I had a tremendous Thanksgiving this year because I did nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true; I woke up before dawn to go to Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island and then took the bait when my best friend said, “Let’s skip out on all of our Thanksgiving invitations, cook at your place, and watch movies.” I loved her idea so much that I took it a step further, “Let’s go to Whole Paycheck and buy most of the stuff!” We went to Whole Foods just before the rush of last-minute stressed shoppers flooded in, and smoothly worked our way through the Thanksgiving buffet. There was one side, however, that I wasn’t willing to eat if it had been cooked by someone else—so I kept my favorite dish as the only item on my to-do list (aside from reheating the other dishes). I substituted half the potatoes this year with cauliflower; that way, although I’d still end up splayed on the couch, I wouldn’t be weighed down quite as much when we watched The Last King of Scotland, a brilliant film to round out our brilliant evening.
Ingredients:
- Four to six Idaho russet potatoes
- One head of cauliflower
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- One to two cloves of garlic
- Some fresh scallions, snipped into pieces
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
Directions:
- Boil potatoes and steam cauliflower separately.
- Put hot potatoes and cauliflower in a large bowl, mash together.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except the scallions, and beat until desired consistency.
- Add snipped scallions and mix together, heat up in microwave, if necessary.
Photo courtesy of Oggi
