If your oven is packed to the brim with holiday dishes, don’t worry, you can prepare these stovetop candied sweet potatoes instead. Start by peeling and slicing the sweet potatoes. Then, in a large skillet or Dutch oven, add the sauce ingredients (minus the vanilla) and mix until the sugar melts. Then add the potatoes, the vanilla, and 1/3 cup of water and stir well. Cover the pot with a lid and cook over low for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the yams are fully coated with the syrupy sauce until the yams are fork-tender. If the sauce thickens up too much, add more liquid. If it stays loose, add some cornstarch slurry.