WHIPPED SWEET POTATOES. This is the one dish I am always responsible for every holiday dinner for at our family gatherings. It’s a holiday tradition. No one in the family can make it as well as me, and it’s the dish my favorite nephew will always eat tons of. He’s picky about everything else. I make them perfectly fluffy with a sweet buttery pecan crisp topping.

For sweet potatoes you have to master the texture. A lot of people mash their potatoes by hand, which I think is perfectly fine if you don’t mind making them a little chunky. But for my sweet potatoes the secret is always using a food processor. That’s how my grandma taught me, and it’s the same recipe I’ll end up passing down to my daughter someday too. You might also be able to use a mixer, but I find the food processor to be the easiest equipment to use. I just give the potatoes a few pulses until I get my desired texture. That’s it, almost no effort required! 

Sorry, for the random tangent describing my whipped sweet potato process since I’m sure that’s not what you’re here for. Anyway, this last Thanksgiving was extra special since it was the first time our whole family was getting together for the holiday after not being able to see each other for a year because of COVID. (screw you, COVID) We were all super excited and invited everyone over to our house to cook and have dinner.

I had everything prepped and ready to go – my pies were in the fridge to be baked after the roast finished so I decided to start on my potatoes. My food processor is on the top shelf of my cabinet because it was the only place it would fit in my crowded kitchen. Well, long story short, as I was climbing down from the stepladder with my trusty Cuisinart food processor in my arms my daughter came running into the kitchen and bumped into me. I lost my balance and saved the bottom unit, but the bowl came loose and fell to the floor. 

CRACK. There went our fluffy sweet potatoes. 

I had to improvise that Thanksgiving and mash them by hand and they just weren’t quite the same. Everyone said they were great, but me being the perfectionist I am, I swore I would get a redo for Christmas!

Luckily, when I did some searching for Cuisinart food processor replacement parts I was able to find Kitchen Works Inc. Boy was this store a lifesaver. I didn’t have to get a whole new expensive unit and instead was able to find the perfect match bowl to replace the cracked one which was amazing, since the rest of it was perfectly fine. I have the 20-cup DLC X-series model and I was able to use their helpful guide on the site to find exactly the right bowl for my food processor. It arrived way ahead of time for Christmas and I had a chance to redeem myself. My nephew was happy he could finally eat his favorite dish to his heart’s content thanks to Kitchen Works!