Mashed Potatoes

Do you ever eat something that you normally eat and completely be amazed that it is soooooo good?  I had this experience today with mashed potatoes.  Since I found out all of the horrible things that conventionally grown potatoes absorb, we have seriously cut down our potato consumption.  At $6 for a 5 pound bag of potatoes, we can't afford to eat potatoes but once or twice a month, where we used to eat them once or twice a week.  Because of that, we haven't had mashed potatoes for quite a while.  I didn't think about it when I made them this morning, but once that first bite hit my mouth, I was in heaven.  So much so, that I ate three helpings!

The recipe is pretty straight forward and many people know how to make mashed potatoes, but just in case you have only used the box of instant potato flakes, you will definitely want to try this out.

2-3 pounds of Russet potatoes (about 7 medium potatoes)
water to boil the potatoes in
2-3 tsp. salt, divided
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
milk (as needed or if needed at all)

Peel and rough chop the potatoes.  Place in a large saucepan or stock pot.  Cover with water, plus 1/2 an inch.  Put 1 1/2 tsp salt into the water.  Bring to a boil and boil 20-25 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.  Drain potatoes. 

Here's where the methods differ.  My Mom puts her potatoes back into the pot and mashes them with a hand masher.  My Grandma uses her hand mixer and mixes them in the pot with that.  I put them into my stand mixer bowl and beat them like crazy, adding the butter and 1 teaspoon salt.  If you see that the potatoes are too thick you can add milk a little at a time.  When all the lumps are out, you are finished.  Serve with gravy, butter or on top of shepherd's pie!

The potatoes were so good, I'm almost tempted to go to the store tonight to pick up more!