Cheesy Potatoes

Easter dinner on my side of the family is ALWAYS ham and cheesy potatoes. The ham is pretty simple and nothing too fancy. The cheesy potatoes, on the other hand, have evolved over the years. This dish started out as Golden Potato Casserole, a recipe from the 1966 cookbook put out by the American Dairy Association, and fondly referred to as “the dairy wives cookbook”. My mom made this casserole as a side dish to ham and fried chicken. As kids, we called this dish “cheesy potatoes”. As my sisters and I left home (each with our own copy of the “dairy wives cookbook”) we continued to make Cheesy Potatoes whenever ham was on the menu.

Sometime during the 1980’s, my aunt gave my mom a recipe for a quick easy version called “Hash brown Cheese Potatoes”. My recipe research took me to the internet where I  found quite a few recipes for Hash Brown Cheese Potatoes…most of them included cornflakes. My recipe card from mom does NOT include cornflakes. Then I remembered my mom telling me that my aunt always put cornflakes on hers but she never did. This “new” recipe for cheesy potatoes is now being made by the 3rd generation in my family. My niece made two pans yesterday for Easter dinner. That will cover about 15-18 people, no leftovers.

Although the new easy version is very good, this little jog down memory lane found me at the stove this morning boiling potatoes for the original Golden Potato Casserole. I put it in two pans and took one over to Kellee.  Her and Brian both agreed, the original is better! I am giving you both recipes. If you have the time…make the Golden Potato Casserole, if you are feeding a crowd, use the Hash Brown Cheese Potatoes. Either way…I hope you agree, Cheesy Potatoes are delicious!

Golden Potato Casserole
6 medium potatoes
2 cups (8oz.) shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup butter
2 cups sour cream at room temperature
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons butter
Cook potatoes in skins, cool, then peel and coarsely shred. In a saucepan over low heat combine Cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup butter, stirring occasionally, until almost melted. Remove from heat; blend in sour cream, onion, salt and pepper. Add potatoes, stirring lightly and turn into a buttered 2 quart casserole dish. Dot with 2 tablespoons butter; bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until heated through.

Hash Brown Cheese Potatoes
2 lb. frozen hash browns (country style or shredded)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 cups sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
Slightly thaw hash browns. Mix together all ingredients. Mix in hash browns. Put in greased 9x13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Think Spring! (One of my many collections)

 

As of Good Friday, we have been in our house for 3 years!  It is hard to believe it has been that long already and just last week I unpacked the very last box we still had in the basement.

It was the box with all my jadeite green things!  I have a great turkey, a chicken, a squirrel perched on an acorn and two little bunnies that are all covered dishes.  I also have other assorted pieces  like coffee cups, vases, a cake stand and wonderful flowered candy dish that was Gram’s.

Here they all are, put to good use and out of the box!

Chocolate Bonbon Pops

I made these last week for Bible Study. I missed the part at the beginning where the recipe says “your kids will love this Christmas treat…” I made them for the ladies, the week before Easter…and yes, they did love them. I did use orange liqueur (because I was making them for the ladies), they tasted great!

Permanent Party Gear

Entertaining means coffee – and lots of it. If you’re having a party for eight, it’s a good idea to plug in two electric coffee makers (the 10-cup size) so you’ll be ready for seconds – even if it means borrowing one from your neighbor. For a bigger party, a large electric percolator urn may be a better answer. You can make up to 30 cups of coffee in some of these urns.

This great tip came straight out of the Betty Crocker Hostess Cookbook 1967 edition. Although today…we might like to be entertaining with one of these…

I would be happy with a good cup of black coffee at just about any party! It’s nice to know some things just never go out of style.

Today’s Little Lifesaver

If you like to make cutout cookies, put this on your must have list!  It rolls dough to the perfect thickness and you can chose your desired thickness by changing the rubber rings.  Now my cookies turn out perfect every time! KitchenKrafts 

Country Kitchen SweetArt

Here are some great rolling pins tips and pointers.

Rotisserie Chickens

 

I have cooked a few rotisserie chickens in my life.  Lets see, if I worked 5 days a week and we made 40+ chickens per day, well, you get the picture, it comes out to a lot! 

Last week, Grandma and Grandpa came for supper and they brought a rotisserie chicken from Sprouts.  If you think I have cooked a lot of chickens, you should ask Grandpa how many he has made in his lifetime. They don’t call him Deli Jim for nothing!

Today I tried the rotisserie chicken recipe from the great crock pot cookbook I got for Christmas.  The book is called Make it Fast, Cook it Slow and has all kinds of things you can make in your crock pot!  HERE is the link to the blog that goes with the book.

 

And here is the recipe!  Enjoy.

--1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds)
--2 tsp kosher salt (if you'd like it as salty as the ones in the store, add another 1 tsp.)
--1 tsp paprika
--1 tsp onion powder
--1/2 tsp dried thyme
--1 tsp Italian seasoning
--1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
--1/2 tsp black pepper
--pinch of chili pepper (probably not necessary)
--4 whole garlic cloves (optional)
--1 yellow onion, quartered (optional)

 

Skin the chicken and get rid of the neck and other stuff from the cavity.

In a bowl, combine all of dried spices. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird, inside and out. Plop the bird breast-side down into the crock pot.

If desired, shove 4 whole garlic cloves and a quartered onion inside the bird.

Do not add water.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8. The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.

A Practically Perfect Day

My birthday present from my husband was tickets to see Mary Poppins the Musical at the Buell Theatre in Denver.
The first time I ever went to a movie theater was to see Mary Poppins in 1964. I will never forget that day…and the following Christmas when I received a Mary Poppins board game and a Mary Poppins doll.  I also received a  Mary Poppins charm bracelet, a gift my mom bought me in New York City. I still have the board game and the charm bracelet, but the much loved doll did not survive me and both of my girls, however I did buy them each their own Mary Poppins doll a few years back. So…when my daughter Briee went to see Mary Poppins the Musical “on Broadway” over Thanksgiving break…I was very excited for her, and a little jealous. Somewhere along the way, I must have shaken hands with a chimney sweep (that brings you good luck, you know) because the touring show was coming to Denver, and the next thing I knew…I had tickets in my hand. It was a wonderful musical, so much more than I could ever imagine. If I had to sum it up in only one word, that would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!