I love mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without them. Although there’s a darker side to the November holiday (I won’t get into that here), I’d like to focus on the good times. And like all good times in my life that I can remember, I never had a bad time when potatoes were involved.

I think we take for granted this wonderful plant. We should take some time to focus and be thankful for something we think so little about.

Before we get into the juicy recipes and experiments I’ve tried, I’d like to share with you all some glorious potato-facts because this spotlight has been long overdue.

Potatoes are a staple around the world for many people. Most of the vitamins and fiber are located in the skin. The “meaty” part tastes the best and is the carbohydrate or the inner spud.

Could one survive off a strictly-potato diet like Matt Damon’s character in The Martian? For a while, yes, and then bring on the malnutrition.

Potatoes have a complete amino acid count, but are lacking in essential vitamins and nutrients. In fact, there are at least two people right now on the internet who are on a strictly potato diet and they’ve gone from 260 to 190 pounds. But that’s beside the point—the point is: how can a poor college student make five-star potatoes? I will show you how. Yes, English major, Biology and Anthropology minor, health enthusiast and now cook—I will show you how.

The ingredients are almost all the same online: butter, milk, salt and pepper. (Vegans can substitute butter and milk with non-hydrogenated margarine and coconut, flax, rice or almond milk).

For these recipes, I’ve tried three methods, all of which use a pound of potato, 4 ounces of butter, 2 slices of American cheese, half a cup of milk and a pinch of salt and pepper: 1) boiling potatoes and then mashing them with those ingredients. 2) getting French fries and mashing them together (excluding the butter, for American Heart Association reasons of course). 3) Microwaving the potatoes with the milk separate and adding them all together.

Here’s what I discovered in a taste test: microwaved potatoes tasted best, boiled potatoes came in second and mashed French fries came in third, along with a craving for lots of ketchup.

But don’t let these results stop you! You can create your own recipes by mixing and matching potato ingredients suggested online. Also, I’ve heard from a very reliable source (my stomach) that a “loaded baked potato” with all its sour cream, shredded cheese, butter, mayonnaise and even bacon, might be a contender to the microwaved potatoes (or even a mashed legume and potato combination). So, this thanksgiving, remember—thank the potato.