Happy Easter (again)! April was
kicked off to an eggcellent start (sorry, couldn’t help myself) with lots of
celebrating-with-food this past holiday weekend. I
practically lived in my kitchen Saturday and Sunday cooking up way too much
food, leading to way too much eating…and we still have way too many leftovers!
Saturday I whipped up a red velvet Easter cake & cupcakes
(courtesy of Mrs. Betty Crocker – I totally cheated) and had fun playing with
NEON food coloring!! Between dyeing the frosting
and then eggs, my kitchen was practically a rainbow when I was finished…I’d
like to take this opportunity to thank my good friend, The Magic Eraser, for the
clean-up help…
 |
| Easter eggs & cupcakes |
 |
| Easter Cake |
Sunday I whipped up a whole smorgasbord of feel good foods - I baked my first ever ham-with-the-bone-in (this former vegetarian did NOT know what she was missing! Yum!), mashed sweet potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, sautéed kale and made-from-scratch scalloped potatoes (a first!).
I found this really great, super easy scalloped potato recipe I
want to share with you:
Ingredients:
4 cups thinly
sliced potatoes
3 tablespoons
butter
3 tablespoons
flour
1 1/2 cups
milk
1 teaspoon
salt
1 dash
cayenne pepper
1 cup grated
sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated
cheese, to sprinkle on top
Paprika
Directions:
In a
small sauce pan, melt butter and blend in flour.
Let
sit for a minute.
Add
all of cold milk, stirring with a whisk.
Season
with salt and cayenne.
Cook
sauce on low until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally with a whisk.
Reduce
heat and stir in cheese.
Place
a half of the sliced potatoes in a lightly greased one quart casserole dish.
Pour
half of cheese sauce over potatoes.
Repeat
with second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
Sprinkle
the remaining cheese on top.
Top
with some paprika for color.
Bake
uncovered for about 1 hour at 350°F.
 |
| photo courtesy of food.com |
These
came out very delicious – my only caution would be to take your time with
forming your butter/flour/milk roux. I
made mine a bit too thick and needed to thin it back out with milk, which may have
compromised the quality of the dish a bit (I can be a very impatient cook!).
Overall,
it was a VERY successful Easter meal. Check
back next week for a TBD soup recipe using ham leftovers!
Feel
good!
Alycia
