Three Cheese Garlic Scalloped Potatoes

Potatoes are hit and miss in my house. One child loves anything potatoes. One likes baked. One likes them mashed. And the fourth one doesn't tolerate them at all. Except when they're prepared like this! This is slightly different than your typical scalloped potatoes but they're delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced**
• 2 TBS butter, divided
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease a 1 1/2 qt. or larger casserole dish with butter or nonstick spray.
2. Layer half of the potato slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Dot with half of the butter cut or pinched into small pieces. Arrange half of the garlic slices over the potatoes, then pour half of the heavy cream over. Sprinkle one cup of Cheddar cheese over the layer, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering of potatoes, garlic, cream and Cheddar cheese, then top with the slices of provolone cheese. Season again with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 1/2 hour in the preheated oven, then sprinkle the Parmesan or Romano cheese over the top. This will create a semi-hard cheese crust. Continue baking uncovered for another 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when tested with a fork.

**Not everyone is familiar with Yukon potatoes. This yellow skinned potato is fantastic because it is much less starchy than your standard russet potato. They have a third less starch and the flavor is very pleasant. Some grocery stores carry them infrequently, but I've noticed more and more are stocking them on a regular basis. If you can't find them at your local store, the standard russet potatoes will work, but use regular whipping cream in place of the heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream as it's sometimes called) because the excess starch from the russet potatoes will make this a very heavy dish to sit in your stomach!

Stawberry and Spinach Salad

One of my favorite restaurants serves a lovely grilled salmon with a salad that's topped with a strawberry vinaigrette. This isn't exactly that recipe (they don't use spinach), but it's really yummy!!

Ingredients

• 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 c. sliced strawberries
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1/4 c. white wine vinegar
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 2 TBS sesame seeds
• 1 TBS poppy seeds

Directions

1. In a large bowl, toss together the spinach and strawberries.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegars, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat.

Sweet Corn Cake

The secret to this is to not over cook it or under cook it. It needs to be juusssstttt right!

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/3 c. masa harina
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
• 1/4 c. cornmeal
• 1/3 c. white sugar
• 2 TBS heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions

1. In a medium bowl beat butter until it is creamy. Add the Mexican corn flour and water and beat until well mixed.
2. Using a food processor, process thawed corn, but leave chunky. Stir into the butter mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, sugar, cream, salt, and baking powder. Add to corn flour mixture and stir to combine. Pour batter into an ungreased 8x8 inch baking pan**. Smooth batter and cover with aluminum foil. Place pan into a 9x13 inch baking dish that is filled a third of the way with water.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven F oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Use an ice cream scoop for easy removal from pan.

**This is to keep it from burning. I use a Pampered Chef 8x8 stone to bake this, and it comes out perfect if I don't pull it out to soon.

Cocktel de Camaron

I have no idea if that's really the name, or if it's something someone made up. All I know is, I had something just like this many years ago when I was in Cancun. So I was thrilled to come across this recipe that tastes just like it!!! I know the ingredients sound odd, but I promise, it's delicious!

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 c. orange-flavored carbonated beverage
• 3/4 c. ketchup
• 1 (4 oz.) packet saltine crackers

Directions

1. Chop the shrimp into smaller pieces and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the avocado and cilantro. In a separate bowl, stir together the orange soda and ketchup until the foaming stops. Pour over the shrimp mixture and toss to coat. It should be soupy. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to blend the flavors before serving with saltine crackers.

Lemon Meringue Pie

My grandmother was a wonderful cook. Anything she made (yes really, anything) was delicious. I wish as I had gotten older, that I had been around her more to learn from her.

Grandmother made wonderful pies. In particular, everyone loved her Lemon Meringue. To this day, when the family talks about pie in conjunction with my grandmother, Lemon Meringue always comes up. I don't have her original recipe but this one is very good.

In loving memory of my grandmother,

Margaret D. Linton

Ingredients

• 1 c. white sugar


• 2 TBS flour (I use cake flour)


• 3 TBS cornstarch


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 1 1/2 c. water


• 2 lemons, juiced and zested


• 2 TBS butter


• 4 egg yolks, beaten


• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked


• 4 egg whites


• 6 TBS white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. very important -Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
3. To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

The making of the pie!