Twiced Baked Potato Casserole

See Story Below. Theres no point wasted time reading a story about these potatoes when you could already be making them...

Twice Baked Potato Casserole
Recipe by Paula Deen

Ingredients:
* 8 medium baking potatoes
* 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 pint sour cream
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
* 2 gloves garlic, minced
* 1 1/2 teasp. salt
* 1/2 teasp. pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped chives for garnish if desired
* 6 slices bacon, cooked crispy and chopped into pieces

To Make:
* Pierce potatoes and place on baking sheet. Bake for 1 hr 15 mins at 350, until soft
* Peel and mash potatoes in large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese. Stir. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and stir again.
* Spray 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray and fill dish with potato mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.
* Heat oven to 350, remove plastic wrap, and bake casserole 30 to 35 mins.
* Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top, bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted
* Garnish with chives and bacon bits before serving.

Cheese Scalloped Potatoes

Finally, a sidedish that steals the show and puts the main dish to shame. I do not have a witty story to share with this recipe- I'm not going to waste your time with useless words when you could be in your kitchen making these NOW. The only thing I can say is that it worked perfectly for our 'Mock Easter Dinner' we had a few nights ago. Ham? Good. Green Beans? Good. Crescent Rolls? Good. Scalloped Potatoes? Amazing!

This original recipe is from Emeril Lagasse. Usually, I will admit, his recipes seem to intimidate me, but this one stands on its own with few ingredients, none of which are fancy, and all of which I had in my kitchen already! I did make a few adjustments, which I have noted below....

Emeril Lagasse's Cheese Scalloped Potatoes
(as found on FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup chopped onion (I omitted this so Alex would eat them)
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1 1/4 cup milk
* 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I used mild)
* salt and pepper
* 3 potatoes (scrubbed clean, peeled, and thinly sliced)

To Do:

* Preheat oven to 350
* Cook the onion in pan on medium-high heat with butter until tender. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.
* Whisk in milk and cook until thick and bubbly
* Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper
* Layer half of the sliced potatoes in a casserole dish. Cover with half of the cheese sauce. Add second layer of potato slices and top with remaining sauce.
* Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese on top
* Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.

Additional notes:

* Potatoes always take longer to cook in the oven than you think they will. I had to leave mine in the oven for almost an additional 30 minutes, and I sliced my potatoes fairly thin. After about half an hour, keep checking back on them- do not pull from oven until they are fork tender. Mine were a bit crispy, but Chris said they were just as they were supposed to be. Liar.

* We also, to add to our wasteline (our favorite activity), cooked up two strips of super thick cut pepper bacon in a seperate pan and chopped it to add to the cheese sauce and sprinkled some on top. This MADE the potatoes! Nothing like smokey bacon to pep up a dish!