Mashed potatoes are an excellent side dish, and can even be a main course if you treat them right.  Growing up, I was led to believe that mashed potatoes were time consuming and difficult to make by hand.  In hindsight, I think my mother just was not a very good cook!  It turns out that few things could be easier than making mashed potatoes.

Your first job is to select the potatoes.  You want some starch in classic mashed potatoes, and the best starch potato is the classic Idaho russet baker.  Yukon gold is also a fine and delicious potato to use as a masher.  Many people do half and half, half russets and half Yukons.

Honestly, I can't be bothered with that level of detail.  I always have a

sack of baby red potatoes in the kitchen, and these are what I use for mashed potatoes.  I am pleased to report that they taste just fine, and the texture is perfectly lovely.

Skin off or on?  I like to peel Idaho russet potatoes, because the boiled peel of a baker potato is just not that delicious.  However, I leave the peel on for baby white, Yukon gold, and baby red potatoes.  I think the red peel of the baby red potatoes is a nice visual addition.  Plus I've always heard that the skin is where all the nutrients are.  Is that even true?  Who knows.  Anyway, it's also less work this way.

I always put some garlic in with my mashed potatoes.  Please be aware that this is considered HERESY by many.  If you are going to serve your potatoes to mixed company, you may want to err on the safe side and leave out the garlic.  

I don't mince or chop the garlic.  I just peel the skin off the cloves, and toss them in with the potatoes to boil.

Now for the cooking details!  I cut the potatoes into chunks about the size of a golf ball.  For a baby red potato, this will mean cutting it into quarters.  There's no need to get too detailed about the job, you're just making it a little bit easier for them to cook.  Drop the potatoes, plus the garlic, into a pot filled with cold salted water.  

Bring the water to a boil, and let it boil gently until the potatoes are fork tender.  "Fork tender" in this case means that you can poke a fork right into the potato chunks without meeting any resistance.  This will usually take between 20 and 30 minutes of gentle boiling for most potatoes.

Drain the potatoes and garlic cloves in a colander, then put them into a large bowl.  Mash everything well.  If you don't have a potato masher (I didn't for many years) just use a fork.  A fork works fine!  After all that cooking, the garlic cloves will mash right up with the potatoes.

Now add "some" butter and "some" milk or cream.  Don't you hate directions like that?  But it's true.  The specific amounts will depend on how much potato mash you have, what kind of texture you're going for (lumpy or creamy), and how badly you want to clog your arteries.  There is no wrong answer here.  Start with a few tablespoons of each, mix it up (with a wooden spoon by hand, no need to get a mixer involved) and see what you think.

Add a bit of salt if you think it needs it, possibly a dash of pepper, and voila!