Potato Casserole

 These are your run-of-the-mill "funeral potatoes".  If you want the recipe (I never use an exact recipe), email me.  I added ham to these to make it more of a main dish and I figured that if I was making enough for one, I might as well make enough for two!  I tried something new and used the Silpat to roast some veggies while simultaneously baking my casserole!  I had to take the veggies out earlier than the casserole, but it worked like a charm!  I covered the Tree Mold with foil and stuck it in the freezer for later.  When later came, I thawed it in the fridge and it was all ready for baking.

There's a story that goes along with those potatoes... We were at a cabin with some friends celebrating New Years and the potatoes were part of our New Years Eve dinner.  Lucky for us (haha), the power went out while they were in the oven.  I figured they hadn't even heated through so I just let them sit in the oven for ... I don't know how long it was... a couple hours?  Anyway, the power remained out but I decided to take the potatoes out of the oven so I didn't forget about them.  Guess what, the oven was cold, but the potatoes were still warm all the way through!  Partly because I hadn't opened the oven at all, but did you know that the woven glass in the molds help retain heat?  Your food will stay warm much longer in the Demarle silicone bakeware than in other bakeware.  So we were able to enjoy the potatoes after all.

The best part of my potato adventure...???  The mold was easier to clean than the serving spoon!

By the way, the Tree Mold was a customer special for Dec. 2010, so it's not in the catalog and is no longer available.