How To: Make perfect and creamy mashed potatoes

Everyone can agree on one thing: mashed potatoes are delicious. But they can be kind of ticky to make perfectly. You can end up with gluey mashed potatoes, potatoes that don't taste quite right, or you could forget the cream. CHOW is here to help with their You're Doing It All Wrong series to help you rectify your mashed potatoes issues.

Sunset magazine food editor Margo True has learned the rights and wrongs of mashed potatoes from a reliable source—her mother. Here, she demonstrates the wrong way (undercooking waxy potatoes, skimping on the cream, or, horror of all horrors, employing a food processor to mash) and the right way (using russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, cooking them as long as possible, drying them over heat before adding lots of cream, and topping with herbs). This approach elevates mashed potatoes to their rightful status as much more than a side dish.