Do the mashed potato (without leftovers)

Potato pic by rick

My mom is a good cook, but there are a few dishes that only my dad can make. Waffles are one. He made them every Sunday morning for as long as I can remember.

And then there’s mashed potatoes. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard my dad whistling as he beats the potatoes, adding a couple tablespoons of butter, a splash of milk and a little bit of salt and pepper. And then, always, tapping the beaters in rhythm on the edge of the bowl: shave and a haircut…two bits!

I love potatoes of all kinds, but I don’t make mashed potatoes often. Neither one of us likes leftover mashed potatoes, and it seems like a lot of work to peel and boil and mash just enough for two of us.

But when I told Mark that I planned to make meatloaf on Sunday night, he asked if I could please make mashed potatoes. What could I say to that?

Luckily for me, he offered to peel the potatoes: my least favorite part of the process. So all I had to do was boil them to a perfect consistency (until a fork can break them apart easily) and mix them up. Here’s what I did:

Mary’s Mashed Potatoes
1-2 lbs. Russet potatoes
2 T butter (or Blue Bonnet Light margarine)
¼ c. milk (skim)
¼ c. sour cream (light)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes. (As I said.) Drain and add butter. If you have lids for your pots, put a lid on it and let the butter melt. If you don’t (I know. Who doesn’t have lids? Oh yeah. Me.), just stir it around until it melts. Add sour cream, milk, salt and pepper. Beat on low setting with mixer. Personally, I don’t beat all the lumps out, but that’s up to you.

Mark didn’t jump up and down at the addition of sour cream. Even though, as I told him, that’s how they make them in restaurants. Then again, I didn’t exactly time dinner right, and the potatoes weren’t nearly as hot as the meatloaf. So I guess that might have had something to do with it.

Oh well. At least two of us enjoyed them. (And we only threw out a couple spoonfuls of leftovers, thanks to big bites and second helpings.)

What’s your favorite way to eat potatoes?

P.S. “Do the mashed potato” is a lyric from Do You Love Me, featured in that classic movie I may have mentioned before right before the watermelon scene I may have mentioned before.


This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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Pizza Crust from Scratch

About a week ago, I saw Jill post a question on Twitter. She was looking for a good recipe for blueberry muffins.

Because I am well-known as a cooking expert, I replied. I said, “88-cent mix from the store + water + bake for 10 min = Voila! Muffins.”

She didn’t like my answer. Apparently she was looking for something with more ingredients and less packaged mixes. I still don’t understand that.

However, even though I was joking about that being an appropriate recipe for muffins (though it is, indeed, exactly how I make mine), later that night I had to think twice when it came time to bake something else.

Smitty came over, and I offered to make us chicken pizza. Normally, I use the refrigerated pizza dough in a can, but I was out. What was I going to do?

Oh yeah. I could make like my friend Jill and actually bake from scratch!

So, while Smitty entertained Annalyn by reading her latest favorite book about a dozen times, I pulled out my recipe binder and found my mom’s formula for homemade pizza dough. Fortunately, she doesn’t do anything crazy, like make dough that has yeast or any other needs-to-rise ingredient. [Whew!]

I added Prego spaghetti sauce (sorry, I can’t do that much homemade!), grilled chicken, red onion, mozzarella and provolone. And it was delicious! Here’s my mom’s pizza crust recipe:

Pizza Crust
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
¼ cup oil

Mix together, and press onto baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees (or until the cheese melts and starts to brown).

It turned out pretty well, although I definitely used too much flour to keep it from sticking to the baking sheet. Even without too much flour, I wonder if the crust would taste too plain. Next time, I might brush it with olive oil or add a little garlic powder to the dough.

What foods do you make from scratch?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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The deviled egg is in the details.

Since I spent most of my weekend in the bathroom, singing the Elmo Potty Song, and the rest of it buried in paper, doing our taxes, I don’t have much new to share with you today. Instead, I thought I’d tell you about the hundreds dozens of deviled eggs that stank up my kitchen over Easter weekend.

[“Stank” does not sound right. Although it does properly describe the nastiness that was my sulfur-laced fridge. And I’m fairly certain it’s grammatically correct. At least if I base my grammar on Dr. Seuss, and hello? Who doesn’t? Just like the Grinch, those eggs “stink, stank, stunk.”]

As I mentioned in a recent weekend linky post that has yet to be named, I was excited to try a new recipe for deviled eggs. One that includes bacon and cheese. And so I did.

Deanna’s recipe yielded 10 deviled eggs. Since I wasn’t sure if my family would like the different eggs, I decided I’d make a batch of normal ones and a batch of the new ones.

But, as you may know, math is not my strong suit. I can do math, thankyouverymuch. It just doesn’t come naturally, as they say. Or quickly. Or, sometimes, accurately.

Really, the problem was that I just overestimated how excited my family would be to eat eggs. And when I was counting up people, I forgot that Chad doesn’t like eggs at all (although he was proud to tell me he just recently ate his first omelet and it wasn’t bad), and my Nana is still on a diet. Plus, my cousin Craig and his wife weren’t there.

So, to make this story a smidge shorter than it could be, because believe me, I could go on – I made too many eggs. So this recipe will show you how to make 20 deviled eggs. But only do so if you actually intend to feed a small egg-eating army.

Deanna’s Deviled Eggs

10 eggs
1 cup Mayo
1 Tbsp. Mustard
2 Tbsp. Vinegar
8 slices bacon, fried crispy and crumbled into tiny pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
paprika

The original recipe called for Tabasco, salt and pepper to taste, but I didn’t add any of that. Actually, I didn’t add paprika, either, because I didn’t have any. But I wanted to. Also, the original recipe, which I’ve doubled here, called for one tablespoon mustard. And so I used two tablespoons. And it kind of ruined the whole thing for me.

Boil your eggs. I used Sarah’s method for boiling eggs, and it worked beautifully. Slice them in half, pop out the yolk and mix them with the ingredients (except the paprika). Scoop the mixture into a ziploc bag, snip off the corner, and squirt into the egg halves. (Yes, those are my technical cooking terms.) If you haven’t crumbled the bacon small enough, you might notice that it gets stuck. Just snip off a bigger corner. (Again, technical words here.) Sprinkle on paprika and refrigerate until serving.

Remember, don’t go crazy with the mustard. Even if you like mustard – and I do – you don’t want it covering up the bacon and the cheese. Which are kind of the whole reason for the recipe.

In summary, my weekend included phrases like, “Where are your panties?” and “Yay!!! You peed in the potty!” as well as “We only gave how much to charity last year?” and “Why isn’t that credit showing up in our refund?” How was yours?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

WAIT! Don’t go just yet. Have you taken my blog survey? If not, please do. I promise it won’t take but a few minutes, and I really do want your input before making some changes (or not) around here. Thank you!

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Mmmm...carbs...Mmmm...cheese...

What's your favorite part of holiday get-togethers? Catching up with family? Playing football after dinner? Or, if you're in my family, maybe playing Scrabble? Debating that timeless question: fancy china or paper plates?

I know you're going to be surprised to hear this, but one of my favorite parts of family get-togethers is the food. In particular, the many casseroles and creamy salads that we only see on those special days.

But I discovered something a while back. It's a well-kept secret, but I'll tell you.

You can make holiday casseroles any time of the year.

I know! Get OUT!

Since this realization dawned on my cheese-loving brain, I've made cheesy potatoes a fairly regular staple at our house. It's nice to have a side dish other than green beans, corn or tater tots.

You might not call them cheesy potatoes. This dish of cheesy, carby goodness might be called hashbrown casserole at your house. Or possibly, as the recipe I use calls it, Holiday Potato Dish. Whatever you call it, though, it's delicious.

And I'm here to tell you - and show you - how easy it is to make this dish.

First, the ingredients:

Chop up a good amount of onion. Probably about half a medium onion. (On a side note: I don't know what they're feeding the onions these days, but the last two weeks, my grocery store has been selling head-sized onions. I'm not even exaggerating. It's a little scary.)

Saute the onions in a couple tablespoons of butter. And when I say "butter," I mean Blue Bonnet Light. Which, if I'm honest, is not at all what the recipe calls for, because it's half water. So if you're up to it, please, use some real butter.

Once the onions are translucent, add one can of cream of celery soup and 16 oz. of sour cream. (Again with the light stuff...I use 98% fat-free soup and light sour cream.) It won't look pretty, but it will definitely start smelling good.

Now, here's where I differ from the recipe. (Just kidding. I've been doing that from the get-go.) The recipe says to mix two cups of shredded cheddar with one package of frozen hashbrowns in a separate bowl, then fold into the soup mixture.

I don't see a need for dirtying up another bowl. So I just dump the cheese in, stir it up and then add the hashbrowns.

Cheese, glorious cheese:

And now the hashbrowns. Until just recently, I'd only used the cubed hashbrowns - are they called O'Brien potatoes or something? - but Mark requested the shredded kind. So that's what I used. And....yummmmm!

Now you can do one of two things. You can grease (or spray) a 9x13 pan, or you can do the same to two 8x8 pans. For my own family, I make two pans.

The recipe suggests refrigerating the casserole overnight, then topping it with crushed corn flakes and baking for an hour on 350 degrees.

At this point, I freeze the casseroles. And when it's time to bake them, I'll thaw completely and bake. I don't mess with the corn flakes. Some people do. And it's delicious. But I keep it simple.

Plus, the store-brand corn flakes come in a ginormous box, and they inevitably get uber-stale in my pantry. So, plain potatoes+cheese it is.

Here's the full recipe, as it's written. Tweak as desired.

Holiday Potato Dish
1 package frozen hashbrowns
1/4 c. butter
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup chopped onion
1 pint sour cream
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup crushed corn flakes

Mix potatoes and cheese. Saute onions in 1/4 cup butter until tender. Stir in soup and sour cream. Fold potatoes and cheese into soup mixture. Turn into greased baking dish. Cover, refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle with corn flakes and drizzle with 3 tablespoons butter. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

For more Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods, visit Balancing Beauty & Bedlam. And for more Mouthwatering Monday (one day late, okay...), visit A Southern Fairytale.

What's your favorite side dish? Or holiday dish? Or both?