Cheesy Potato Casserole (made with cheesy, potato-y goodness)
32 oz bag frozen hash brown potatoes
1/2 cup melted butter/margarine
1 can dream of chicken soup
10 oz grated cheddar cheese
8 oz sour cream
dash of salt
1 small onion, grated
TOPPING:
2 cups corn flakes
1/4 cup margarine
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
TIP: Try to warm the hash browns a little to prevent the melted butter from hardening and becoming difficult to mix.
Mix all ingredients (except those for the topping) in large bowl. Place in large casserole dish. Top with cornflakes and remaining melted butter (1/4 cup under TOPPING).
Place in oven for 45 minutes. If dish is deeper, cook a little longer.
One of my other favorites is the infamous green bean casserole! Now, the recipe can be found on the back of a box/can of French's fried onions. It's really easy to do, but a tip to drain the green beans, if you got the easy-to-open cans with the little tab? Pop the tab, but don't pull it back yet. Hold the fan sideways so that the tiny slit is vertical and drain into the sink. Then open the can fully. It's easy, mess free, and quick. Also, use the 2/3 cup of French's onions in the main part of the dish, like the recipe says, but then pour what's left over all of the casserole for the topping (after having cooked for 30 minutes as instructed). More onions? More flavor!
My last favorite bit of Thanksgiving (and Christmas at my house) is the frozen, chocolate pie! Mmm. It's really easy and the recipe is inside the box of Baker's German Chocolate. I think it's the bittersweet or semi-sweet box. Here is the recipe copied and pasted from the website.
What You Need
1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER'S GERMAN'S Sweet Chocolate
1/3 cup milk, divided
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
Make It!
Microwave chocolate and 2 Tbsp. of the milk in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after each min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add cream cheese, sugar and remaining milk; beat with wire whisk until well blended. Refrigerate 10 min. to cool.
Add whipped topping; stir gently until well blended. Spoon into crust.
Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Let stand at room temperature or in refrigerator about 15 min. or until pie can be cut easily. Store leftover pie in freezer.
Next, soften the cream cheese... A LOT. This is the only reason I could see the milk helping. If you add the melted chocolate to cold cream cheese or even slightly cold cream cheese, it'll harden up again and become grainy. Doesn't affect the flavor, just the look of the finished product.
Last, but not least, I like the chocolate graham cracker crust, rather than Oreo (which is still tasty) or regular graham cracker. Regular graham cracker doesn't stick together well when you're trying to smooth out the filling. Trust me. I just ran into this problem today because that was the only kind of crust at the store yesterday.
I think that's it, though. Yep, that's it. Now go enjoy these on Turkey Day!
This is Kate Brown, signing off.
Stay random!!!
