For enhanced mashed potatoes, these are amazing. The best I've ever had in beyond basic mashed potato. I had them at a potluck recently and tracked down the cook for the recipe. She used red potatoes and no green onion and they are A LOT better than other make ahead cream cheese mashed potato recipes I've used. Maybe it's the proportions. Mashed Potatoes Creamy Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes Creamy mashed potatoes get even better when topped with a savory trio of cheese, onions and bacon. Plus, these potatoes offer make-ahead appeal. �"JoAnn Koerkenmeier, Damiansville, Illinois 10 ServingsPrep: 35 min. + chilling Bake: 40 min. Ingredients 3 pounds potatoes (about 9 medium), peeled and cubed 6 bacon strips, chopped 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup butter, cubed 1/4 cup 2% milk 1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese 3 green onions, chopped Directions Place potatoes in a Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, 10-15 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon; drain. Drain potatoes; return to pan. Mash potatoes, gradually adding cream cheese, sour cream and butter. Stir in milk and seasonings. Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish; sprinkle with cheese, green onions and bacon. Refrigerate, covered, up to 1 day. Preheat oven to 350°. Remove potatoes from refrigerator and let stand while oven heats. Bake, uncovered, 40-50 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 10 servings. © Taste of Home 2014 About regular, basic mashed potatoes, I had the Best ever about 15 years ago and it was startling. Peel, cube and boil russet potatoes until done but not falling apart. Drain, return to pan and shake the potatoes dry until scaly/flaky. Place in Kitchen Aid Mixer and beat a little while until mashed. Add a mixture of warm melted butter and whole (or heavier) milk. Keep adding the butter milk mixture until the potatoes are soupy! This makes soft, not gluey, whipped, beautiful potatoes. I have been doing this for years until I switched to a ricer 2 years ago. I still add HUGE amounts of melted butter/milk to the riced potatoes.

I made them. They were definitely not as light and fluffy as the other make-ahead mashed potatoes I have made for years, but everyone liked them, including my kids. However, I think I prefer the ones I usually make with sour cream and cottage cheese (lumps removed) - they have a lot more flavor. My kids won't eat them b/c of the sour cream but I think in the future, I'll stick with those and just make my kids regular mashed potatoes with butter and milk. Regular mashed reheat well enough for my kids to eat them and easy enough to put some aside for them w/o adding the sour cream, etc. Question for those that use a crock to keep their mashed potatoes warm, have you ever experienced an issue with the texture changing? Years ago, my mom made mashed potatoes in the morning and put them in her crockpot to keep warm. I wasn't there that year, but she told me that they kind of liquified and they had to toss them out. SHe couldn't figure out why, but ever since, she (or I, if we are together) use the recipe that my MIL gave me - the ones with sour cream and cottage cheese and just bake them while the turkey is roasting.

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes Makes 12 to 15 servings Prep time: 20 Mins oven cook time:40 Mins crockpot cook time: 3 hrs I made it in a Nestco Roaster to reheat Ingredients: 15 medium (5 lbs) potatoes, peeled and quartered 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature 1 cup sour cream 2 tsp onion powder Salt and freshly ground black peper to taste 2 egg whites, slightly beaten 4 tbsp butter 1/3 cup chopped chives (optional) Spray a large casserole dish or crock pot dish with veggie oil cooking spray. In a large pot of boiling water over medium-high heat, cook potatoes until tender; remove from heat and drain In the same cooking pan, mash potatos with potato masher until there are no lumps. Never use a blender Add cream cheese, sour cream, onion powder, salt, pepper, egg whites, and chopped chives Cook mashed potatoes slightly, cover and then refrigerate. You can make up to a week in advance. When ready to heat the potatoes: Take the prepared mashed potatoes out of refrigerator about 3 1/2 hrs before serving. Place in crockpot cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours stirring once or twice. I made them in a Nestco Roaster on 300 After potatoes are cooked (165o) stir and then add some additional dollops of butter just befor serving I made these for a VFW Post Dinner and everyone loved them. There were 40 people so I tripled the recipe. Linda

Sorry, I just saw there were more posts here about the socks. To robotropolis, the socks can get pretty hot. In the beginning of using them, it takes a few tries to get the right amount of time to leave them in the microwave to get the socks to the temperature that is most comfortable. If you put them in for too long, you can burn the kernels inside and you will smell them cooking. You want to put them in for less time if thatâÂÂs the case. Believe me if the socks are too hot, you will keep your feet away from them. And can push them to another part of the bed until they cool down a little. And I would think you would make that adjustment before you fell asleep. They stay warm when under the covers for a surprisingly long time. IâÂÂve never burned myself on the socks. We keep our thermostat down to 62 degrees at night with warm down comforters on the bed with flannel sheets. My feet are always cold and I usually have a sore muscle or two that appreciate the heat as well.