I meant to post more immediately after starting this blog, but I decided I didn’t like the layout and in order to change it to this one I needed to upload a header picture then I just got to busy. So today I decided to get everything in order the way I want, and I hope everyone likes it.

How was your Easter, if you celebrate it? Do you have food traditions like Easter Bread or anything like that? We didn’t grow up making anything like that, just usually a ham, potatoes and a vegetable, and dyed eggs. So I made a spinach salad with golden tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and crumbled goat cheese ( there is a picture of it at www.facebook.com/MyCrazyKitchen). My husband had smoked keilbasa the day before, so we set it out as an appetizer with cheese and crackers. The main course was a half ham that I roasted with pineapple juice and brown sugar, roasted Brussels sprouts, cocktail shrimp, and the best scalloped potatoes I have ever had!

I’ve only ever made scalloped potatoes a few times, and although I knew what the ingredients are, I wasn’t sure how long to bake them for or at what temperature, so I went into my cabinet of cookbooks (yes, I have a kitchen cabinet full of them!) and saw this month’s Food Network Magazine. I ended up adapting their recipe titled Extra -Creamy Scalloped Potatoes. Here is what I came up with:

2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and slices 1/8 inch thick (we used a food processor for this)

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon dried nutmeg

salt and ground white pepper to taste

about 2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese ( I didn’t measure, I had no idea they would turn out so good I’d want to blog about them! Which is also why I didn’t take a picture.)

Whisk the cream, milk, flour, bay leaf, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a bowl. Put the sliced potatoes in a pot and pour the cream mixture over the potatoes. Cook over medium heat stirring gently until the cream comes to a simmer. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Once the potatoes start to simmer, continue simmering until they just begin to soften, about 5 more minutes.

Prepare a 2 1/2 quart baking dish by using a paper towel and about 1 tablespoon butter, rubbing the butter throughout the dish. Transfer the potato mixture to the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese over potatoes and bake, uncovered, until cheese is just beginning to brown.

This picture was taken almost a year later, and I want to thank Chris from FoodThoughtsOfaChefWannabe for helping me edit it. If you don’t know Chris, please check out her blog, she is AWESOME!!

These are definitely the best scalloped potatoes I have ever had! Everyone loved them. Try them out and let me know what you think!