Creamy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Confession time.  We have eaten out almost every supper (supper is the Frozen Tundra word for evening meal) for over a week.  My excuse is hockey games that fall during the evening meal, a father-in-law that likes to eat out and is lonely and we can't say no to him, and then our small group had a meal together.  So it has been awhile since I've had to the opportunity to make a meal.  And oh does a home-cooked meal taste good!

For our Super Bowl meal, the boys (The Husband and Kidlet Three) voted on Creamy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham.  An old Betty Crocker cookbook of mine has the best recipe for this casserole.  In fact, in the margin of the cookbook I'd written "Very Good" with at least three exclamation points several years ago. 

For some reason I was intimidated by "Scalloped Potatoes" for years.  Probably because my mom's recipe was so good and I didn't want to disappoint myself with some failure.  Thankfully I found the following recipe, which may in fact be the same one my mom follows!  Don't be intimidated, give this recipe a try!

2 pounds potatoes
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 T. butter

Heat 3 T. butter in saucepan over low heat until melted.  Blend in flour, salt, and pepper.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.  Stir in milk.  Return to heat until boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.

I used turkey ham and cut into cubes, about 2 cups worth.

Slice potatoes.

Pour about 1/2 cup white sauce into the bottom of a greased 2-quart casserole.

Layer on potatoes and ham.
Cover that layer with more white sauce.

Continue layering ending with sauce.
Dot the top with 1 T. butter.  (Second confession of this post:  I used a whole lot more butter to "dot" the top.  Paula Dean would love me).

Cover and bake 30 minutes in a 350-degree preheated oven.
Uncover and cook 60 minutes more (or until potatoes are tender).

Since I was in a slicing mood, I thinly sliced carrots and steamed them in water and another 1 T. of butter until they were crisp-tender.

Our meal consisted of carrots, apple slices and lots and lots of Creamy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham.

It must have been an amazing meal.  There were NO leftovers!  Or maybe it was because everyone was so happy to have a home-cooked meal.