Talking About Real Housewives & A Funeral Potatoes Recipe
I love watching The Real Housewives franchises. Yes, I am one of those crazy freaks who likes to watch groups of women fight over stupid stuff ad nauseum. I also like when they go on girl’s trips, and go shopping and spend obscene amounts of money on stuff they don’t really need. But my favorite thing of all, is checking out all house porn on some of these franchises.
Some of these women live in crazy big mansions decorated to the hilt with expensive and often gaudy furniture, designer accessories, and overpriced art.
If you’ve ever turned on The Real Housewives of Orange County, you have probably seen Heather Dubrow’s 22,000-square-foot Newport Beach mansion, christened “The Dubrow Chateau.”
It’s so over the top, that the Dubrows had a towel-warming drawer installed in the main bathroom, a pinball machine hallway, 21-seat movie theater, and an actual champagne button in Heather’s primary bedroom closet that produces a bottle of the bubbly whenever “Fancy Pants” desires.
Heather and her plastic surgeon husband, Dr. Terry Dubrow, recently sold their castle sized home for 55 million dollars. It’s neat to see how the other half lives.
Then there’s one of the newer franchises, “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” They have an on again off again housewife named Mary Cosby, a church leader who is married to her late grandmother’s husband. It’s a long story, you have to Google it.
Mary and her grandpa-husband own several pieces of real estate. The only one we have seen on TV, is their huge Utah McMansion in all its gaudy glory.
It was on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, that I was reminded of a dish I had at a potluck supper a few years ago, called Funeral Potatoes.
The ladies were doing a pioneer party thrown by cast member Heather Gay and one of the dishes she served was this potato casserole made with hash browns and lots of cheese. It also gave me another idea for one of this year’s holiday side dishes to go along with the main course of either prime rib or pork roast.
Funeral Potatoes Recipe (serves 8 to 10)
Ingredients:
2 lb bag of frozen shredded hash browns
16 oz of sour cream
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 stick of melted unsalted butter
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (buy a block of cheese & shred it yourself)
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 cups of crushed corn flakes or Ritz Crackers (your choice)
6 tablespoons of unsalted melted butter
Preparation:
Defrost the hash browns in a colander so the moisture drips out. Dry hash browns with a paper towel
Preheat your oven to 350 and spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
In the prepared baking dish, combine: the 2lbs of defrosted shredded hash browns, 16 ounces of sour cream, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, 1 stick of melted butter, 2 cups of shredded cheddar.
Add the garlic powder, salt, pepper, and onion powder. Mix this all together well until everything is evenly combined.
For the crunchy topping – take the 2 cups of corn flakes OR Ritz Crackers (your choice) and put them in a ziploc bag and crush them up. I use a rolling pin to smash them on the counter.
Then sprinkle them on top of the potato casserole mixture.
Take 6 tablespoons of melted butter and pour over the crunchy topping.
Put the casserole into the oven at 350 degrees and bake for 55 to 60 minutes.
Let the casserole sit for a few minutes before serving.