Cheesy Potatoes

 Many recipes can be found online with various shortcuts, using frozen hash brown potatoes, cream of chicken soup and sour cream and of course, cheddar cheese. I don’t like the ingredients in many store-bought soups so I make this recipe basically from scratch. It’s not that much harder, but the flavor is much better. Enjoy.

This recipe is adjustable for two to 12 servings. It just depends on how many potatoes, and the ingredients you use. The one listed below is for a 9 x 13 size baking dish, which would feed 8 large or 12 medium servings. Just use half the ingredients for a 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Just you? Make it in a small baking dish and adjust the other ingredients accordingly. Can be frozen. Reheat by baking for 30-40 minutes at 350.

8 - 10 Yukon gold or yellow potatoes, Cut into hash brown size cubes. It’s best to fill your baking dish with the potatoes so you know you have enough. 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, (Half a stick)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste (I do not use salt Since the cheese has plenty)

1 cup Cheddar cheese cut into cubes

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cup chicken broth (I use my homemade, but store-bought will do)

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded 

Preheat oven to 375°.

As you cut your potatoes into cubes about the size of hashbrowns, add them to your baking dish to make sure you have enough potatoes. Remove the potatoes to a large bowl, wipe out the baking dish and grease the inside with butter or baking spray. 

On a stove top using a medium sized sauce pan melt the butter on medium heat. At this point if you’d like to add onions, Peppers, celery, or other add-ins of your choice, you can sauté in the Butter. We make ours plain. 

Stir in the flour, Letting it cook for a minute or two, Stirring so it does not burn. Basically, you are making a roux.

Pour in the chicken broth, stir well and add in the cubed cheddar cheese and the sour cream. Stir to melt the cheese and blend all the ingredients. You should have a slightly creamy, soupy mixture. It will thicken while baking. If it’s too thick, you can add some milk, to thin. Stir frequently to keep the cheese from burning on the bottom. 

At this point, you can pour the mixture over your potatoes and then put in your baking dish or put the potatoes in the baking dish and pour the creamy mixture on top of the potatoes.

Grease the backside of aluminum foil enough to cover your baking dish. Then cover the baking dish. 

Bake at 375° for 50 minutes. Remove the foil. Test a potato for doneness, I use a fork to pull out a piece of potato to check if it’s soft. Bake longer if needed. If potatoes are soft, cover with the shredded cheddar cheese and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer to melt the cheese until golden. 

Remove and let cool slightly because the potatoes will be very hot and bubbly.

Food - Norwegian Cookies

Norwegian Cookies

This is our family’s favorite Christmas cookie, although it can be made any time of year. I made this the first time in December 1985. At least that’s the date on my handwritten recipe card that we used to use back in the “olden” days. ;)

Ingredients 

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar (white cane sugar)
1 cup plus 2 Tbls. softened butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour 
1 tsp. Baking powder 
6 ounces chocolate chips

Topping

3 Tbls. Sugar 
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350°

You can mix by hand or use an electric mixture to make the dough. In a large mixing bowl beat together, the sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla until well mixed.

Add the flour and baking powder. Mix until combined then fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the dough into four balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a long rope. 

I use 2 rimmed baking sheets about 15 x 21 inches. Make the rope the length of your cookie sheet. Place two ropes per sheet placed evenly apart. Then using a fork, pat down crosswise down the length of the rope so the tines make slight idents across the width of the cookie rope. (See picture below). Mix the topping ingredients and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar liberally along the rope. The cookies will expand so put as much topping as you like.

Place in oven and bake for 10 to 13 minutes until lightly browned on the edges. Removed from oven. Let cool for about 15 to 30 minutes. Then cut on the diagonal while the cookies are still warm. Transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.