Seasonal is in, and we're with the program. Keeps the grocery list chic and cheap.
Consider, then, the cook's conundrum: Many a dish is best celebrated on occasion at the big occasion. And yet, practice makes perfect.
The puzzle comes to mind in fall, the run-up to Thanksgiving. Eyeing the sweet potatoes lolling in their bin, we wonder how early we can call preseason. Will sweet-potato purée dampen enthusiasm for the big day?
We boil a batch, mash it fine, season it sweet and spike it with rum. The golden mound with its buttery bite brings to mind the fall feast, but it holds its own on the weeknight plate.
Maybe for the potato, practice is perfection.
