Christmas dinner will include sweet potato souffle. Now, it surprises me to think that I have not made this dish from scratch in almost 40 years... but, could be. In this house, generally other choices are made over sweet potatoes. Then there was the apple and sweet potato phase I went through. This is a wonderful fat free combination for the crock pot... but that is another story.
During preparation, I was suddenly transported back to the kitchen of Ms Ruth. Don't remember the event: Christmas, Thanksgiving, any given Sunday... but I sure remember that kitchen and the preparations for sweet potato souffle.
Once the potatoes were boiled, they were peeled hot (why I don't know it worked just as well with them cool) and the pieces were mashed with an electric mixer. This is where the memory is so strong. I remember distinctly the lesson of it being a necessity to use an electric mixer to get the "strings" out of the sweet potatoes. I remember the sight of all those strings wound on the beaters. I remember that I had no idea that sweet potatoes had "strings" and thought this was great that they could be removed so easily (although electric hand mixers were not as commonly available then as they are now... she had one and that was all that mattered.)
Once the strings were gone everything else was mixed in. The mixture was spooned into a casserole dish for baking.
I remember lots of things that I learned from that woman and her daughter, Cherie. I am thankful for the time I had with them.
