Deb, I've been doing Julia's version of these to go with Beef Bourguignon, and they are wonderful
This is very similar. It's such a simple dish to make but it looks so showy. They can sit at room temp for a while, ready to bake.
I found out the hard way that I needed to use a ricer; the lumps from my regular masher-thing made it hard to pipe them out.
Julia tops them with a little cheese. She also suggests piping them as a border around an ovenproof platter, baking, and then filling the center with either a big steak or a stew. I haven't gotten up the courage to try that yet. I'm not sure how ovenproof my platters are.