Basic Mashed Potatoes

You really can't serve anything else with pot roast besides mashed potatoes. When I was little, we demanded egg noodles, but really, we have already established I was slightly insane.  Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite foods and one of the first things my mom trusted me with in the kitchen.  And plain basic mashed potatoes (no skins!) are the way I make them.  I have added garlic and cheeses before and they're good, but just you can't beat the basics.  Now remember, I made these for 6 with the goal of leftovers in mind!

Basic Mashed Potatoes
5 Idaho potatoes
4 T. buttler
1/4 c. whole milk (or heavy cream if you have it)
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. cream cheese
Salt
Pepper

Peel and chop the potatoes into similar sized pieces.  Put in a pot with water and place on a burner.  It's better to start the potatoes with room temperature water instead of already boiling water because it cooks them more evenly.  Add salt to the water and bring it to a boil.  Cook the potatoes until they are fork tender and break apart when poked with a fork.  Drain the potatoes and add the butter to the pot.  Using a masher (or a ricer if you are really dedicated to smooth potatoes), mash up the potatoes.  Add the milk, cream cheese, and sour cream and mix to combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I like to add a little extra butter (never hurts) before I serve them, as evidenced by the pool of butter in the picture.

Combined with the pot roast and brussel sprouts, we had a great winter dinner.  The mashed potatoes were a great base for the meal and are great leftovers.  And probably my favorite part of this meal is that everything held up well to being kept warm.  I was able to make everything before Stud's family arrived and kept it warm in a 200 degree oven until we were ready to eat.  That way I could relax and enjoy some wine.  And play with Chuckles...we have plans to stay up past his bedtime and watch Land Before Time.  Only the first one, the rest aren't so good.