"MashedPotatoes" news and stories

When making mashed potatoes, the most important step is the first -- boiling the potatoes correctly.

It might seem like a time-saver, but don't turn that tap to hot when prepping to boil and mash potatoes.

Making buttermilk mashed potatoes can easily go wrong. The buttermilk can curdle, and too much butter can obscure the buttermilk flavor. Check out these easy tactics to prevent such problems.

By now, we're all familiar with the wonder that is garlic and mashed potatoes. It's so prevalent these days that I'm almost surprised when I get the option to have garlic-free taters. (Not that I'm complaining -- potatoes and garlic are always welcome in this mouth!) But sometimes it's nice to change things up -- especially with something as friendly as potatoes. They go with almost anything!

So another easy way to amp your taters is to add a nice cup of sauteed mushrooms. It's simple -- dice up some of that tasty fungus, and saute it while your potatoes boil. Since the shrooms are diced, they won't take very long to cook and should be fragrant, brown, and delicious by the time you're ready to mash. Just throw them in with the milk, butter, and anything else you add to your mashed potatoes, and mash away.

It gives your potatoes a wonderful earthy flavor, and is an excellent way to use up leftover mushrooms before they dry up.

When a friend of mine recently asked me to help throw her a baby shower, I had many questionable suggestions-- like making it race-car rather than baby themed (accepted) to making a baby-shaped red-velvet cake with gooey red filling, except the diaper part, which would have brown icing filling (rejected).

But one of the things she was most excited about was my suggestion that I make a meatcake. That is, a cake made of meat, an idea I had found (like so many nutty ideas) on the interwebs. I took the concept, but created my own recipes--two, since a non-red-meat eater needed turkey. It may sound peculiar but the result was delicious and even rather spectacular. If you want to try it yourself....