Potato Casserole

This very yummy side dish was served at my hubby's 40th birthday party. It got many rave reviews! I'm posting this recipe for all the people who requested it. Thanks to Judy for sharing it with us.

1 pkg. frozen hash browns, thawed (cubed or shredded)

16 oz. sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 stick butter or margarine, melted

2 cups shredded Colby jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together all ingredients until mixed well. Pour into greased 13x9x2 inch pan. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until potatoes are tender.

Breakfast Banana Split

I mentioned in a previous post the cookbook our daughter got for Christmas.

This was the first recipe she wanted to make from it. Both the kiddos worked together to make these and have asked for them over and over.

Here's how you can do it, too!

1 banana
1/2 c. of your favorite crunchy cereal, divided
1/2 c. fruit flavored yogurt
1/4 c. blueberries or strawberries, sliced
1/4 c. pineapple chunks, drained
maraschino cherries (optional)

Peel banana and cut down the middle lengthwise with a butter knife.

Place banana in a cereal bowl or a banana split dish.


Sprinkle half of the cereal over the banana, but save the other half for sprinkling on top.

Spoon yogurt over the banana and cereal.


Add the rest of the cereal and fruit on top. Add cherries, if you like.

Lemon Mascarpone Cake

A friend's mom prepared this for us. It is her attempt to copy an Olive Garden dessert. It is VERY yummy!

White cake mix
1 whole egg
instant lemon pudding mix

Bake cake mix according to directions using only 1 egg and adding 1/3 box of lemon pudding mix.
Bake in two layers.

Filling:
**Mascarpone cheese (about 1/3 of small tub)
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 t. clear vanilla
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. of instant lemon pudding mix

Mix filling ingredients. Spread between cooled cake layers. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top of cake.


**Mascarpone cheese substitution:
Blend 8 oz. soft cream cheese with 1/4 c. heavy cream and 2 T. softened butter. Use 1/3 of this as substitution for mascarpone cheese in filling.

Valentine Pancakes

Our daughter was given the Gooseberry Patch cookbook, "Kids in the Kitchen" for Christmas. We have had fun reading the cute jokes, looking at the eye-catching illustrations and preparing the yummy recipes in it.

Our daughter's favorite breakfast is pancakes, and so on this Valentine's Day she asked if we could use the pancake recipe from her new cookbook. The recipe said to put the batter in a squirt bottle and use it to draw shapes, and letters. I didn't have a squirt bottle so I used the cake decorator tool.


We also used cookie cutters to make heart shaped pancakes.


Our daughter was thrilled with the results and was very excited to surprise her Daddy with this message.


Our son giggled at the happy face on his plate when he came to the table. He was also very excited when I gave him a pancake in the shape of his first initial.


In case you need it, here is the recipe for the batter. I liked this batter..it was not as runny as the one I usually use. This made it easy to use the cake decorator. It also made a very fluffy pancake.

1 egg
1/2 c. milk
2 T. butter, melted
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt

Whisk egg, milk, butter together in a mixing bowl.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and pour into the egg mixture. Stir just enough to wet the flour.

Pour batter into plastic squirt bottle or cake decorator tool.

Squirt batter into sprayed skillet or onto griddle over medium heat and draw shapes or letters.

Cook on one side until the bubbles stop popping. Flip and continue cooking briefly on the second side until golden.