In Honor of Thanksgiving Day

As most other Americans will, I'll be busy on T-day, darlings, watching the PACKERS v. LIONS on television, chowing down lots of good food with some of my siblings and mom, cooking up a storm, talking, laughing, drinking, having a ball, and eating way too much! My contribution last year was whipped sweet potatoes, based on a recipe I first tried out a few years ago. By popular demand an encore is requested this year, hooorrayyyy! Here is my recipe, darlings - but, be warned, this is very much a "by taste and texture" sort of recipe. Much depends on how much moisture is retained by the sweet potatoes and your individual taste as to the amount of seasonings used. I use canned sweet potatoes in light syrup (just to reiterate a point made in the recipe):

--2 large cans of sweet potatoes in light syrup (not sweep syrup) – 2 lbs. 8 oz. each --Juice from one orange (4 tbsp) --Finely zest the orange peel (start with one tbsp and add to taste) --½ stick butter – softened, not melted --4 tbsp Irish whiskey (may need to adjust more or less to how tight or loose the potatoes are) OR several drops rum flavoring – to taste --1 to 2 tsp vanilla (start with 1 and add more to taste) --½ cup milk, half and half, or cream (may need to add more, depending on how tight or loose the potatoes are) --½ tsp cinnamon (add to taste) --1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (add to taste) --Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: few drops of lemon juice (brightens the flavor)

Drain potatoes; mash and then whip until smooth-ish consistency is achieved

THEN: Add and stir in ingredients a few at a time, and whip intermittently, tasting often, and adjust ingredients to taste throughout process

End product should look rather like orange to dark-orange chiffon and have a light, fluffy, uniform texture

Spoon into large casserole dish.

If you used Irish whiskey to flavor, bake the casserole at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, to bake off the alcohol. Can be reheated in microwave.

If you used the rum flavoring, you don’t need to bake in the oven, you can heat through in microwave.