In the search for the perfect mashed potatoes...

I don't know when my love affair with potatoes really started, but like all great loves I know they're not healthy for me, but I can't walk away from them. 

I guess it's the fact that all my happiest dinner/lunch table childhood memories involved potatoes -- specifically mashed potatoes. My two most favorite meals were mashed potatoes with schnitzel (which I have yet to make on my own) and mashed potatoes with chifteluţe (another dish I have yet to make on my own). The creamy softness yet hearty taste of mashed potatoes always put a smile on my face and I have since been in search of the tastiest mashed potato recipe to call my own. 


Last night, while I was debating the different options I had for acquiring some milk to make mashed potatoes (either I could go to the store in the morning before work, or I could ask my boyfriend to bring me some from his apartment, or perhaps he'd volunteer to go to the grocery store for me), I realized how amazing mashed potatoes could be with a little bit of cream cheese. 


A friend of mine in college cooked me dinner one night and he used sour cream in his recipe and it was delicious! (He got the recipe from his mother so she deserves the credit for that compliment more than he does.) But I didn't see what else he put in the mashed potatoes nor how much, so I haven't tried to recreate that recipe. 


Another version of mashed potatoes I made once, that were surprisingly delicious, were these mashed potatoes I made only with butter and milk. But then, I heated up some peas and sauteed some onions and threw those inside the mashed potatoes too and it may have been one of the best decisions made for that meal. I brought it to the potluck Thanksgiving meal I had been invited to and everyone loved them!


I really want to find that perfect addition to the regular mashed potato recipe I use (potatoes, milk, butter) so until I find it, I will not be satisfied. 


So today for lunch, my boyfriend and I undertook the challenge of using whipped cream cheese with chives in the mashed potatoes. Really, this was supposed to be my adventure and he was going to be my guinea pig, but he didn't want to do the dishes, so I ended up doing the dishes and he mashed the potatoes. But skipping over the technicalities...


We used about two pounds of potatoes -- peeled and boiled/cooked, one 8 oz. package of whipped cream cheese with chives and half a cup of milk. The overall outcome was good (I still wouldn't give it a ten), and I think it could have been better with a little more potatoes and maybe even some real chives or mildly sauteed onions mixed in there.


I served the potatoes with some fried frankfurters (bought at the international foods store, although I'm positive using some kosher hot dog sausages would have worked just as well).  And here is a picture of what our lunch ended up looking like. Not sure my boyfriend was the biggest fan of this meal so I'm not sure he'll want to eat it for dinner again in two days, but I know I will!