There has been an interesting ongoing debate about what is a sweet potato and what is a yam, so I've done a little searching and here's what I've found:
Yams
Native mostly to Africa and some parts of Asia
From the Dioscoreacea or Yam family and closely related to lilies and grasses
Sweet Potatoes
Native mostly to Central and South America
From the Convolvulacea or morning glory family
Comes in two varieties: firm and soft (that is to say, soft after cooking)
Enter Confusion
The US produced firm sweet potatoes before soft types, so when the soft ones were introduced they needed a new name to differentiate them. Because the soft sweet potatoes so closely resembled yams, the nickname stuck and sweet potatoes in grocery stores are still labeled yams to this day. In all likelihood, the thing you've been calling a yam and eating on Thanksgiving is actually a variety of sweet potato. The only place you can usually find real yams in the US is in specialty or international markets.
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| Dinner. Isn't it beautiful? |
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| Digging in (in the most ridiculous manner possible) |
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| Sweet potatoes baking along side the pumpkin pie (they served as a first dessert with brown sugar and butter) |
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| Forgot to take a picture before starting on the delicious pumpkin pie |
