Pioneer Woman's Delicious Creamy Mashed Potatoes

If you haven't checked out The Pioneer Woman's website have a look. She is hilarious! Plus, she has a lot of really yummy looking food. She even has one of my favorite casserole's (chicken spaghetti casserole) and eggs in a hole which I never knew anyone else ate!(I know it's a casserole but it's yummy!) Hopefully I'll get around to making it soon there are just so many new things I want to try. Anyway, sorry to ramble on. This was the perfect accompaniment to the Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken. Really creamy and really delicious. I know these will be making more appearances at my house. You can mash them as little or as much as you want depending on how you like them. I recommend starting with the least amount of half and half called for. I halved the recipe (this post is for the full recipe) and it was plenty for our family of 6.

Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs. russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes

1 1/2 sticks (3/4) cup

1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2-3/4 cup half and half

1/2 to 1 tsp. Lawry's Seasoning Salt

1/2 to 1 tsp. black pepper

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30-35 minutes. When they're cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost-but not totally fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot adn put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 1/2 sticks butter, 1 8oz pkg cream cheese and about 1/2 cup of the half and half. Mash, mash, mash. Next, add about 1/2 tsp. of Lawry's Seasoning Salt and 1/2 tsp. of black pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium sized baking dish and to top it off with, you guess it, butter! Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350 degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through. (If making this dish in advance, take out of fridge about 2-3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350 degree oven 20-30 minutes until heated through.) * I cheated because I had my chicken in the oven and just microwaved them for a minute and they were fine. *