POTATOES (MASHED)

To mash potatoes well they should be drained when soft and steamed dry over the fire; then turn them into a basin and pass them through a potato masher back into the saucepan; add a piece of butter the size of a walnut (or more according to quantity of potatoes), and a little hot milk, and mash all well through over the fire with a wooden spoon, adding hot milk as required until it is a thick, creamy mass.