Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes

This year for Thanksgiving, the Hubs and I will be sharing the day with many of our new neighbors. And we'll also be missing many of our old ones.

You see, we hardly ever travel home for Thanksgiving. It's quite expensive and too long of a trip for a four day weekend (especially now that we're in a different country). Instead, we began a new tradition the first year we were stationed at Fort Bliss.

We still have a meal with our family. But it's our army family I'm referring to.

Our first Army Thanksgiving

So many of us can't travel home for the holiday, but we're thankful to have wonderful friends to share it with. Though we'll be having Thanksgiving this year with a new crop of army pals, I'll still miss the ones we've left behind (only physically, though... No worries, we're all still friends!).

Our menu for the big meal is fairly constant, and includes all the basics. I tend to cook for days on end, often in several ovens. One of my specialties are mashed potatoes.

Of course, they're not ordinary potatoes. They're actually baked in the oven, and can be partially made ahead of time. Early prep is a huge advantage when you're feeding a crowd. This week, I was so pleased to hear from my friend Becky...

... and I was even more pleased that she wanted my potato recipe for their holiday table. What a compliment, yes?

So, in the spirit of giving, I want to also share the recipe with you. I've never photographed this recipe, so there will be no images to guide you. But I promise, these are fantastic and oh, so easy. Try them out and let me know what you think. And feel free to share your recipes in the comments as well, I love hearing from you!

Baked Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 lbs. Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

Salt, for the water

1 ¼ cups half-n-half

½ cup butter

8 ounces cream cheese with chives

1 teaspoon garlic salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Sliced almonds, to taste

Directions:

Coat a baking dish with some butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and season with salt. Do not undersalt the water! Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Drain.

Mash the potatoes in a large bowl (I use a hand mixer for this step).

In a saucepan, warm the half-n-half with the butter. Add this to the mashed potatoes, along with the cream cheese, garlic salt, and nutmeg.

Beat the potatoes on high speed until smooth. Spoon the potatoes into the buttered baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top the potatoes with sliced almonds and bake another 15 minutes. Let sit 15 minutes before serving.

The potatoes can be made the night before and refrigerated. Before baking, let sit on counter for 30 minutes to come to room temperature

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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