Pineapple-Cheese Casserole

A very southern thing...

Layer in order:

Large can chunk pineapple, drained (save the juice)
3/4 cup sugar and 5 Tbsp. flour--mix well and sprinkle over pineapple
dash about 5 Tbsp. juice over sugar/flour mixture
add 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
1 tube crushed Ritz crackers
melt about 1/2 stick of butter and pour over crackers

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

Thanksgiving 2009

This year's menu:
Turkey
Turkey gravy
Quadruple-Bypass Mashed Potatoes
Walt's Mushroom-Wine Gravy
Jalapeno-Cheese Cornbread
Dressing
Corn Casserole
Pineapple-Cheese Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole
Buttermilk Pie
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Katie's Jalapeno Dip

Scott and I made the turkey, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cornbread, jalapeno dip and cheesecake - the other offerings were made by friends that attended our dinner celebration.

Our turkey was 16 lbs. and Scott baked it with rosemary under the skin.

The Mushroom-Wine Gravy is a repeat from last year, an adaptation of my Uncle Walt's recipe. I didn't quite do things in the right order this year, but it was still quite tasty and we have lots of leftovers!

Quadruple-Bypass Mashed Potatoes
(so named because there are four heart-stopping additions to the potatoes - butter, goat cheese, cream cheese and sour cream)

I based my quantities on enough for 8 people - calculated at one and a half potatoes per person.

12 Idaho baking potatoes
11oz log of goat cheese
6oz sour cream
8oz butter
1 pkg cream cheese (I used neufchatel)
Salt to taste

Set butter, cream cheese and goat cheese out to soften.

Rinse and peel potatoes, dice into 1.5 inch cubes and place in large cook-pot. Add just enough water to cover and boil on med-high until potatoes are soft when poked with a fork.

Drain potatoes in a strainer and transfer to VERY large mixing bowl. Add softened butter, goat cheese and neufchatel or cream cheese. Mix with hand mixer just until blended. Add sour cream and mix again just until combined. Salt to taste.

This made a HUGE bowl of mashed potatoes, but they were GONE by the end of the day.