Ingredients:
Potatoes (as many as you want! 1 medium potato will make about 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes)
Butter
Milk or Heavy Cream
Salt & Pepper
Directions:
1. Wash and peel the potatoes.
2. Cut the potatoes into pieces. The smaller the pieces, the shorter amount of time it will take them to cook. (I like to cut mine into 1-1 1/2 inch cubes.) The pieces that you cut the potatoes into do not need to be pretty or look the same, they just need to be about the same size. You will mash them later - and no one will know what they looked like!
3. Put the potatoes in a pot large enough so that they only take up half of the space. Fill the pot with water, so that the water goes about 1 inch above the potatoes.
4. Put the pot of potatoes and water on the stove. Turn the burner (the one under the pot) on medium-high. The water will come to a boil.
5. Boil the potatoes until you can stick a fork into a piece, and it breaks apart. (If you cut them into 1 - 1 1/2 inch cubes, they will need to boil about 20-25 minutes. If they are smaller pieces, they will need to boil less time. If they are bigger pieces, they will need to boil longer.)
6. Drain the potatoes. Pour the potatoes and water into a large colander, or strainer - a bowl with small holes in the bottom, for the water to fall through.
7. While the potatoes are sitting in the strainer, melt the butter in the hot pan. Use as much or as little as you want. I like to use about 1 Tablespoon of butter for every 5 potatoes.
8. Once the butter has melted a little bit, add the potatoes back to the pot. They will still be hot enough that they will melt the rest of the butter.
9. Mash the potatoes! Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. Put the masher on top of the potatoes, and then press down.
Keep mashing until the potatoes look like this...
10. Now, add in some milk or cream to make the potatoes stick together. If you like thick mashed potatoes, use less milk, if you want thinner potatoes - use more! I like thicker mashed potatoes, and use about 1 Tablespoon of milk or cream for every potato that I use.
Remember!! You can always add more milk - so start with way less then you think that you will need. Add more until your mashed potatoes are the consistency that you like.
Keep mashing the potatoes until the milk or cream is evenly mixed in, and they are as thick or as thin as you like!
11. Last step! Add in salt and pepper to season your potatoes. Again, you can always add more - so just add a little by little until it tastes just right.
(I like to use garlic salt in my mashed potatoes to give them a little garlic flavor! You can find garlic salt at the grocery store with the spices.)
Enjoy your mashed potatoes!!
To store: Keep leftovers in a covered container - a tupperware dish with a lid, or a bowl with plastic wrap on top - just as long as it is covered. Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
