Creamy Herbed Potatoes (from The Pioneer Woman)

As promised, here is the recipe for the Creamy Herbed Potatoes that I had at the party. Some people had 3-4 helpings. They are good! You must make these.

Creamy Herbed Potatoes
4-5 whole Russet Potatoes
1 stick butter
1 whole medium onion, finely diced
8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary (I used dried)
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley (I used fresh and used 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon finely chopped chives (I used green onions)
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped sage (I used dried)
Parmesan cheese, grated (about 2-3 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice potatoes very thinly. Add butter to a skillet over medium low heat. When melted, add diced onion. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cream cheese to the pan and stir to melt. Pour in cream and half & half, stirring to combine. Season with plenty of salt and pepper, then add chopped herbs. Place potatoes in a buttered baking dish. Pour sauce over the top. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and bake for 45 minutes, or until bubbly. Allow potatoes to sit 15 minutes before serving.

Party Follow Up and Public Service Announcement

It has been a little while since I have written but, there is a very good explanation. It's not that I don't have anything to say, that never happens. The reason....well, that brings us to the public service announcement. The day before the party, I was using a mandolin to thinly slice potatoes. The safety part didn't work very well when the potatoes were whole so, in the beginning, I wouldn't use it and as the potato got smaller, I would start using it. BIG mistake. I took a big slice off my thumb. OUCH!!!! After an hour of pressure, we were able to bandage it. My DH ended up having to do a lot of work for the party. He is sooooo sweet! Luckily, I had finished making many of the more time consuming things and had most of the cleaning done. You never realize how much you use your thumb until you can't use it. It has now been a week and it is well on it's way to healing although is still pretty painful and part of it has yet to grow a new skin covering.

So, the public announcement is:

WHEN USING A MANDOLIN, USE THE SAFETY PART!!!!!!!

Overall, the party was a hit. The food was good. The hit of the dinner was the creamy herbed potatoes (one of The Pioneer Woman's recipes). It's butter, onion, garlic, cream cheese, heavy cream, half and half, rosemary, parsley, thyme, sage, potatoes, and cheese. It is rich and delicious. I will post the recipe in the next couple of days.

Not sure if I am coming or going?

If someone sees my mind running around, let me know as I think I've lost it. Actually, right this very second, I think everything may come together (though it could be a fleeting feeling). We are having 20 people for dinner on Thursday night. I am excited about it. I just sent my DH to the grocery store 30 miles away for a good ham (we really don't have any good ones here, he looked and agrees). I realized that we don't have enough seats for everyone to sit so I asked him to pick up some new folding chairs also.
At this point, the menu is as follows:
Baked Ham
Creamy Herbed Potatoes (from Pioneer Woman)
Green Beans with onion and garlic
Parker House rolls
Applesauce
Pineapple Stuffing (from Cooking with Joey)
Vegie tray with dip
A few other random appetizers
and cookies (which I need to bake right now).

I have wrapped our secret santa gifts plus a few little extra things. I will try to get some pictures and post them on Thursday. I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season so far!