Phew, I nearly forgot I had said I'd post the mashers - not that y'all were holding your breath :).

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (4 servings)

• 2 lbs unpeeled red potatoes, quartered
• 5 oz. butter, room temp.
• 2 oz. Romano cheese (grate it)
• 1/8th c. roasted garlic
• 1 tsp salt (+ salt for boiling, as preferred)
• 1 tsp tsp dried oregano
• Fresh chives (if desired, for garnish)
• Roasted garlic: cut off top of bulb, drizzle olive oil on top and season with salt. Wrap garlic tightly in foil and place in preheated oven, 375F for 35 minutes.

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 30-40 minutes; drain. Stir in butter, cheese, salt, and oregano. Add garlic, mash with a potato masher or with an electric mixer.

For EllieMay: (still have to find my popover recipe)

Choclolate Lava Lava Cakes, 4 srvgs.

1 stick unsalted butter (+ extra butter for buttering ramekins)
4 ounces semisweet chocolate (semi-sweet choco. chips)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Special equipment: 4 ramekins (2/3 to 1-cup capacity)

Place baking sheet in oven; preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter ramekins.

In a bowl suspended over a pan over simmering water, melt the dark chocolate and 1 stick butter, then set aside to cool a little.

In another bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar and flour with a hand whisk and beat in the cooled butter and chocolate mixture. Divide the mixture between the 4 buttered ramekins.

Bake for about 12-17 minutes (depending on oven). For lots of lava, take out closer to 12 minutes, for more cake-like consistency – leave longer. NOTE: for lots of lava, watch for tops to crackle; around 11-13 mins, check by “shaking” ramekin a bit – if it appears to be overly liquidy underneath the crackle-top after a shake, it’s not ready; if there seems to be some firmness – not shakiness underneath – it is probably ready)

Place each ramekin on a small plate with a teaspoon and serve. Make sure to warn people that these desserts will be HOT! Serve with ice cream, if desired. Garnish w/ cocoa powder and/or chocolate shavings and whip cream.

2 srvgs.

1/2 stick unsalted butter (+ extra butter for buttering ramekins)
2 ounces semisweet chocolate (semi-sweet choco. chips)
1 egg
6 T sugar
1.5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

I have a recipe for potatoes too, not that anyone asked me ;) but everytime I make these people always ask me for the recipe. I made them for the first time a few years ago for xmas and my family ate it all and my cousin literally licked the serving spoon bc there was none left. LOL

These are a lower fat/calorie mashed potatoes! this is for 4 servings.

2 lbs red potatoes
1 c warm 2% milk
4 tbs cream cheese (can be low fat as well if you wish, can be flavored, I use onion and chive kind)
4 whole cloves of garlic
sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper to taste
garlic salt if you want even more garlicky

Quarter the potatoes, keep the skins on. Put garlic cloves and potatoes in water, boil until skins start to come off and can break easily with fork. Drain. Pick out garlic cloves and smash with fork.

I use a kitchenaid for my mixing. Put potatoes and garlic in stand mixer, add all other ingredients and mix, I leave mine chunky still.

I am totally "borrowing" the recipes, I love to try new things

Oh and usually we go to a chinese restaurant, but for some reason we are having it at my aunt's house this year. They do not know how to cook. I am so not looking forward to it.

Ugh, that was supposed to be a percent sign.

I am going to somewhere for dinner this year YAY!!! I am taking Broccoli, Cheese and Rice casserole and a homemade Cherry Pie.

OMG....I just made cranberry sauce from scratch and it's wonderful. It puts that jiggly canned stuff to shame.......I can think of many other uses for this stuff!

Capt Noonie, I've also made those kind of potatoes with the cream cheese with onions and chives, they are wonderful!....I just use a masher and leave them kind of chunky for 'smashed' potatoes. We would have them with grilled steak.....

I've been making cranberry sauce from one particular recipe since 1991. I can it and it keeps for a couple of years (then I run out of it, otherwise it would keep longer).
This is the first year Bruce has done any canning. After the cranberry sauce was canned he asked me "what are we canning next?" LOL - I think he's got the canning bug:D

(We did alter the recipe this year, and Bruce says it's the best ever)

I had no idea cranberries was sooo good!...I used a recipe with sugar, O.J., water and a pinch of cinnamon. It was awesome!..........Your fortunate that you able to can ...I'm so afraid I'm going to do something wrong and I'll poison the whole family. I would feel better if I could do it while being watched over by a canning pro..... I'm going back to the store, I'm going to get some more cranberries so I can freeze the sauce.....I keep wondering how it would be on oatmeal.....;)

When I got the original recipe I was told it kept for a long time. But I decided to can it anyway just to be on the safe side.

I use a waterbath canner. I sterilize the canning jars and lids in the dishwasher and then put the hot cranberry sauce in the jars. Put the seals on top and finger tighten the screw top lid. Have very hot water ready in the waterbath canner (enough to cover the jars by about an inch or so), lower the jars into the canner (it comes with a rack), bring the water up to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes for the pint size jars.
Take the jars out of the canner (there is a jar lifter you can buy), put them to cool (I stand them on a cloth on the table). They should be nicely sealed. You can remove the screw bands or tighten them down. I usually just tighten the bands and leave them on.

Wish I had popped back into this thread before I made the mashed potatoes today -- those recipes look great. I made regular ones. But there was so much to eat today! Twice as much as I listed on my first menu! Everyone made more items than they originally said! I ran out of room in my fridge to pack the left-overs and I was sending everyone home with glad containers & zip locks full of food!

My mom made the best homemade cranberry sauce and I decided I do like cranberry sauce after all! Just not the canned kind. She also made cranberry banana nut bread that will be my breakfast tomorrow! My DIL made this Pumpkin Maple Walnut Trifle that I am in love with! It was sooooooo good. Only thing I had seconds on. Let's see what did I make that was good..... corn pudding and mac & cheese! Such a lot of food. We could have fed 10 more people easy! Hope my son plans on eating leftovers the rest of his time home from college. :)

I have so many blessings I am thankful for! I am glad we have a day set aside to show our gratitude but I hope I never limit it to just one day a year! Here's to keeping a gratitude attitude all year long!