I'm picking out a Thermos for you...

Last night for dinner I made Layered Tortilla Casserole with Guacamole (except I just realized this morning that I forgot the guac-I had a lot going on last night-oops!). The directions/amounts in this recipe aren't exactly descriptive/correct. 

-1 (4 oz-according to the recipe which would require some wacky form of math to get that much from 4 oz, but I needed, and luckily had, a 16 oz) jar tomato salsa (divided use)
-8 flour tortillas (divided use)
-2 (16 oz) cans refried beans
-1 c. shredded soy Monterey Jack cheese (divided use)
-1 ripe avocado 
-1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread a thin layer of salsa in a lightly oiled shallow baking dish. Arrange 4 or the tortillas on top, overlapping as needed.
2. In a bowl, combine refried beans with 1 c. of salsa (SEE?!), stirring to blend well.
3. Spread bean and salsa mixture over tortillas and top with 1/2 c. of the shredded cheese.
4.Arrange remaining 4 tortillas over cheese and top with layer of salsa. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top. Cover and bake until hot, about 30 minutes.
5. To make the guacamole, halve and pit the avocado, and spoon the flesh into the bowl. Mash the avocado with the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with casserole.
Makes 6 servings.

***My notes on this recipe: I'm hoping it was a misprint about the amount of salsa. 1 c.+extra out of a 4 oz jar? When I put the tortillas in the dish (I used my lasagna pan), I put one in each corner, and adjusted from there to cover the bottom. I hadn't worked with soy cheese before, but this stuff (I used Tofurella)was pretty darn good. It grated really easily. I ended up using more than the recipe called for because, well, I had it, and I ran out of salsa (someone had used part of the jar designated for this meal to go with his tamales) before the top layer. On the top layer of tortillas, I sprinkled a little bit of my Day of the Dead Habanero hot sauce (very good Christmas present), put one jalapeno slice on each serving, and sprinkled extra cheese. This was really good, but also very simple. It did lack depth, but as I said, was still good.

Next: Tonight's dinner- Chap Chae

All-in-all, as far as percentage of total entrees tasting delicious, I'd have to say this was my most successful holiday meal yet. Every dish received praise, especially the Twice-Baked Potato Casserole. I was really pleased with the way my Granny Doris' roll recipe came out.

Cola Basted Ham
-1 (8-10 lb; 1.5-2 lbs per person) ham
-2 (12 oz) cans Coca-Cola (this year I did Dr. Pepper-just as good!)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Rinse the ham and pat dry.
3. Place ham, fat side up, in a shallow roasting pan. Baste with some of the cola and cover with foil.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes per pound of ham, or until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140-145 degrees F. Baste with cola about every 30 minutes during cooking.

*My notes on this recipe: I love it! It's easy and delicious.

Spaghetti Squash
Squash:
-1 spaghetti squash (2.5-3 lbs)
-1/2 c. water

Herbed Butter Sauce:
-3 Tbs. butter, melted
-1/4 c. chicken broth
-1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
-1 tsp. fresh oregano leaves
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1/8 tsp. black pepper

1. Squash: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut squash in half lengthwise, starting at the stem end. With a spoon or melon baller, remove seeds. Places squash halves, cut-side down, in roasting pan. Add water. Cover with foil.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for an hour or until squash is fork-tender. Remove from oven, keep covered.
3.Herbed Butter Sauce: In glass bowl or measuring cup, combine butter and chicken broth. Heat in microwave on HIGH power for 1 minute. Remove thyme leaves and oregano from stems. Add to butter-broth mixture.
4. Using fork, shred squash into strands. Place strands in large bowl. Add sauce, salt and pepper; toss.

*My notes on this recipe: I HATED spaghetti squash when I was little-I've since changed my mind, even though the squash was a pain in the butt to cut in half. However, for just a little bit of effort, I was rewarded with a delicious side dish.


Twice-Baked Potato Casserole
-8 medium baking potatoes, about 4 pounds
-1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, at room temperature
-1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
-1 pint sour cream
-2 c. (1/2 lb) shredded sharp cheddar cheese (divided use)
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1.5 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp. pepper
-1/4 c. chopped chives, for garnish
-6 slices bacon, cooked crisp, drained and crumbled, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Pierce potatoes and place on baking pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until very soft.
2. Peel and mash potatoes in large bowl with potato masher or back of fork. Add cream cheese, butter, sour cream and 1 cup of cheddar. Stir well. Add garlic, salt and pepper, and stir again.
3. Spray a 13x9" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place potato mixture in dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate casserole until ready to bake.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 F, remove plastic wrap and bake casserole 30-35 minutes until hot. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese over casserole and return to oven for about 5 minutes, until cheese melts. Garnish with chopped chives and crumbled bacon before serving. Makes 10-12 servings.

*My notes on this recipe: I didn't use "baking potatoes"- I used 4 lbs. of Yukon Gold potatoes because I love them and they had a 'buy one 5lb. bag, get one free' deal at Albertson's. Also, I RARELY every use chives-98% of the time, I substitute the green ends of green onions/scallions and it works perfectly. It SAYS the chives and bacon are just garnish but they really added an extra little bit of deliciousness to the recipe.


Granny Doris' Hot Rolls
-3/4 c. sugar
-1.5 tsp. salt
-1 pkg. dry yeast 
-2 eggs
-2/3 c. soft shortening (Crisco)
-3 medium baking/mashing potatoes
-7.5 c. all-purpose flour

1. Scrub, peel, and cut potatoes into small pieces. Boil in a large saucepan until fork tender. Reserve 1.5 c. of the cooking water. Mash the potatoes very well (try to get all chunks mashed) to make approximately 1.5 c. mashed potatoes.
2. Mix water, sugar, and salt together in a very large mixing bowl. Add yeast. Then add eggs, shortening, and mashed potatoes. Mix flour in, one cup at a time, starting with a spoon, and when it gets more difficult to stir, by hand. Knead the dough until smooth and place in a large greased bowl. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
3. Pinch of small amounts and form into the roll of your choice. Let rise until doubled in size. 
4. Preheat oven to 400 F and bake until the tops of the rolls are lightly browned. Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for several weeks (be prepared for dough to continue to rise in the fridge-use a container that can hold it!).

*My notes on this recipe: Again, I used the Yukon Gold. If you have too many potatoes for 1.5 cups of mashed, save them for the Twice-Baked Potato Casserole, or just mash, season, and eat! I made my rolls into little balls, then put 3 little balls together to make a little 3-leaf clover looking thingy.