Pam Kedl – Caminobleu

“When life is sweet, be thankful, and rejoice; but when bitter, be strong, and persevere.” — Matshona Dhliwayo

Autumn Leaves

Tomorrow I will make a storied mashed potato recipe. It originated with our dear friend, the irrepressible Sue Grant, who passed away in June 2024.

Recipe for Mashed Potato Casserole

4 cups mashed potatoes, butter (4 T up to 1 stick)

& milk (1/2 to 1 cup), salt and pepper

8 oz cream cheese

1 egg

¼ cup chopped pimento (don’t have, don’t add)

¼ cup finely chopped onion (or much more – I like onions)

Pour into 2-quart baking dish, which is greased

Dot top with more butter and paprika

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Note from Pam: Sue, help! I’ve lost your mashed potato casserole recipe, checked my completely disorganized folder, and it’s nowhere to be found. Wouldn’t you know, everyone in the country wants it for Thanksgiving because I’ve given the recipe to one half of the country and you to the other, and I’ve lost track of it. Please send it. Forgive me for losing it. Can I double the recipe? (Sunday 11/23/2008)

Note from Geoff: Sue says that the quantities aren’t all that important. Pimento and paprika are mostly for color. This dish is good, one of my favorites, but not a diet dish. Perfect for Thanksgiving. Having the actual recipe is so unimportant that Sue typically doesn’t use one or even remember the pimento. She adds way more onion than the recipe calls for. Modify however you wish.

Note from Linnea: When Sue and Geoff joined us for Thanksgiving in Albuquerque in 2012 with other Brookings folks (Joe and Signe Stuart, Terry and Ruth Branson, and many other relatives and friends), Sue made this recipe, introducing it to me for the first time. We’ve been making it for large gatherings and holiday dinners ever since.

If you read We Ran Away to Sea, you may recognize the names of our guests because they all appear in the book. Sue and her husband Geoff also joined us on a sailing adventure in the Virgin Islands in 2013. Recorded in vivid detail in this YouTube video.

Unfortunately, there are not many pictures, none of the whole group, and the quality is poor. We were having too much fun to take pictures.