You’re already doing better than me. The first time I made mashed potatoes, I learned that you have to boil them BEFORE attempting to mash them. I couldn’t figure out why it was so damned difficult.
If you don’t like lumps, then buy instant mashed potatoes.
I happen to like the lumps and peels, because that means the smashed taters are real and homemade, and not the institutional homogenized dreck that I’ve eaten for a sizable portion of my life.
I tried to explain this to my mother once. All she said the entire time was “My mashed potatoes ARE NOT lumpy!”, and couldn’t fathom that I was trying to insult instant potatoes instead. Ah, the Scandinavian-American ethic that food must be bland and homogenized. She never could understand my spice addiction…
The Perfect Master speaks on potato skins.
So peel the taters, and don’t feel bad about tossing the skins. Contrary to popular belief, potato skins ARE NOT good for you, so you don’t have to eat them. And mashed potatoes are much nicer without the skins.
This is what I add to mine.
Real butter
Real buttermilk or real sour cream
Roasted garlic
Horseradish
Fresh chives
Dill
Contrary to what Cecil says, ain’t nothing wrong with tater skins (unless the NIH is having us on)
Have ye all lost yer minds? Have ye forgotten already the glory of Zenster’s Mashed Po-f*cking-tatoes?
To get my homemade mashed potatoes lump-free I use my KitchenAid stand mixer. Not the food processor, but just plain old mixer with the wire whip attachment. It works very well.
I am also a great believer in baking potatoes in their jackets as opposed to boiling. I like to do them in the regular oven, though. That way I can roast the garlic at the same time. I wait until the potatoes are warm, but cool enough to touch and cut them in half. Then I scoop the insides out to make mashed potatoes. I take the left-over skins and add some of the roasted garlic and some grated cheese and stick them back in under the broiler.
Two treats in one!
I just thought I mention that if you use a ricer than you don’t have to peel the potatoes but the ricer will catch them all so you don’t have them in the final product. I love my ricer (I could only find a cheapo one, 12CND, and it still works great) but a food mill also works and you can use it for many other things (soup purees etc).
Depending on my mood I will sometimes add sour cream or cream cheese both are very yummy.
My brother puts the garlic (or garlic powder) in the water for boiling. His potatoes are amazing.
For your next friendly get-together, consider doing a mashed potato bar!
Do a bunch of mashed potatoes with butter and milk (or cream), maybe garlic. Don’t get all rambunctious flavoring the potatoes, because you and your guests get to top them as you please.
Put out fun mashed-potato-vessels - I like to use my big margarita glasses with the cactus handles. You can use bowls, of course, but be creative. Ice cream dishes would be fun, too, or big martini glasses.
Put out a bunch of different toppings - a few different cheeses, sweet onions, pine nuts, that sort of thing - I especially love the sundried tomatoes that come packed in oil and julienned. Mmmm, tasty.
No chocolate sprinkles. 
Mash is the one time that skins should be discarded.
As for lumps…the problem is your masher. Perversely, what you need is the cheapest one available, which is just a sheet of metal with a few punched holes, with a handle. If it’s a fancy wire tennis-raquet-type construction, it’s useless, because hole-sized lumps can find the holes and escape further mashing. If there’s a decent amount of flat metal between each hole, they can’t escape in time. And if you’re still stuck, just get in there with a fork and de-lump the thing manually 
Instead of boiling potatoes, I put the potatoes in a steamer insert inside a much larger pot. I find the potatoes cook in the same amount of time and they’re moist without being waterlogged. The rest of the preparation is much like the prevailing suggestions in the above replies.
Peel potatoes with the Good Grips potato peeler. Allow one medium potato per person and then throw in an extra for leftovers.
Quarter the potato and then quarter once more. Do not chop them up into little bits or you will have potato soup or worse, starch water.
Boil about 25 minutes in a large pot until they are tender. Remove all water using a strainer then return the papas to the pan. Place the pan back on the burner (if it’s electric you don’t even need to turn it back on) until every last bit of water is boiled away.
Add liberal amounts of butter and no more than 1/8 of a cup of milk. Do not add too much milk. If you do, you can thicken it back up with flour, but why go to all that trouble? Add less milk than you think necessary, then mash. You can always add more. I mash with a blender.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash until smooth.
Ponster, I was always told that you wanted a waxier potato for boiling, and a starchy potato for baking/frying. I’m not sure of the reason, but that’s what I seem to have seen, as such, I usually use red potatos for mashed, but sometimes if I don’t have any onhand russets will be used.
Anways, I make mine the following:
Peel potatos if wanted (some people like skin, some don’t)
Add to cold, salted water
Bring to boil
They are done when a fork can be inserted smoothly (consistancy of a baked potato)
Drain
Let sit for a while, the steam going off will reduce the amount of water in final product
Mash the hell out of 'em.
Once lumps are gone, switch to spoon
Add butter first. The potatos are still hot, and it will melt easier.
Now add cream (at the very least, half and half)
Add salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix in some super-crushed garlic
Some freshly grated parm cheese (try to avoid “cheese in a can” if possible)
(secret ingriedient here): a touch of ranch dressing.
I luuuurve using red potatoes or yukon golds for mashed potatoes, and usually boil them whole unless I’m in a hurry–in which case I usually just half them.
I will usually add a couple chicken bullion cubes to the boiling water, unless having vegitarian guests. When they’re fork tender, I drain them, saving a cup or so of the chickeny water, then add that back in along with a bit of cream or buttermilk for moisture. I also add tons of garlic, a healthy pinch of kosher salt or sea salt, some pepper, and a good sized hunk of butter, maybe sour cream if I’ve got some leftover. Yum yum yum.
Oh, and I always thought you were supposed to add starches to already boiling water, not bring them to a boil from cold. I can’t remember the source of this wisdom, but it’s the same reason I always boil water before adding the rice. I just always eyeballed the water level, brought it to a boil, and added the potatoes, draining off a bit if necessary.
Gramma used to do two things with her mashed potatoes:
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She’d mash carrots with them. Equal amounts of carrots and potatoes mashed together with butter, milk, and a little salt. Apparently, it was the only way she could get her kids to eat carrots.
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This will turn off some people, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Gramma also used to make creamed cucumbers - thinly sliced cucumbers in a “gravy” made of Miracle Whip, cream, and a little sugar. That “gravy” is also excellent as a substitute for the butter and milk in regular mashed potatoes.
best mashed potatoes ever
ok, folks, its about to get real easy
Cook about 12-15 red new potatoes until tender
Drain potatoes and allow excess water to evaporate
Coarsely mash them with skins on
Add a little cream and butter to your taste and favored consistency
Add one container Garlic and Herb Alouette
Tell people it was hard.
These will be gobbled up fast as you can say how do you mash potatoes?
I can’t believe all this thread for mashed potatoes.
When I make a roast I usually add lots of extra potatoes cut in half to the pot. Of course the roast is seasoned and there’s onions and garlic and carrots and all that good stuff. The potatoes are excellent when the roast is done and since I put three times as many as needed for this meal I can save the extra potatoes for the next day or so.
Then whenever I need them I can (after about twenty minutes in the oven) with a regular old fashioned potato masher work 'em over real good adding a little butter and some milk and maybe a bit of salt . Pop 'em back in the oven until the rest of the meal is ready and damn…talk about some good mashed potatoes. I might even take the handmixer and whip 'em real good right before serving them. Yep, that’s the ticket.
Every now and then I might grate a little colby-jack on top and add some real bacon bits just for the hell of it.
But all in all a little brown gravy w/ onion and maybe mushrooms is fine.
Yes. ‘Dirty’ mashed potatoes.
Mmmm.
No, not at all. The skins cook too you know! As for varieties, I use Red Pontiacs, the red skins provide vital texture and colouring as well as tasting great.