Crock-Pot Mashed Potatoes...The New Hit?

Every once in a while, I get a recipe that just gets hit CONSTANTLY by people searching on Google. This past week, I've had at least 100 people Google crock-pot mashed potatoes. Is it the time of year? Everyone wanting to be all snuggly at home, and wanting recipes that have that feel-good kind of approach? Is it the upcoming holidays? I don't know. I mean, months have gone by and that page hasn't been visited or Googled and then whammo, it's like THE page on my blog to see. Psst...yoo-hoo, party on the crock-pot mashed potatoes page. ;-)

Maybe I should be smart about this whole blog thing and make use of my time here (besides the recipes, of course). I can practically hear my publicist screaming in the background. PEOPLE ON YOUR BLOG, TELL THEM ABOUT THE BOOKS, NOT JUST THE SPUDS, SILLY. Okay, so if I was smart, I'd...oh, post an excerpt to Miracle on Christmas Eve (you need a book to snuggle with while the potatoes are cooking, right?) or an excerpt to Really Something (out December 4th...another snuggle book ;-) so that I'm advertising while people are mashed potato-ing. The original recipe post didn't do any of that. Clearly I wasn't using my noodle...or my potato. Who would thunk THAT would be the page everyone would hit on, though?

Now, if you don't feel like clicking over to the old link from 2006, here's the recipe again:

Shirley's Crock-Pot Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs. potatoes (9 large or so)
2 3-ounce packages of cream cheese
1 cup dairy sour cream
2 teaspoons onion salt
1 teaspoon salt (I always use kosher salt, just as an FYI, for cooking)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter

Cook peeled potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. Mash until smooth (meaning no lumps. Nobody likes lumpy mashed potatoes, right?). Add the rest of the ingredients, beating until light and fluffy. Spray non-stick spray inside your crock-pot, add the mashed potatoes and put the pot on low. They'll keep in here for a few hours. Stir every hour or so to keep them from burning along the sides. If they start to dry out, add a little butter.

Very yummy. The onion salt, IMO, adds a little extra oomph. I love these and have been known to eat a whole serving or two before they even make it to the crock-pot ;-)

While you're at it, scroll down to the other post from today on my Hot Crab Bites. Honest, these were awesome. Easy and quick. Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm not the kind to spend hours in my kitchen. Life is too short for that...but not too short to have really great tasting food ;-)

So Google away everyone, and if you have a sec and want to zip on over and see what else I do in my spare time (meaning write books, LOL), click on the excerpts. And while you're in the grocery store picking up potatoes, take a stroll down the book aisle. There should be a Shirley Jump book there to entertain you while you're waiting on the spuds.

(Or you could be like me and just stand by the crock-pot and keep sneaking bites. And I wonder why I'm constantly on a diet. Sigh).

Okay, so I did my part for promotion. My publicist would be proud. End of commercial. Back to your potatoes and...Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Ginger Sauce? That's my other top searched recipe. Hey, if you're here, you might as well grab that one too ;-)

Shirley