No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a heaping helping of piping hot and buttery mashed potatoes.  There are several ways to make delicious mashed potatoes.  Here are a few variations on “mashed potato recipes”.

Old-Fashioned Mashed Potatoes: Mashed potatoes made with a hand potato masher, like the one above, will give you that irregular, a little bit lumpy, texture in your mashed potatoes.  For those who want mashed potatoes like Grandma used to make, this is probably the way to go.  Peel potatoes, boil, and drain before mashing.  Add milk, butter and salt to taste.

Peel-On Mashed Potatoes: In recent years, peel-on mashed potatoes seem to have made a comeback.  Scrub potatoes, remove bad spots, and then boil.  Mash coarsely with a hand potato masher, add milk, butter and salt to taste, and serve.

Riced Mashed Potatoes: Riced mashed potatoes are made with a potato ricer, which gives them a grainy texture, and pellet shape, just like grains of rice.  Some potato ricers include different attachments for smaller or larger rice grains.

Whipped Mashed Potatoes: Use this technique for fluffy, perfectly smooth mashed potatoes.  Peel potatoes, boil, drain, and whip with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy.  Add milk, salt, and butter to taste.

Which Kind of Potatoes? Idaho russet potatoes are the usual standby for any type of mashed potatoes, but for peel-on mashed potatoes, try baby red potatoes.  They have a thinner skin and smoother texture than regular Idaho potatoes.  For a real treat, try Yukon gold potatoes for any recipe.  They have a natural buttery color and taste, and are very smooth.     Don’t forget, you can also mash sweet potatoes! They’re great with a little butter, cinnamon and brown sugar.

The potato masher above is made of stainless steel, and measures 10.5 inches long.  It is available at Sur la table for 14.95.

Related posts:

1. Superfood Alert: Sweet Potatoes
2. Deep Fried Whole Baby Potatoes
3. Loaded Baked Potato Soup

With a few weeks remaining until Thanksgiving dinner, you still have time to get in a practice run of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes.  Pumpkin pie is always a favorite, and it isn’t hard to make.  Here is a classic pumpkin pie recipe.

Classic Pumpkin Pie

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 can solid pack pumpkin, 16 ounces
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 1 unbaked, deep dish pie crust (9 inches), or 2 shallow crusts

Blend all ingredients with a hand mixer.  Mixture will be thin.  If using a homemade pie crust, place crust in a deep dish pie pan.  Pour pumpkin mixture into crust.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 350 degrees F, and bake for an additional 45 minutes.  Pie is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.   Shallow crust pies will require only 20-30 minutes of baking after reducing temperature to 350.

Pumpkin Pie Tips:

Pretty Pies: Pumpkin pie “batter” is very runny, and when it gets spilled on the edges of your crust it turns very dark.  For prettier pies, pour the “batter” into a pitcher or large measuring cup, and fill pie plates after placing them on a cookie sheet in your oven.

Substitute Pumpkin Pie Spice:  You can use pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices listed above.  1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice equates to 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon of clove, and 1/4 teaspoon of ginger, so the recipe above would require 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Related posts:

1. Pumpkin Cheesecake
2. Thanksgiving Favorite: Sweet Potato Crunch
3. Pumpkin Cake and Maple Whipped Cream

I was strolling around a fall festival yesterday and tried a piece of pumpkin cheesecake at one of the stands.  It had a graham cracker crust, and extra cinnamon.  I’m not sure exactly what was in it, but the cheesecake recipe below seems pretty similar.  This would be great to add to your Halloween recipes, or keep in mind for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 tbsp. melted butter
• 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar

Filling:

• 4 blocks of cream cheese (8 ounces each)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 can pumpkin pie filling (30 ounces)

Mix together crust ingredients and pat firmly on the bottom and sides of a greased spring form pan, and set aside.  Then place cream cheese in a mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy with a hand mixer.  Add sugar, and eggs (one at a time), blending well after each one. Then, add pumpkin and flour and blend.  Pour mixture into crust and bake at 325 degrees F for and 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until center is firm.

I found more pumpkin cheesecake recipes that include nuts, maple, and even bourbon….yum!

Related posts:

1. Thanksgiving Favorite: Pumpkin Pie
2. Halloween Party Find: Pumpkin Dip
3. Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies