EMS

How To Host The Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner At Your EMS Station

Thanksgiving every year away from home and family can be difficult for people in the emergency medical services’ profession. At Community Care Ambulance, we have a few ideas on how to host the perfect Thanksgiving dinner at your EMS Station. We have included one of our favorite holiday recipes to share with your EMS family.

EMS Family Thanksgiving Dinner

We know everybody at the station is your family and your home away from home! Sitting and watching your favorite pro football teams on television and making everybody feel they have a part of contributing to the Thanksgiving meal at the station. It is the duty of everyone on call to make a dish they would usually enjoy at home and bring in to cook and share. It is not always the traditional meal you might think when you smell the barbeque Ribs, Buttery Garlic Crab Bruschetta, and even No Cook Tiramisu Dessert coming into the station.

You’ve probably realized you can cook and mash potatoes the usual way and then keep them hot in the crockpot on Thanksgiving. But this recipe keeps all the steps in the slow cooker itself. You don’t even have to peel the potatoes if you like a more rustic dish.

Ingredients For Our Garlic Smashed Potatoes

• 5 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and quartered
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/3 cup butter

Steps to Make CCA’s Potatoes

1. Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain the potatoes well in a colander and return to the dry pot. Shake over low heat for about 1 minute. This helps make the potatoes fluffy as it drives off excess moisture.
2. Then mash the potatoes until there are no lumps. Beat in the cream cheese, sour cream, onion powder, salt, pepper, and egg. Melt the butter and drizzle over the potatoes. Cool for 20 minutes place in the fridge.
3. Take potatoes out of the refrigerator about 3-1/2 hours before serving time. Stir the potato mixture well. Remove the potatoes from the dish and place in a 4 or 5-quart crockpot. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 to 4 hours, stirring once or twice.
4. You can add more melted butter, or some cream or milk if you want a softer consistency. The potatoes can be held in the slow cooker an additional 30 minutes or more on low or turn the crockpot to “keep warm” for another hour or two if necessary.

It’s all about what we call duty above self. It’s something that we’re here for so it’s more important than our Thanksgiving dinner. This is one way to bring home to the station house! We all realize this goes with the love of the job and makes working on a holiday worth it. Please share your recipes with us if you would like at Community Care Ambulance.