpkin" is - a winter squash puree. If you want to make your own puree, grow or buy the good ol' Butternut/Buttercup, or lovely Red Kuri, or Kabocha, or my favorite because of the unusual blue skin color - Queensland Blue, but then I usually can't wait for it to be pie and bake chunks of it with brown sugar and butter, several times because they grow huge.Don't buy the Sugar or Pie Pumpkin because, though they are cute, they don't have much "pie" flavor and taste just boring bland. Freezing a whole pie is not a good idea because to defrost it you get the outside thawed but the inside still has ice crystals. Better idea is to cut into slices and freeze individually (I use wax paper) and then put all of them in a freezer (Food Saver vacuum sucker) bag. I also freeze some little baked fancy crust cutouts like leaves or acorns to pop on the top before serving. Nancy