It’s time to talk all things funeral potatoes. Cheesy hash brown casserole has more names than any dish I know—funeral potatoes, hash brown casserole, cheesy hash browns, party potatoes, company potatoes, Cracker Barrel potatoes, hash brown baked potatoes, taco potato casserole, hash brown potatoes, company potato casserole, and many others. 

In addition to sharing our recipes and the stories behind them on this episode, I share everything from what the common ingredients are and how people change things up like adding taco seasoning or not using cheese, to how to prep, cook and store funeral potatoes, how to make them in advance, and how much to make for a crowd. 

For the last month or two, I’ve been asking you to share your recipe for funeral potatoes or hash brown casserole with me. Thank you, Kalli Reisetter, Aimee Bastian, Amanda Runia, Kathy Rasmussen, Betsy Ziegler, Marie Mergenthal, Heidi Thomssen, and Christianne Beringer for sharing your recipe with us. 

Recipes on this episode: https://randomsweets.com/9-cheesy-hash-brown-casserole-and-funeral-potatoes-recipes-one-is-cheese-free/

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My mother-in-law, Marie Mergenthal, is giving away her secrets for tangy dill pickle pasta salad, and the calico beans she is so well known for in the family. And if you like a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait, stick around because Marie has a recipe to make it at home in a 9x13 pan. I’ve posted photos and these recipes on randomsweets dot com. She also shares a funny story about a time I brought salted peanut chews to a long weekend family outing. After you listen to this episode, you’ll know why Marie once put up a Hippy Head Shop tent.

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Welcome to part 2 of our Gulf of Mexico getaway. This episode is all about the restaurants and delicious food we enjoyed while on vacation in Alabama’s Gulf Shores area this past February. My husband Jason and I share our top five meals and places to eat, like a smoked turkey sandwich, dry aged Delmonico steak, key lime pie, eggs Benedict atop a waffle, fried pickles and fried chicken, candied yams, Gulf grouper, fontina dip, and mac and cheese. Plus, we talk about the smoked tuna dip and a salad we want to recreate at home.

Although it was hard for us to rank our top five out of the more than 15 restaurants we dined at, our number ones ended up being the same, hands down, easy choice. A place that was such a memorable experience, we just knew we were in for something special from the time we called to make the reservation.

We don’t leave anyone out, so we include honorable mentions like the giant pepperoni pizza and the coffee shop we happened to eat at after we had to turn around and go back to the condo to get Jason’s swim trunks. Stick around to the very end and we’ll mention a few places we wanted to go to but ran out of time. Hopefully you’ve already listened to episode 16 when we talk about fun things to do while vacationing here. View photos and get the links on https://randomsweets.com/22-places-to-eat-in-alabamas-gulf-shores-area/

Website: randomsweets.com 

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Show Notes:

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii

Big Mike’s Steakhouse

Brookman’s Smokehouse

Calavera Tacos

Champ’s Nashville Hot Chicken

The Garden at Palafox & Main

The Gulf

The Hangout

Hope’s Cheesecake

Janino’s Pizza

Jesse’s Restaurant

Moe’s Original BBQ

Ole River Grill at Flora-Bama

Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen

Picnic Beach Bar and Grill

Pink Pony Pub

Pollman’s Bake Shop

Punta Clara Kitchen

Scoops Ice Cream

The Southern Grind Coffee House

Spot of Tea

Sunliner Diner

Sweet Cone Alabama 

A Sweet Secret Café & Bakery

Tacky Jacks

Waffle House

Yearn for a sugary soft, white sand beach vacation, but prefer a destination within the United States? You’ll find unforgettable spring break fun, romantic getaways, activities with the kiddos or teens, snowbird adventures, or time away with your friends in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Alabama. Located on a 32-mile stretch of beach along the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay, Gulf Shores and Orange beach Alabama straddle Florida at Perido Key. Southern hospitality is in season all year long, while pine and palm trees wave in the salty sea air.

In this episode, you’ll learn about a few fun places to go to, the ferry you’ll want to take for a quicker trip to Mobile, four iconic bars to drink at and the Airbnb where we stayed. After listening to this episode, you’ll know which town we want to move to, and why I will forever refer to the Waldforf Astoria as the Waldorf Hysteria. And although we leave our top five favorite Gulf Shores dining experiences to the next episode (Episode 17), Jason reveals where he ate the best banana pudding, even though it was in Florida. 

Show Notes

I'm working on an episode for April and I want your funeral potatoes or cheesy hash brown casserole recipe. Please email it to [email protected]. Thank you!

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Imagine, it’s Saturday afternoon and you’re craving something sweet and homemade. But you want something quick and easy, and you don’t feel like running to the store.

I’m sharing the ingredients I keep on hand for a few fast and simple recipes that you can bake (or no-bake) on a whim.

From sweet and savory caramel corn chips for a night of Netflix, popcorn and a cozy blanket, a giant chocolate chip skillet cookie you’ll eat hot out of the pan, to Reese’s peanut butter cup poppers that start with a cookie pouch mix, to starting your Sunday morning with fresh-baked butterscotch muffins or pistachio cake with a sweet glaze, get all the recipes in today's episode on randomsweets.com.

Show notes:

Get all the recipes in today's episode on randomsweets.com

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My friend Jill Coene joins me on this episode to share her love of the Midwest, the three restaurants she's sure to eat at when she's back in Brookings, South Dakota, her family’s favorite recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers galette, French toast casserole, and snickurtle pie (a mash-up that tastes like Snickers candy bars and no-bake turtle cheesecake), plus, what she’s discovered about macaroni salad living on the East Coast. All recipes available on Randomsweets.com.

Show Notes

Mail your funeral potatoes or cheesy hash brown casserole recipe on a 3x5 recipe or index card. By sending it to me, you agree that I can use the recipe and your name on an upcoming episode of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens.

Staci Mergenthal

1614 130th Street

Verdi, MN 56164

Randomsweets.com

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My husband Jason joins me in this episode as we share a few of our favorite experiences in the Phoenix and Tempe Arizona area this past January.

From the strawberry cocktail on our hotel rooftop bar and the biggest breakfast burrito I've ever seen, to memorable Mexican food in Scottsdale, to the buffalo wings Jason has been talking about for years and the burgers at a place he assumed was long ago swallowed up by redevelopment around the ASU campus—we talk about it all.

Even the place with amazing philly cheesesteak sandwiches and shuffleboard, and this isn't your Love Boat shuffleboard.

Stick around for the last five minutes or so because we share the nine (new to us) products we discovered when we went to two Trader Joe's in one day for hotel snacks. My new favorite everyday wine is included on this list.

Show Notes

Mail your funeral potatoes or cheesy hash brown casserole recipe on a 3x5 recipe or index card. By sending it to me, you agree that I can use the recipe and your name on an upcoming episode of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens.

Staci Mergenthal

1614 130th Street

Verdi, MN 56164

Randomsweets.com

Cartel Roasting Company

The Chuck Box

Daily Jam

Desert Botanical Garden

Devil’s Advocate (formerly Maloney’s on Campus)

Hyatt House Tempe

Los Sombreros

Mullett Arena

Papago Park (Hole in the Rock)

Philly’s Sports Grill

Piestewa Peak

Postino Annex

Romancing the Bean Coffeehouse Café

Six40rty

Snooze An A.M. Eatery

Sol Diablo Cantina (Rooftop bar at Hyatt House Tempe)

Sun Devil Stadium Tours

The Vine Tavern & Eatery

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Because my favorite birthday cake frosting is a recipe my mom has made for many of my 50 birthdays, I asked her to share her cocoa fudge cake and snow frosting, also known as 7-minute frosting, recipes. I was surprised to learn that both recipes came from her mom, my grandma Janet, when my mom and dad got married in 1969. We walk through the steps to making snow frosting, and how humidity affects the outcome. And it was never a birthday party without my mom's barbecue meat on white buns. Since there isn't a written recipe, she had to write it on a sticky-note for me.

Show Notes

Mail your funeral potatoes or cheesy hash brown casserole recipe on a 3x5 recipe or index card. By sending it to me, you agree that I can use the recipe and your name on an upcoming episode of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens.

Staci Mergenthal

1614 130th Street

Verdi, MN 56164

Randomsweets.com

Watkins clear vanilla

Website: randomsweets.com

Instagram: @potatoesandmittens

Instagram: @randomsweets

Facebook: Random Sweets