Packard Potatoes

I have a cookbook my grandma gave me, one that the ladies she went to church with compiled. It's something that has been around as long as I can remember, the book with the pink gingham cover. This book in fact:

Fast forward 20 years. I'm at a friends house and she pulls out the exact same book! It turns out, our Grandparents where friends. They are both in the cookbook. So with renewed interest in what it contained, I flipped through and found a great looking recipe. And guess who submitted it? That's right, Friends grandpa. It look me a little while but I finally got around to making them. I'm sorry I waited. Everyone in my house loved them. 

And in my usual fashion, I had to change them a little based on what I had on hand and to tailor it to our tastes.

Here is the Original

Mashed Potatoes Deluxe

2 1/2 qt. chicken broth

8 russet potatoes

6 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch lengths

1 large onion, cut into quarters

1 tsp dill (dried or fresh)

6 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp parsley

2 Tsp. salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

In a large pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add potatoes; cover. Lower heat. Boil 15 minutes. Add carrots and onions; boil 20 minutes until potatoes and carrots are tender. Drain potatoes and carrots in a colander; cool 5 minutes and peel.

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onions, dill and butter. Mash with potatoes masher. Add parsley, salt, and pepper; mash again. Heat and serve warm.

So here's what I did to it:

I used Yukon Gold potatoes and chopped them up a bit first because I was in a hurry and I wanted them to cook faster. I also didn't want to carrots to get too soft cause I wanted orange streaks in my potatoes. Since the potatoes where now smaller, I boiled the carrots and onions first, for about 5 minutes, them I added the potatoes and boiled until tender. And I used chicken bouillon cubes instead of broth. 

So I boiled everything and drained it like the original. Mashed them, leaving the carrots in streaks. I left out the dills cause Husband Man doesn't like dill except in tzatziki, reduced the parsley about half and added 1/4 - 1/2 cup (I think the technical term is "big glob") of sour cream.

We all LOVED them. They had a great, no, a perfect, texture and flavor without being too heavy or too thin. Just that perfect balance in the middle.

So in conclusion, I want to add a really big "Thank you" to Roger Packard for this great recipe.