Boozy Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potato casserole! Oh God, I think I'm gonna throw up. Today, the Piepan household had Thanksgiving with some dear friends a day late, as service industry/retail people often have to, and I am TOO FULL. TOO FULL!!! But it was awesome, and we made all the requisite dishes, including my very favorite (besides stuffing, because DUH), my sweet potato casserole. It's such a simple thing, and people looooooovvvvve to fuck with it, and end up adding too much...everything. I've had some BAD sweet potato casseroles, folks, and I'm here to make sure you never have a bad one again. Also, who knows? Maybe you'll have me over for dinner and make some sweet potatoes. Maybe you'll try to jazz it up with something Rachel Ray told you to use, and I'll have to say it's good, and I'm a terrible liar. It'll be embarrassing for us both. So, let's keep it simple, okay? Here's how you can make it awesome, and this recipe gives you an excuse to buy a bottle of Grand Marnier, which makes lots of dishes life better.

Here's what you need:

7 or so medium sweet potatoes

4 Tbl butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

zest of 1/2 an orange

1/4 cup Grand Marnier, plus three tablespoons, plus a shot for the chef

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

mini marshmallows 

Toasted Mochi Cakes with Red Bean Filling

Mochi is a glutinous rice cake. That maybe didn't win you over. Let me start again: mochi is a delicious glutinous rice cake. Does that sound better? How about if I tell you it's super easy to make?

Syllabub

I came across the word syllabub for the first time just a couple of weeks ago, while reading Bee Wilson's ridiculously good Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat, which is honestly the best book I've read all year. Right in the middle of a chapter about mixing and grinding foods was this weird word, not quite syllabus and not quite Lil Bub, but enough of each that I couldn't stop thinking about it and had to do some research.