Caution! These are not "low cal", "Eat some every day" mashed potatoes! These are Vrghr's "Holiday Special Supreme", and they're laden with cream cheese, butter, and half-n-half. Every stage of production adds extra layers of flavors, from adding a bit of parsnips with two types of spuds for more complexity, to simmering the spuds in a garlic-parsley flavored, salted water, to infusing lots of fats (butter and cream cheese) with roasted garlic, caramelized onions, or other flavors.

Yup, these are not a slimming veggie side-dish! But they are Oh So Good! Serve them on special occasions, or be prepared to widen your doorways to avoid getting stuck when passing through. *grin*

Holiday Mashed potatoes "Supreme"

Ingredients:
To boil the potatoes:
2-3 parsnips
3-4 gold fleshed (Yukon gold) potatoes (med-large)
4 Russet potatoes (med-large)
3 Tbs dried Parsley
1 Tbs Granulated Garlic

For the cream & butter
1C "whole" milk (or mix half 2% with half "half-n-half")
1/2 - 3/4 stick of unsalted butter
2 heaping Tablespoons Roasted Garlic
1 block Cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch chunks.
2 Teaspoons salt. (reduce to 1 tsp or eliminate for reduced sodium)
1 Teaspoon white pepper (can use "regular" pepper as well)
2 Tablespoons dried parsley
¼ Teaspoon Marjoram or Tarragon (optional)

Peel and section each potato into ½ inch slices. Make the parsnip slices just a bit smaller, as they tend to take longer than the potatoes to cook.  Add to a large (at least 4 qt pot, filled enough to cover by an inch) pot of salted water (about 1 Tablespoon salt). Add 3 Tablespoons dried parsley and 1 Tablespoon granulated garlic powder or dried minced garlic. Bring to gentle simmer (boiling can make russets water-logged). Simmer until parsnips are "fork tender".

Drain the water off the potato/parsnip mix and return the pot to the stove.
Note: If making these the night before, reserve 1 C of the boiling water. The potatoes will "set up" over night. There's some nice flavors and starches in the boiling water. Use this to "thin out" the potatoes the next day while re-heating, instead of tap water.

Turn heat off (for electric stove) or down to the lowest setting (for gas), return the pot of spuds to the burner and let the residual heat boil away any remaining water in the bottom of the pot for a minute or so. (Make sure the mixture doesn't scorch on the bottom). Then turn off the heat (if gas).
Note:Getting rid of the excess water helps the 'taters absorb all the yummy liquids in the flavored mix you'll add later, and not from the less tasty water.

While the veggies are boiling...
In a small sauce pan, add the "cream and butter" ingredients.

Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, until the cream cheese is mostly melted and the mixture is very hot but NOT boiling.

When the veggies have finished boiling and dried out a bit on the stove:

Smash the potato/parsnip mix with a hand potato masher until coarsely mashed (Vrghr likes a bit of rustic lump texture in his potatoes. If you like them smoother, run them through a ricer or food mill to get a smooth, silky texture. Avoid whipping them with a mixer, as they can get "gluey"). Pour in the hot milk and cheese mixture, and mash or stir together until well combined.

Set the electric stove temperature to lowest setting or put the pot in a "keep warm" oven (gas stoves will tend to scorch the bottom, even at lowest setting), and let mixture "rest". covered, at least 10 minutes for the flavors to fully combine.

Taste, and add salt and pepper as desired.

Options and tips:

You can find the already-roasted, minced garlic at just about any market. You could certainly roast or sauté your own.  Or if you like a more pungent garlic flavor, substitute a bit of fresh mashed/minced garlic for the more nutty and mellow roasted garlic.

For a twist, you can also replace all or most of the garlic with caramelized onions.  Wuffy would think about 1/2 cup or so in the saucepan would be a good start there. Perhaps mix some directly into the potatoes during the mashing/mixing stage.  This onion-y version would go especially well with roast beef!