Warm Up Your Sweet Potato Dishes With This Nutty Liqueur

After many hours of shopping, planning, prepping, and cooking, it would be a shame to let your Thanksgiving leftovers go to waste. Thankfully, you won't have to enjoy them all in one day, and they can last a while if properly stored. Even tricky dishes like mashed potatoes can stick around for longer than you might expect when they're frozen.

It's pretty easy to find joy in next-day stuffing, turkey, and sides. There are those out there that might even enjoy leftovers more than they do the initial Thanksgiving feast. Psychology Today says that this isn't by accident either. Our brains are hardwired to release more dopamine — the chemical in our brain responsible for feelings of pleasure — when we have anticipated that feeling. So, while you might enjoy that turkey the first time around, when it comes time for round two your brain already knows just how good it's going to taste. That anticipation then drives a greater dopamine release.

Another reason that leftovers have earned a heightened reputation is that they can be customized. As Forbes points out via some celebrity chefs, there are endless ways to turn Thanksgiving leftovers into sandwiches, fried rice, and even waffles that might even outshine the initial meal. No dish should be left out of these upgrades though, and there is a great and easy way to give any sweet potato dish a much-needed boost.

Leftover sweet potatoes are an incredibly versatile food to keep on hand any time of year. Insanely Good Recipes says that sweet potatoes can be used in sweet or savory dishes, can be cubed and served up as a breakfast hash, or mashed and baked into all sorts of delicious treats.

Author and historian Jessica B. Harris tells us via EatingWell that there is also an ingredient that will add a nutty kick to almost any sweet potato recipe. Rivulet is a simple pecan liqueur, but it can add a sweet depth to any recipe with sweet potatoes. These spuds are already valued for their sweetness, but adding a dash of Rivulet to a leftover sweet potato casserole, sweet potato hash, or Black Friday morning sweet potato pancakes adds a nutty complexity without the hassle of adding the actual nuts.

Pecans and sweet potatoes aren't for everyone, and might even dissuade some picky eaters entirely. Adding Rivulet instead will add just a hint of that pecan flavor along with notes of caramel and orange citrus without overpowering the sweetness of the potatoes (via Rivulet). There are also no crunchy pecans to interfere with the soft texture of any baked goods.

Rivulet is a fairly new spirit that was first released in 2014. Cuisine Noir says that retired lawyer James B. Marshall created the unique spirit based on his memories of growing up in Kentucky. Pecans were a common staple in the region. Rivulet claims that 95% of the world's pecans come from the United States. Using the abundant distilling knowledge in Kentucky, and some local flavor inspirations, Marshall crafted Rivulet.

Rivulet says that it uses oak barrel-aged brandy as its base spirit, then adds notes of pecans, orange zest, maple syrup, and baking spices to create a complexly beautiful palette of flavors. This liqueur is just as well suited to sipping by the fire on a cold winter's night as it is for cooking and baking. Rivulet has its own well-stocked list of recipes that show just how versatile this liqueur can be in the kitchen. It even features its own Sweet Potato Cookie Pie recipe for anyone who feels inspired to make the most out of their leftover sweet potatoes this Thanksgiving.