Thanksgiving for many people these days is not just one family feast, but an extended weekend of potlucks and gatherings of friends and co-workers. Plus the following month of December brings more food-filled gatherings, often featuring many of the same holiday standards. And let's face it--after awhile, all the standard dishes start to cloy, and you might be forgiven for such sacriligious thoughts as "if I see one more sweet potato casserole swimming in sugar and melted marshmallow, I'm going to scream."

Fear not: here is a super-simple sweet potato casserole in which the sweetness comes mainly from the sweet potatoes themselves, plus apples; the drizzle of maple syrup is there more for flavoring than sweetness. And since it's just a drizzle of the syrup, you can splurge on a bottle of the real stuff and know you can amortize that expensive ingredient across many other dishes.

Maple syrup flavored sweet potato/apple bake

• 4 small sweet potatoes, under 2" in diameter
• 2 or 3 apples, or enough to equal the volume of sweet potato
• 1 scant tsp. light-flavored vinegar (apple cider or rice wine) or lemon juice
• neutral-flavored oil for greasing casserole
• 1 to 2 tbs real maple syrup (preferably dark), or to taste

Equipment: a wide shallow oven-to-table casserole dish

Method:

Pierce the whole unpeeled sweet potatoes all over with the tip of a sharp knife, and bake in a 350 F oven for about an hour or until they are just tender. Remove, let cool, and chill in the refrigerator until they are firm enough to handle without squishing. Peel them, and slice them crosswise into attractive slices about 1/4" thick (you might need to slice at a diagonal to get slices of larger area).

Fill a bowl with cold water and add the vinegar or lemon juice. Peel, core, and quarter the apples, placing each cut piece in the acidulated water to keep it from turning brown. Slice each quarter into slices roughly matching the size of the sweet potato slices; return slices to bowl of water as you cut them.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Very lightly grease a casserole with the oil. In the bottom of the casserole, lay out alternating slices of apple and sweet potato in a closely-packed pattern. A rectangular casserole is easier for this as you can do rows, but a circular layout in a round casserole can be fun. Be patient--the sweet potato slices are fragile.

Drizzle the slices with the maple syrup. Remember, you're just using this for flavoring, so there's no need to drench the slices. Cover the casserole and bake until the apple slices are soft, anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes; it's hard to give an exact estimate as different sizes and shapes of  casserole will cook at different speeds, so keep an eye on the dish. You may uncover the casserole for an additional 10 to 15 minutes to get some caramelization on the sweet potatoes.

This is great hot or at room temperature, making it ideal for buffets or potlucks.

Variations: Substitute honey or brown sugar for the maple syrup; add a dusting of cinnamon, allspice, and/or nutmeg. But don't upstage the main ingredients--sweet potatoes have a lovely flavor and plenty of sweetness to stand on their own.

Get it locally: Trader Joe's (multiple locations throughout the San Diego area) always carries real maple syrup at bargain prices