Quick and easy, these scalloped potatoes are a marvelous side dish. My personal favorite is pairing the potatoes with either grilled beef or chicken. Since there is no milk or cream, butter bastes the potatoes as they cook for a yummy flavor.

9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

1 Idaho potato per person

1/2 stick butter or maragine

Real Black Pepper bacon bits (or make your own)

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Optional: chives, chopped onion, cheese

Thinly slice potatoes and place in baking dish. Add as many bacon bits and optional items as you would like.  Add Sea Salt and pepper. Add butter. If you are cooking a large amount, adjust butter as it is the only liquid (once melted during cooking). Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

While I’m certainly no Julie of Julia and Julie movie fame, I do enjoy cooking my way through a fun cookbook. My latest venture is Weight Watchers From Pantry to Plate picked up for $1.50 in excellent condition at Goodwill a month ago.  Not one to leave well enough alone, I adapted the Cucumber-Orange Salad to give it a bit more crunch.

Orange Cucumber Salad
1 large orange, juiced
1/2 lemon or lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, minced (if you love garlic, feel free to add more!)
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
Sea Salt to taste

Combine in a bowl and stir.

1 orange peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cucumber peeled and diced into small pieces
1 mini sweet red pepper diced
1 mini yellow pepper diced
1 mini orange pepper diced
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup diced red onion

Toss with dressing and serve.

This spring salad is marvelous with grilled chicken and fish. In fact, From Pantry to Plate doubles the liquid recipe and uses 1/2 for a marinade and 1/2 for the salad. The burst of citrus with the crunch of veggies makes it a salad that will be making many return appearances this spring and summer.

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A new restaurant opened up this summer near us, The Diner at Sugar Hill.  A favorite side dish of mine is their lemon potatoes. While their potatoes reign supreme, this copy-cat version comes very close.

As workout guru Denise Austin says in her commercials for Idaho potatoes–they are healthy and just 150 calories. Of course that’s plain and we all know plain potatoes just don’t cut it. Lemon potatoes are surprisingly simple and yes, healthy when you consider there is not a pound of butter in the recipe. The lemon adds a brightness and complimentary flavor that makes them unique. Lemon Bright Potatoes go great with chicken, beef, and pork–love them with citrus pork.

Lemon Bright Potatoes

3 to 4 baking potatoes (I allow one potato per person), Extra-virgin olive oil, 1 lemon, Sea Salt, fresh cracked pepper.

Peel potatoes. Cut each potato into four wedges.

Place in baking dish. Toss in olive oil, sea salt, and pepper to taste. Squeeze juice of one lemon over potatoes and toss again.

Reserve lemon halves. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees until soft. If you like them a bit crispy, uncover and bake. Remove from oven and squeeze lemon over potatoes again (there’s always a bit more juice left) and toss before serving.

I thought this poll was funny that I saw about holiday food on AOL.

I narrowed it down to traditional Thanksgiving foods.

Least favorite Thanksgiving food in no particular order:
a. dry turkey
b. lumpy mashed potatoes
c. giblet gravy
d. stuffing with weird stuff in it
e. too-fancy cranberry sauce

I’m going to go with “d” with “c” running a close second!

Strange crunchy, unidentifiable items are what stress me most when I eat any casserole-like item. I must be able to identify all items in the dish and I do not want any surprises. Here’s the dressing I love, love, love:

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Sherra’s note: I use a two boxes of Jiffy

cornbread and add two to three tablespoons of sugar to dry mix, then follow box directions and bake. I then put

cooled cornbread in gallon ziploc bag and crumble. I make and bake this a day or two before Thanksgiving and then reheat on Thanksgiving Day. I omit the onion and used minced onion instead. And of course, I omit the celery – it’s green and crunchy!

4 cups crumbled cornbread
3 or 4 pieces bread or biscuit, crumbled
2 cans Swanson chicken broth (13-3/4 ounce)
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the cornbread and chicken broth; allow to soak. Add the onions, celery, and eggs, mixing thoroughly. Add the melted butter. Place the mixture in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350º oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Serves: 8

Recipe from: Shellmont Bed and Breakfast Inn, Atlanta, Georgia

Favorite Leftover:

Potato Cakes

My husband takes leftover mashed potatoes and makes Potato Cakes. Basically these are fried mashed potatoes. Oh what a surprise that we all like these.

There’s no official recipe.

Simply form the cold mashed potatoes into patties (about the size and thickness of a hamburger patty) and dredge in flour. Melt several tablespoons of margarine and put the potato cakes in the hot skillet. Cook on both sides until golden brown.

*****

Happy, happy Thanksgiving!

What’s your least favorite Thanksgiving food? And what’s your favorite leftover?

Sherra Humphreys
http://sherralifelesson.com/

Loi Palmer, 2007 MMCW
9 Idaho baking potatoes peeled and quartered, 12 oz. sour cream, 1 stick butter, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup milk or more if needed depending on how thick you like your potatoes. 1/2 package of dry Ranch dressing.
Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Pour off the water. Whip the potatoes with a mixer, adding all the above ingredients. Serve warm.

Loi Palmer
4 teaspoons butter, 2 cans condensed Cheddar cheese soup, 1 cup milk, 1 (8 oz) cream cheese, 2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese, 6 cups cooked elbow macaroni.

Melt butter over medium heat in large sauce pan. Add onion, saute for 2 minutes until tender. Whisk in soup, milk, cream cheese and half of cheddar cheese, stirring just until cheese melts. Stir in macaroni and pour into casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Loi Palmer, June 2005 MMCW
Using a fork, puncture each potato in a few places. Rub each potato with oil and salt then wrap in foil. Bake in the oven. Top with your favorite toppings.

Loi Palmer, July 2005 MMCW
1 large can baked beans,  1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 tablespoon spicy mustard, 1 small can pineapple rings, five slices of uncooked bacon. Stir brown sugar, ketchup, and spicy mustard into the baked beans. Pour into a 9 x 13 glass dish. Top with pineapple rings and bacon slices. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Loi Palmer

2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cubed, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup fresh grated ginger root, 1 stick melted butter, 1 tablespoon cardamom, 1 teaspoon black grated pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cubed sweet potatoes, fresh ginger, cardamom, honey, black pepper, and melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Spread sweet potatoes single layer, on a large baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. This is a different twist to the traditional candied sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving.

Loi Palmer, November 2005 MMCW
8-10 medium red potatoes–skin on, 1/2 cup hot milk, 1 stick butter, 1/2 cup sour cream, salt and pepper to taste.

Slice potatoes. Cook in boiling water for 15 mintues or until potatoes are tender. With an electric mixer whip unpeeled potatoes with hot milk, butter, and sour cream until desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. Don’t worry about a few lumps.