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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Email me: armylifefromthewife@gmail.com

Pinterest Tested: Basic Mattress Cleaning

Yep, it's another Pinterest tested moment! There will be several of these in the near future (or next several months), as I finish unpacking and organizing my house. PCSing is a great opportunity for deep cleaning. Granted, a lot of these procedures should be done more regularly, but let's pretend I do that, ok?

In the past, we've tested microwave and dishwasher cleaning, with varying degrees of success. Today, I'll tell you all about my mattress cleaning experience.

There are many pins and websites on this subject. The one I found most helpful was Clean My Space. Nearly all the tips I've researched mentioned baking soda in one way or another. I chose the simplest route for this "test" cleaning.

Here's what you need to get started:

A fine mesh strainer, and a box of baking soda... and that's pretty much it. You'll also need a good vacuum. If your mattress is stained, you'll need other materials. I was merely performing a basic "freshening" of my mattresses, like regular maintenance. If your require a deeper scrub, check out the tips from Clean My Space.

Step 1: Strip your mattress of all bedding, then give a thorough vacuuming. This will pick up a lot of the dust that can collect in the fabric.

Step 2: Using the fine mesh strainer, evenly sprinkle baking soda on the top of your mattress. It should look a little like this:

My mattress is on the floor because we just moved in, and I thought a cleaning would be fab before I put everything together and we slept on our bed again. Especially since everything smelled vaguely of the ocean it spent six weeks crossing.

Tip: If you'd like a sweeter smelling mattress for a few days, you could add a few drops of essential oil to the baking soda, prior to sprinkling.

Step 3: Spend 30 minutes elsewhere and leave your mattress alone. If you've just PSCed like us, you'll probably use that time unpacking. If not, you could play with your dog/kids, watch a sitcom episode, prep for dinner, call your mother... whatever floats your boat, peeps.

Step 4: Vacuum all the baking soda off your mattress. Use an upholstery attachment if you have one.

Step 5: Flip mattress and repeat steps 1-4 (only necessary if your mattress is fabric on both sides. Some less expensive mattresses are one-sided).

Step 6: Pat yourself on the back for a job well done! Your mattress should be fresh and clean smelling.

My mattress "after"

So, did it work? Is this a Pinterest success?

YES! After this quick clean, my mattress no longer smelled like the ocean. This is an easy chore which will be added to my regular rotation. Every time I flip the mattress, I'll now be doing a quick baking soda vacuum as well (or anytime my bed smells too much like the dog who routinely sleeps on it, ha!).

My next plan is to scrub our microfiber couch. I'll let you know how that goes in my next Pinterest Tested post.

Do you have any tips for a better mattress clean? Please share in the comments below!

Until next time, happy pinning!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Follow me on Facebook @ OurArmyLifeAccordingToTheWife

or on Pinterest, my newest obsession @ ArmyLifeFromTheWife

Email me: armylifefromthewife@gmail.com

Fresh Corn and Tomato Bruschetta

I haven't had much time for cooking since The Hubs and I arrived in Germany. Of course, I also had no pots and pans (or anything else for that matter!), so cooking would have posed a few problems anyway.

But I've really missed this daily chore. Which for me is really no chore at all, more like a mad science experiment. And I've especially missed cooking with my friends, or cooking for them (and them cooking for me!).

Remember my deployment battle buddies? Of course you do! We developed Ladies' Night In, a fantastic opportunity to hang out together and test our culinary skills on each other. I really, really miss my ladies. I think they should all move to Germany too! I'd like you to be on my side in this matter.

Earlier this week, when I was especially missing my gal pals, I came across these photos of an experiment gone right. Inspired by my best Canadian pal, and another Ladies' Night In moment, I created this Fresh Corn and Tomato Bruschetta.

I'm completely obsessed. Have been, actually, from the first moment Caleigh (my Canadian pal!) served us something similar at her home. I immediately started on a recreation and elaboration. THIS is the result:

Corn and Tomato Bruschetta

Nom nom nom nom nom.

Let me repeat that. Nom nom nom nom nom. 

You've no idea, seriously. This is a MUST try. Hubs will be forever grateful to Ladies Night In evenings for this delicious treat. After the creation, we actually ate it three more times in the same week!

It's that good, people.

So let's get this party started:

The ingredients

To start, I should warn you: This recipe makes A LOT. But don't worry, you'll eat it all. Or, make this as an appetizer for a party. Huge hit. HUGE.

As usual, my pictures don't quite capture all the ingredients. After creation, I realized I need twice the filling to use up all the spread (you'll see). So, some of the ingredients are actually double what you see here. Plus, ahem... you won't be using basil at all, but cilantro instead.

My bad.

Anyway, let's begin with the spread. Using a ripe avocado, blend it together with 8 ounces of whipped cream cheese (1 container), 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, and five cloves of roasted garlic. If you've never roasted garlic before, it's quite simple. This tutorial on WikiHow is easy to follow.

Avocado spread

The picture above is what your spread will look like once blended. For now, set this mixture aside in your refrigerator while you finish the rest.

Next, slices two loaves of French (or Italian) bread. I like mine sliced thick, but this is up to you. The thicker the bread, the more topping it will comfortably hold. I'm a glutton for this stuff.

Toast the bread using your preferred method. I like the bread toasted on only one side, so I usually spray that side with a bit of baking spray, then toss it under the broiler for a few minutes. You can toast yours however you like!

In the meantime, finely chop 2 small red onions (or 1, if you like things less oniony). Sauté in a bit of butter to draw the sweetness out. Set aside to cool.

Lightly sautéed onions 

At the same time (or separately if you've a tendency to get distracted and burn stuff), cook 12 slices of peppered bacon. If you don't have access to peppered bacon, that's ok. Just add a little extra pepper to your final corn mixture to make up for it, kay? Crumble the bacon into small pieces.

Now comes the really fun part.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together your onions and bacon, plus 4 ears worth of sliced-off-the-cob corn kernels. You heard me, just slice it right off the cob and into the bowl. No cooking necessary!

To this, add 1 pint of quartered cherry (or grape) tomatoes. Drizzle in just enough olive oil to coat (about 2 teaspoons, maybe less). Salt and pepper to taste. This doesn't require much! Unless, of course, you are without the peppered portion of the bacon.

Gently stir in some chopped cilantro. I used... a bunch. Maybe two bunches. Probably about a cup.

I like cilantro.

When all is said and done, it should look a little something like this:

Corn mixture

Everything else is a cake walk!

Shmear your bread with a bit of the avocado mixture, and then spoon some corn mixture on top. Bite in. Savor the moment. Thank Caleigh for the inspiration, because your life won't ever be the same after this.

Mmmmmmm......

As always peeps, I've included the recipe at the bottom here. I'll be back in my kitchen soon, testing some new recipes for my favorite people.

That would be you.

Until then, happy cooking!!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Follow me on Facebook @ OurArmyLifeAccordingToTheWife

or on Pinterest, my newest obsession @ ArmyLifeFromTheWife

Email me: armylifefromthewife@gmail.com

The Standard Form:

Fresh Corn and Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients:

8 ounces whipped cream cheese

1 ripe avocado

5 cloves roasted garlic

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

4 ears fresh corn, shucked and the kernels cut off

1 pint cherry (or grape) tomatoes, quartered

2 small red onions, diced and sautéed

12 slices peppered bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 teaspoon olive oil (or less)

2 bunches roughly chopped cilantro (about 1 cup)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 loaves French or Italian bread, for serving

Directions:

* Note: This recipe makes A LOT. If desired, cut in half for a smaller serving

In a large mixing bowl, blend the cream cheese with the avocado, roasted garlic, and lemon juice until smooth. Set aside.

Slice your French (or Italian) bread into thick slices. Spray one side with cooking spray (if desired) and brown underneath the broiler.  Keep close watch on your bread, you don’t want it to burn! Alternatively, you can toast in a regular toaster. Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, stir together the fresh corn kernels, tomatoes, sautéed red onion, and peppered bacon. Drizzle in the olive oil, adding just enough to lightly coat. Salt and pepper to taste. Gently stir in the chopped cilantro.

To serve: Spread the bread with the avocado mixture. Top with as much of the corn mixture as desired. Eat (with napkins!)