Mashed Potatoes, Perfected

Peel the potatoes. After peeling, rinse them under cold water
Chop the potatoes into quarters so that they cook more quickly and evenly
Boil a large pot of water and toss in the potatoes. Let them cook for about 30 minutes.
When they’re cooked through, a fork should slide easily into the potatoes with no resistance. They should almost — but not totally — fall apart. If the fork meets any resistance, that means lumpy potatoes!
Drain the potatoes and put them back into the pot on the stove
Turn the burner on low and begin to mash the potatoes with, you guessed it, a potato masher.
Mashing the potatoes before adding the other ingredients allows all of the steam to escape so that the final product won’t be watery
Using the sharp blades of an electric mixer can break down the starch in the potatoes and make the final product gummy. That’s why a hand masher is recommended.
Turn off the stove
Add the butter, cream cheese, and half & half
A note on the cream cheese: I was skeptical too. But it just adds such a nice flavor to the mashed potatoes, and you’ll never know it was there.
Mash it again, until everything is combined nicely
Add the Lawry’s and the pepper, and mash again!