Making a House a Home

Our church is having Homecoming this weekend. Homecoming is a time when old church members usually return to meet up with old friends and often hear a previous pastor. This year, however, Mr. U will be preaching- always a treat for me to hear him!!

After the service, we will have a covered dish supper. I am taking a chocolate cake (Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake) and a hashbrown casserole. I made the cake layers tonight and put them in the freezer and I will put the frosting (or "icing" for some of us) on the cake tomorrow night. A lady in our church owns a bakery and told me that it is easier to frost the layers when they are frozen PLUS the layers are more moist when they thaw. YUM! I've been doing it this way for years. People must like the cake because I never have any extra to take home with me!!

The hashbrown casserole is sooo easy and delicious!! I don't make it often, but when I do, it usually gets eaten quickly! I will put this together in my 9 x 13 pan tomorrow night. I pull it out to come to room temperature Sunday morning (about 45 minutes) and then bake it. I LOVE when I can prepare things ahead of time. Oh, and here's the recipe. It's always a crowd pleaser. My husband LOVES to have this with a big, juicy steak off the our grill.

Hash brown Casserole1 (32 oz) bag frozen hash browns
1 can cream of mushroom soup
12 oz grated American cheese
8 oz sour cream
½ cup chopped onion
1 tsp salt
2 cups crushed corn flakes
½ cup melted butter

Grease casserole, empty hash browns and smooth out. Mix soup, cheese, sour cream, salt and onion together and spread over potatoes. Cover with cornflakes and drizzle with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

(Just in case y'all wondered, NEITHER of these recipes are Weight Watcher friendly!! LOL!! But it IS a special occasion, right? )