My Children Made me This Way

As we finished clearing the table and putting leftovers into containers one of the very first thing D and F both asked was if I would make scalloped potatoes tomorrow with some of the ham. I love this recipe, it is complete comfort food to me, and one of the things that I know the Monsters will eat and I thought I would share.

Let me say however this is a family recipe, and I come from a long line of women who just put things together, and I don’t have exact measurements. How much you make and how many it will feed depends on the size of the pan you make it in. I learned to make it watching my two different Great Grandmothers, and then my Grandmother make it in warm cheery kitchens. Somehow my Mom never learned it. This was something that was made as the women in my family chatted and laughed and bitched in the kitchen, telling stories and cooking, and it was passed on by observation and nothing more.

Ruth and Adalaide’s Scalloped Potatoes

• Potatoes-sliced
• Large Onion-peeled and sliced thinly
  
• Leftover Ham-cubed or shredded
• cold butter-(1-2 sticks, margarine doesn’t work nearly as well.)
  
• Flour
• Parsley
  
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Milk (1 quart to a half gallon depending on how big your pan is)

1. Preheat your oven at 425°f. 
2. In an oven safe pan begin layering your ingredients as follows: potato, chunks of ham, onion, sprinkle with 2 tbsp flour, drop in 2 tbsp butter, a sprinkle of parsley, pepper, and garlic powder. Then start once more with the potatoes and continue to layer until your pan is full.
   
3. Pour milk over top until your pan is about 3/4th of the way full.
4. Cover your pan and put it into the over. I suggest putting a layer of foil under the pan as boil over is very likely to happen. Bake at 425°f until the milk comes to a boil. This takes 5-15 minutes, and personally I never catch it before the it starts to boil over.
5. When it comes to a boil uncover and reduce the over temperature to 350°f and bake 45-60 minutes, or until your potatoes are done (soft when poked with a fork.) and the top is lightly browned. 

And that’s it, the ham is usually enough but you might need to salt to taste. I tend to cook without it. There are lots of things you can vary, and we have over the years. You can use turkey rather than ham or even bacon, switch spices, even add cheese as it really is a great base to add flavors.  Both my Great Grandmothers where making variations of  this recipe on farms hundreds of miles apart in Clearfield, PA and Cazenovia, NY during the Great Depression with whatever was on hand. Just a toss together of simple country fair that has become a family favorite.  Enjoy.