Seasoned Mashed Potatoes

It's cold out, folks..... cold! Well, chilly. A few days ago it was 100 degrees and now it's 60 degrees. I miss the 100 degrees. But on the plus side, this does mean that I can start making the following:

• Hot chocolate
• Caramel corn
• Caramel apples
• Apple pie
• Pumpkin anything and everything
• And Halloween costumes

Actually, the Halloween costumes are a problem. I know I need to make Mimi one, but what about my son? His due date is October 24th, but what if he's still in there after Halloween? Hmmmmm..... I'll have to give this some thought. I also want to make Mimi a Princess "Pwincess" Belle costume, but I'm not sure I can sew something that complicated. Did I mention that I bought a sewing machine November of last year and I haven't even opened the box yet? Yeah. I want to learn, I really do, but I'm not sure where to start.

More on cold weather food later, today we are having seasoned mashed potatoes. We love mashed potatoes in my house and I wanted to do something a little different to them, so I decided to add some seasoning. You could even mash them up with the seasoning, place them into a casserole dish, top with cheese and bake them. It's up to you!

Seasoned Mashed Potatoes
Serving Size = 3

• About 4 - 5 small - medium potatoes (enough for 3 people) peeled and cubed
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (you could also skip this and just boil 1 smashed garlic clove with the potatoes, then you can either remove it or mash it with the potatoes)
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt/Pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Milk (whole milk if you want it super rich)
• 1/4 - 1/2 an 8oz block of cream cheese

1. Place the cubed potatoes in a medium saucepan and fill with cold water (covering the potatoes with the water). Boil under fork tender. Strain.
2. Add the spices right away, while the potatoes are nice and hot and mash up. Add the butter and cream cheese, mix. Add the milk to taste.
3. At this point you could place them into a casserole dish and bake them (topped with cheese maybe). We just served them as is. 

By the way, "Rockin' Robin" is currently playing on the radio (yes, I adore oldies) and this brings back memories from not too long ago. When Mimi was tiny and we would drive in the car, she would get cranky sometimes and so I would sing, "Rockin' Robin" over and over and over until my throat started to get sore. She loved it and would quietly listen.

Ok, I'm off to sing some Aretha Franklin now. I have a feeling this will not create the same happy feeling for my toddler (I'll be interrupting her Barbie Princess show hehehe).

Linking to: Hearth and Soul