Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Other Recipes I recommend!

Is that Title long enough for ya?

LOL!

Is everyone beginning to think of your Christmas dinner menu like me?

Well let me share a few things I LOVE along with my Cheesy Scalloped Potato recipe!

First, the potatoes!

Start by making a white sauce.  Put about a half stick of butter in a sauce pot over medium heat.  Once that is melted, add all purpose flour a spoon at a time, mixing after each addition.  Keep adding until this forms a soft dough that will immediately spread out and start to bubble as soon as you stop stirring.  It should take about equal amounts of butter and flour.  Let this cook for just a few minutes to cook out the raw taste.  This cook time will also bring out a nutty flavor that will really add depth later! 
After a few minutes add in some heavy cream that you have brought to room temp.  I used a pint.  Whisk this all together until smooth.  Having the heavy cream at room temp makes this WAY easier.  If it is cold, it will cause the butter to stiffen up and you will have to fight clumps!
Now add Milk.  I used 2%, but you can use whatever you like.  How much depends on how much sauce you need.  I used about 4 cups, sorry didn't measure!  Add salt and pepper to taste.
Let this simmer, slowly, until nice and thickened.
While that is simmering, slice up your potatoes into thin slices.  You can use a knife or a Mandolin.  
I also chopped up 6 Green Onions.
Once the sauce has thickened taste it!  Add more salt and pepper if it needs it.  Keep in mind that the potatoes will suck up alot of that salt while baking, so be sure that the sauce is nicely seasoned.

Next comes assembly...
Start with a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan.
Top this with a layer of potatoes.
Drizzle sauce over the potatoes.

Then Add the cheese!  I used Colby Jack, for it's melty-ness!

Sprikle on some green onions...

And repeat until full!

Cover with foil and bake at 375 until a knife inserted in the middle slides into the potatoes easily.  This took about an hour.  When it's close to done, take the foil off and add a bit more cheese.  This will brown and become a nice crust!

This was SOOOOO GOOD!!!

Now, here's the rest of what we had!

From closest to farthest:

PW's Stuffing

Good 'ol Green Bean Casserole

Mom's Lasagna (to die for!)

PW's Sweet Potato Casserole

...lets change angles for the last two.

Fresh Corn Casserole

And my Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes!

I wanted to try out some new recipes and loved them all, so here they are for your tummy's enjoyment!

(click the name for the recipe)

Pioneer Woman's Stuffing

Pioneer Woman's Sweet Potato Casserole

Pioneer Woman's Fresh Corn Casserole 

Noticing a trend?  This woman has AWESOME recipes!!!

Enjoy!

Christy

Christy's Cajun/Creole Turkey

Hello All!

Today I'd like to show you my absolutely favorite way to make turkey!  I've always liked turkey but never found it particularly exciting.  2 years ago we decided to fry our turkey for the first time and let me tell you it was DIVINE!  Sadly, the peanut oil costs around $30 to $40 bucks, and I just dont like spending that much money on something I get to use then throw away. So this year I decided to flavor the bird the same way, but instead to just bake it.

Here, we have your 2 new best friends:

Last year I used the "Cajun Injector" Brand, but this year all I could find was Tony Chachere's.

Doesn't matter really, just get Creole or Cajun Butter and an injector!

Fill the inject and go to town!  I used just shy of the whole bottle.  When I inject, I do it every 2 inches or so and I do it at 90 and 45 degree angles, to make sure I am really getting alot of flavor in there!

(please disregard the obxoniously delicious Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls in the background.  My sister made them and they were criminally delicious!

Next part freaked my Mom out!  I separate the skin form the meat so I can add more flavor in between in a second.  Gently slide your fingers between the skin and the breast, and loosen it up.

I got distracted trying to keep my arm out of the way and ripped the skin a bit, don't be like me, be careful!  LOL

Next, slide your fingers down the side of the breast and loosen the skin on the drumstick too.

Now comes the fun!  Melt a half stick of butter just until soft, mine got a bit too runny.  Now add a TON of the Creole or Cajun dry spice mix.  If you think you've added enough, add more.  Seriously, I bet I used about 1/4 cup.   Massage this between the meat and skin like so(yes, you get a video!):

So odd, none of us actually sound like we do in the vid!  That doesn't even sound like me or Rob or Mom!

Now, it should look like this:

Now dust on a very generous amount of that creole spice.  Yes, really, add more, trust me here!

It probably could have used twice this much!

After baking it should look like this beauty:

It was De-lish!

Hope I gave you guys another idea on how you can zest up your next bird!

If you feel like going the fried route, I HIGHLY recommend it!  Just be sure to dry that bird out with about a half of a roll worth of paper towels before you fry and you will be fine!

I'll fry mine next time, maybe Christmas, and Share the pics!

ENJOY!

Christy

THE BEST SWEET POTATO PIE

Sweet Potato Pie is what my boyfriend likes, he won't eat pumpkin pie. I personally don't think I could really tell the difference if I was blindfolded and given a bite of each and asked which was which. They both taste pretty similar to me. Anyway, since being with my boyfriend I usually get sweet potato pies since that is what he likes and it doesn't matter to me. Last year was my first attempt at making one and it turned out just ok. I wasn't impressed and neither was he, lol. So this year I went with a new recipe and I think I have a winner winner chicken dinner here! Here is what you need and how to make it:


Ingredients

• 1 (1 pound) sweet potato
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked DEEP DISH pie crust

Directions

• Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
• Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugars, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, flour and lemon juice. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.

First, you need to boil your potatoes. I started doing this and forgot to take pictures as I was going along, whoops! I just buy frozen pre-made crusts. They turn out just as good without all the headache of making your own. It's one of those things that I don't really have an interest in perfecting, I guess because I don't make enough pies to warrant it. Since I bought a two pack of crusts, I doubled this recipe.


After you get your potatoes peeled, put them in your mixing bowl with butter and mix them up. This smelled really good!



Dump in the rest of the ingredients. And give them a good mix. Pour mix into an unbaked pie crust.



My pies in the oven ready for baking. I place my pies on a cookie sheet to catch any spills, which I most definitely had. I usually line the pan with foil for easier clean up. I forgot to last night - oops!



You can see I fill my pies pretty full. When it cooks, the tops do puff up, but it doesn't cause the liquid to spill out over the sides too much, so I fill em up and try to use all the mix I made. The amount of mix can sometimes vary depending on the size of your sweet potatoes. Also, please note I use the deep dish crusts. Last year I only got the regular crusts and two potatoes made four pies. Which was too many for just my family. So unless you are bringing the pies somewhere and need several, I would go with a deep dish crust.

Also, to keep the crusts from getting to brown while cooking, when they reach the color I like, I put a large piece of foil over the tops of the pies. This keeps them from browning any more while baking. I just place the foil on the tops, don't press down or even try to get the foil "wrapped" around the pies, just lay it on top.





Take the pies out and let them cool on a wire rack. I taste tested some of the spillage from the pie on the cookie sheet and gave a bite to Little, who said "Good, tastes real good". When I tasted my little nibble, it really was good. Very sweet and tasty. I was getting excited that this recipe just might be "it".




So while the pie was still just a tad warm me and my son had some. It was really, really good. I thought it was sweet enough to NOT need whip cream, which to me has always been a problem with pumpkin pie, it needs whip cream to sweeten it up. Of course that didn't stop me and Little from topping our pies off with just a bit of whip cream! We actually even went back and had another slice each! What you see missing from the pie above is the damage just me and my 7 yr old son did to one pie.


As far as passing the boyfriend (Ricco) test - I think I got an "A". He says that I did a damn good job and even wants to be sure and save some to compare it with against his moms! He is off work today, so I am curious to see how much pie will be left by the time I get home tonight . . .

NON-TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING MEAL

Between my sisters and I and our boyfriends, husbands, etc, spending Thanksgiving with everyone can be difficult, so my Mom planned a Thanksgiving meal for this past Sunday. She decided to go with a non-traditional theme, on the menu she had:

• Brie with Apricot (or peach, can't remember) fruit preserves and toasted almonds
• Brisket
• Green Bean Casserole
• Roasted Potatoes
• Roasted Red Onion
• Rolls
• Italian Creme Cake

I just love this picture of Ollie looking up at Ricco.



If you see anything here you would like the recipe for, please let me know in the comments and I will post it up for you!


Thanks Mom - it was a great meal! Mom asked us if we would like to name one thing we were thankful for in the last year, and I would like to share what I have been thankful for.

I am thankful for my Mom! Without her, this past year would have been very hard on me, she has unselfishly helped me out even when it meant that she would have to do without things for her. Thank you Mom - I don't know where I would be without you! I love you!!!!