Squash Casserole

Well, we had the first real family Thanksgiving at our place this year, and it was great! I cooked for about 8 hours straight, but the end result was worth it!  Mom made turkey, cranberry-orange relish, and her EXCELLENT "ramshackle" mac and cheese (trust me, it's awesome!).  I made sweet potato souffle, stuffing, broccoli rice casserole, mashed potatoes, cornbread, Coca-cola cake, and an experimental squash casserole that ended up coming out wonderfully!  I made squash casserole last year from some random internet recipe, and couldn't remember what I put in it.  So this year, I started with Paula Deen's squash casserole recipe and messed with it until it looked tasty to me.  It went over very well, and it's officially being added to my Thanksgiving menu from now on!  It's very easy to put together, and it comes out as a cheesy, bubbly, savory dish. :)

Squash Casserole

8-10 small/medium yellow squash, diced (about 6 cups)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
8 oz. Shredded cheddar
1 large onion, diced
1.5 sleeves ritz crackers, crushed
1 stick salted butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
2 T. Olive oil
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. Freshly ground pepper

Cook squash and onion in olive oil over medium heat until squash begins to break down. Place squash and onion in a colander and squeeze out excess water. Mix squash and onion and all remaining ingredients, reserving a third of the cracker crumbs. Spread into greased 8x8 casserole dish and top with remaining cracker crumbs.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Smashed Sour Cream and Onion Potatoes

The hubby and I both had a hankering for comfort food today, so on the menu was Mom's Ramshackle-roni (her kick-ass mac and cheese), homemade coleslaw, fake chicken, and homemade mashed potatoes.

Last Thanksgiving I made mashed potatoes with Yukon Gold potatoes, and it was soooo good, so this time around I definitely wanted to use those.  The hubby requested sour cream and onion flavored potatoes, so, the Smashed Sour Cream and Onion Potatoes were born! These are SUPER easy to make, and taste fantastic.  I'm calling these "smashed" instead of "mashed," because we like our mashed potatoes with chunks of potato and potato skin; so, if you're not a fan of either of those things you will need to mash your potatoes a lot finer, and peel them after cooking.

Smashed Sour Cream and Onion Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed well

1 8 oz. container sour cream

1/4 cup salted butter

1/3 cup heavy cream

4 green onions, sliced

2 t. minced garlic

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Poke holes in all of your potatoes with a fork and microwave (all at the same time) for 8 minutes, turning halfway through.  The potatoes should be soft all the way through. In a mixing bowl, smash the potatoes with a potato masher until you have mostly mashed potatoes, with some chunks left.  Make sure to break up any big pieces of potato skin.  Add the heavy cream, the sour cream, the butter (in small pieces), and the salt and pepper and stir gently to combine.  Gently fold in the green onions and garlic. Serve with a pat of butter and enjoy!