Of all the lessons learned last Thursday, the most important was that there will never be enough mashed potatoes.

Sure, 8 pounds sounds like a lot for 10 people, but you must take into account that when these 8 pounds are divided into 4 varieties, everyone is going to want to get their dirty little forks into some of each variety, leading to a not-so-happy situation come leftover time.  So make a lot, because they will go, and honestly, they will never go bad (come on, who’s ever seen moldy mashed potatoes?)

The brilliance of the mashed potato is that you can add whatever you want once you mash them, making it much easier to make 4 varieties of them, rather than say, 4 varieties of cranberry sauce, each of which must be made completely differently from the get go.

The varieties and the verdicts (all made by my roommate– she is a genius and mashed potato fanatic)

Caramelized Shallot with Sage – We added way more fresh sage and way more shallots than this called for, making a sort of brownish mash, but oh were they good. Like giving your old mashed potatoes a face-lift and buying them a fancy new cocktail dress, if mashed potatoes were an old woman, that is.

Corn Saffron - My favorite, with a gorgeous golden hue and a nice subtly sweet flavor. The saffron wasn’t overpowering, and the corn gave it a great texture. Like my old blue collar favorite, Shepherd’s Pie, but without the nasty meat.

Horseradish with Sour Cream – The aforementioned grabby forks ate all of these before they made it down to my end of the table, but I imagine they tasted decadent.

Garlic – Can’t go wrong with the classic. Also disappeared mighty fast.

That’s a pretty plate,  not withstanding my popover disaster, prominently featured in the foreground.