Scalloped, Funeral Potatoes

Well I volunteered to make funeral potatoes for the Relief Society dinner I was not going to be at because I had my Institute class. Well they asked me if I needed a recipe I said no I have a scalloped potato recipe that I will use. Oh, she said well then you do need a recipe because we want funeral potatoes. OK so I though everyone knew they were the same thing just a different shape of potato. I guess I was wrong.

Anyway just want to clear up somethings on the recipe. In "The Rawson Family Cookbook", page 35, the Scalloped Potato recipe is for a 9x13 pan and is cooked for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours depending on the oven and size of potato pieces.

Pie Crust

So Coralie told me and mom to come to a pie class with her, where we heard from "The Pie Lady", she makes about 4,000 pies a year. This is the easiest pie crust to make and work with, and it's SO GOOD!

Pie Dough

6 cups flour
3 cups shortening (she uses Butter flavored Crisco shortening)
3 tsp salt
Mix together with fingers until mixture resembles cornmeal.
Add:1 ½ cups water
Fold together to form soft balls of dough.

Dot the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar before baking.
Always bake pies on bottom rack.
Bake pies at 375 for 1 hour
Frozen pies need an extra 10-20 minutes

Makes 6, 2 crust pies

Easy Shepherd's Pie

So Shepherd's Pie is really just a fancy way of eating mashed potatoes and gravy with vegetables, but we like it.

1 lb. ground beef
4 cups frozen mixed vegetables - thawed
1 cup beef gravy (we use brown gravy)
2 cups hot mashed potatoes
4 oz. cream cheese - cubed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese - divided
2 cloves garlic - minced (most time I just use garlic salt)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Brown meat in large skillet. Drain. Stir vegetables and gravy into meat. Put into 9-inch square baking dish.

Mix hot mashed potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and the garlic until well blended. Cover meat and vegetable mixture with potato mixture.

Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake for 20 min. or until heated through.

Sweet Potato Casserole

I don't have a picture to share with you but I HAD to get this up before Thanksgiving so that you all could make it too. This is absolutely the best sweet potato recipe around! I don't even like sweet potatoes! I would never eat them at Thanksgiving but with this recipe I'll pile them really high on my plate and please let me eat them all year round!!! So try it out....even if you don't think you like sweet potatoes. This recipe makes them taste like candy!

3 Cups Sweet Potato - cooked and mashed
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Eggs - beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/3 Cup Sweet Condensed Milk

Mix and put in baking dish

Topping:
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Flour
1/3 Cup Butter
1 Cup Chopped Nuts - we like to use pecans

Mix topping well and sprinkle on top of sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes

Match Maker Cheesecake

I got this recipe years ago from a lady who said her husband married her because of this cheesecake...thus the name. It's so easy and so good! It even converted my husband into liking baked cheesecakes more than those chilled ones. But watch out, it's super rich!4-8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese

1 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 Tbsp. vanilla

CRUST:

1 c. graham cracker crumbs

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 Tbsp. melted margarine

(We usually double the crust.)

Combine crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a 10"-springform pan. Bake for 10 min. at 325 degrees.

Combine cream cheese and sugar; mix at medium speed until well blended. Add 1 egg at a time mixing after each addition. Blend in sour cream and vanilla. Pour over crust.

Bake for 10 min at 350 degrees then reduce temperature to 250 degrees and continue baking for 1 hour. Refridgerate 4 hrs. or overnight.

Mom's Oven Chicken

This is one of those recipes with no measurements. Be prepared to see a few of these. Peruvians aren't really into the whole measuring thing. =) We also usually do this with thighs. I don't know why. We just do!Sprinkle chicken with paprika, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Dust with flour. Do this to both sides. I do the bottom first and then the top to keep the top looking nice. Put in baking pan and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 min until cooked through.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Finally! I was beginning to think I'd never get around to posting on our blog and getting this started, but I made our favorite pancakes this morning and thought of the blog. So here you go! I got the recipe from America's Test Kitchen. You can sprinkle blueberries on them after you've poured the batter on the skillet but we usually have them just like this. Now take into consideration that this blog is for the RECIPES and not necessarily great pictures. =)

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 Tbsp. Lemon juice

2 c. milk

Mix and set aside or use 2 c. buttermilk if you have some handy.

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 large egg

3Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl to combine.

2. Whisk egg and melted butter into milk until combined. Make a well in center of dry ingredients in bowl; pour in milk mixture and whisk very gently until just combined (a few lumps should remain). Do not overmix.

3. Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat for 3-5 min. Brush with oil (or butter). Pour 1/4 c. batter on skillet (and sprinkle with blueberries, if desired). Cook pancakes until large bubbles begin to appear, 1 1/2-2 min. Flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side, 1-1 1/2 min. longer. Serve immediately.