Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christmas With The Stauffer Clan

When the Stauffers get together, it's a clan. My Dad remarried when I was in high school, which added two stepbrothers to the mix. When I was 19, my Dad and Marsha took all 6 of us kids (all teenagers at the time) to California to visit Disneyland and all the other attractions. Dad was the first one up on the morning that we were going to Disney, acting like a child on Christmas morning. "Get up, Get up, we're going to Disneyland!". The trip was insane, but we all had a blast, and Dad wants to do it again. So today is Christmas with Dad and Marsha. There will be 22 people here for lunch. I have the ham in the oven, (smothered with apricot-pineapple jam) and my 18 quart roaster is filled with cheesy potatoes. It will be loud today, there will be wrestling, and I'm doubtful that we will have any leftovers. I hoping we can get away without anything getting broken, but as I said before, it's not a party at my house unless something gets broken. Add my Dad and brother together, and I'll be lucky if only one thing gets broken. My friend Amy keeps bugging me for my cheesy potato recipe. I'll give in, being that it's been a family favorite for 30 years. Cobbie was a family friend that passed away when I was young. Her potato dish was famous at church, and has lived on through many people. My mom always adds the chili's, and I switched the soup to cream of mushroom to make it vegetarian for my brother. When my Aunt Paulina makes this for Stauffer Sunday, she triples it and cooks it in her big roaster, and she always takes it home empty.

Cobbie's Cheesy Potatoes, Holly's version

16 oz bag frozen O'Brien potatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 0z sour cream
1 tbsp Johnny's seasoning
4oz can mild green chili's
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients together, place in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake, covered at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
To use as a main dish, omit the chili's and add two cups diced, cooked ham.

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