90 degrees and Mashed Potatoes

Mindy took us on a trip to colder temps yesterday, and I really appreciated it. It has been ridiculously hot here and the 2nd day of October is predicted to hit the 90s.

When I posted this on Facebook 3 years ago, I'm sure I wasn't thinking of 90 degree weather.

So, when you come home from school after teaching in these kinds of temps (with NO AC), the last thing you want to do is cook over a hot stove.

I've been craving mashed potatoes.

But the thought of steaming up the kitchen wasn't so good.

Then I saw these on the supermarket shelf.

Bob's Red Mill Potato Flakes.

Nothing but pure dehydrated potato flakes. (No nasty sulfites!)

In literally as long as it takes to boil water, you can have fluffy mashed potatoes. I can certainly stand the heat on long enough to boil water!

Loaded with plenty of butter, these were delicious. Add my leftover honey mustard chicken, and I was one exhausted - but happy - teacher who could then go eat a hearty dinner in the AC!


The package comes with some soup recipes, so I'm excited for the weather to cool off so I can make creamy potato soups.

So, have I discredited myself as a Yankee Belle with this shortcut or do you too have fond childhood memories of potatoes from a box?

Are You Ready for Thanksgiving?

Jan here, with a post I can't believe I'm writing.

Here's what I expected to write: "I'm hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year, and it's going to be so much fun!"

Instead....

I'm hosting Thanksgiving...but it's going to be a bit different this year.

Why? Because my oven is broken.

What does that mean?
It means I get to be creative!!!

I'm one of those people who loves to do a big, traditional Thanksgiving meal. Everyone brings something to add to the meal, and I roast the turkey. And it IS a lot of fun.

So how am I going to do this without my oven?

Well, the first thing I had to do was back off from some of the items I always make.

Dinner rolls? Daughter Carrie is making them this year.

Vegetable casseroles? Daughter-in-law Katie is making one, and another guest is bringing his famous green bean casserole.

Salad? Another friend is supplying this part of the meal. (Thanks, Janet!)

Pies? A friend is bringing her favorite apple pie with real whipped cream (YUM!) and Carrie is making pumpkin cheese cake.
And what about the pumpkin pie??? My dear husband is bringing one from work...but remember, this won't be just any pumpkin pie. My husband has a very talented chef working for him, and he has been preparing the pumpkin filling for weeks. Hospital employees (or whoever) can buy one of his pies, and last year the sale was very successful. I've heard they're delicious, so now I get to find out!


But what about the turkey? The star of the day?

This is where the creativity comes in.

I'll roast the turkey in my big roaster on Wednesday. I've done that the last few years, ever since I bought the roaster on sale one time, thinking it would free up oven space. :) And the ham is already cooked - it only needs to be heated up. So on Thursday morning, I'll put two pans in the roaster - one with sliced turkey and one with sliced ham - and by dinner time they'll be hot and ready to eat.

Mashed potatoes? I'll use my "Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes" recipe. This recipe is delicious, and cooks in the crock pot, so no need to try to keep the potatoes hot in the oven.

Dressing? I've been using my crock pot for dressing for years, and you can do it, too. Use your favorite recipe and cook it on low, stirring once in awhile. If it starts getting dry, just moisten it with some turkey broth.

Gravy? Oooo....I don't know if I should let you in on my secret... I'll whisper it... I make turkey gravy, but also add commercial gravy from a jar. Let me tell you, this is a life- and time-saver. I make a batch of gravy (I use turkey drippings and chicken broth, thickened with flour), then add a jar or two of turkey gravy. We rarely run out of gravy, and I haven't spent hours making a huge batch of the delicious stuff. :)

So I think we'll be all right, even though the oven is on the fritz.

And by the next week, the new part should arrive and we'll be back to baking just in time for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, we went hiking up in the Hills on Sunday afternoon with our daughter and son-in-law.

It's getting close to winter, especially at these higher elevations. Carrie found a perfect Christmas tree, but Josh wasn't convinced. It's still a couple weeks until the Great Christmas Tree Hunt of 2017, though.

Carrie and Josh, the Great Christmas Tree Hunt 2016

And while we were in the Hills, we saw snow! Not very much, but it was there. It's time to cozy up by the fire!

What are your Thanksgiving plans? I hope you have a blessed time planned with family and friends!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Our Lord's Resurrection is the high point of Christian history, and the celebration of it is the most wonderful day in our church calendar, isn't it?

But for moms and other family caretakers, Easter Sunday can mean a LOT of work. A special day at church, followed by a dinner to celebrate the wonder of the season.

Not to mention the task of getting everyone dressed up in their finest!

Long ago, I learned the secret to making these demanding days work. You have to have two tools at your fingertips:

1) Learn how to plan ahead.

2) Learn how to prepare.

Planning ahead is simple - as long as you understand the logistics of what you need to accomplish. For this Easter Sunday, we had committed to providing four breakfast casseroles for the annual brunch at church, and then after church the family (all adults) were coming to our house for a turkey dinner with the fixings.

So I made my list and started preparing by doing my grocery shopping on Friday morning.

Saturday afternoon, I started to prep the ingredients for the items that needed to be cooked on Sunday morning.

On Sunday, before church, I baked the casseroles. Then before we walked out the door, I put our turkey dinner in the oven.

But what about the mashed potatoes? A turkey dinner just isn't a turkey dinner without mashed potatoes!

Here's my secret: I made the potatoes on Saturday afternoon.

YES! Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

serves 8-12

Good for special dinners or potlucks!

ingredients:

5 pounds potatoes

8 ounce package cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 Tablespoons butter

Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through and ready to mash.

Meanwhile, cut the cream cheese into cubes, and place in your mixing bowl along with the butter.

When the potatoes are cooked (you want them slightly overcooked), drain them well, and put them in your mixing bowl.

Let them sit in there for a few minutes to melt the butter and cream cheese, and then whip. But be careful! You only want to whip them for a short time - maybe one minute - because you don't want it to become a starchy lump!

Now is the fun part. You can refrigerate the potatoes for up to three days (how is that for make-ahead sweetness?), but you need to find a good container.

If you have room for it, you could put the potatoes straight into your crock pot and stick that in the fridge. 

Or you can do like I do - I love those crock pot liners, so I put the potatoes in the lined crock pot, then close the liner, remove it, and stick that in the fridge.

Or you can put it in a separate bowl, and then put it in your crock pot in the morning.

However you decide to keep it refrigerated, don't forget to put the potatoes in the crock pot about five hours before you want to eat them.

I like to put a couple more Tablespoons of butter on top, and then set it on low. Now I can forget about the potatoes until the big meal! 

And what does that give me? Peace of mind and more time chatting with the family. Priceless!

What is your favorite food to make ahead?

Don't forget to pre-order Naomi's Hope!
www.JanDrexler.com

Perfect Mashed Potatoes - The Ultimate Comfort Food

You've probably heard me mention mashed potatoes hundreds of times over the last few years. How my boys are meat-and-potato guys, and their potato of choice is the mashed variety. However, other than sharing a lighter version of the comfort food staple here, I've never told you how I make my mashed potatoes. Because there are mashed potatoes and there are perfect mashed potatoes. And  though I rarely eat them anymore, I sure know how to fix 'em.

The first thing you need for this recipe is, well, potatoes. Take your pick. Russet, Yukon Gold, red... Whatever you prefer. For the most part, it's usually good old CHEAP russets for me. 

On this occasion, I cut up three large potatoes and three smaller ones.

While the potatoes get top-billing in this recipe, it's really what goes into them that makes the difference.

I like to add butter, cream cheese, half-and-half or milk and salt and pepper.

On this occasion, I decided to get fancy and add some shredded sharp cheddar, too.

Since my boys complain when there's skin in their potatoes, I peel them, but you are more than welcome to leave the skin on, if you prefer. If it were up to me, I'd leave it on, but since I'm not the one eating them, I let them have their way. Whether you peel or not, cut your taters into somewhat uniform pieces. You want them to cook evenly, so they need to be roughly the same size.

Put the cut potatoes into a large pot and cover with water by one to two inches. Add a teaspoon (or more) of salt and put them on the stove top on high heat and bring to a boil. Here's a little tip. If you lay a wooden spoon across the top of the pot, your water won't boil over. And if you've ever had to clean baked-on potato foam off of your stove, you know what a mess that can be.

Cook until potatoes are tender. Don't over cook them or they'll get mushy. We're looking for mashed, not mushy potatoes. Then drain off the water.

These are perfect.

Now add your butter and cream cheese (and the cheddar if you like). For this amount of potatoes, I added about 3-4 tablespoons of butter and 2-3 oz. of cream cheese.

And cover until melted.

FYI, the cream cheese will never actually look melted, but once the butter is gone, the cream cheese will be nice and soft.

Now it's time to mash. How you do that is up to you. You can use a masher, which is what I did for years, but nowadays I just break out my hand mixer. Much quicker and the potatoes get so much fluffier. Of course, you do miss out on building that upper arm strength.

Mix everything together until well blended.

Then add your milk or half and half until you reach your desired consistency. Typically, I use milk, but I had some half and half left over from another recipe, so I thought I'd use it up. Now add salt and pepper to taste and whip some more.

Here's another secret for those who have picky eaters. My kids always used to complain when they saw specks of pepper in their potatoes. So, I started using white pepper. It still adds loads of flavor, but no one can see it. ;)

And there you have it. Perfect mashed potatoes. The ultimate comfort food.

Since my boys like them so much, I usually make enough to have leftovers. I can use them for the next days supper or, I've been told, they make a good late-night snack. 

What's your ultimate comfort food?