It's a personal thing--Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes
The Boston Cooking School Cook Book Copyright 1896, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1912, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936

4 potatoes, pared, cut into ½-inch slices
Salt and pepper
Flour for dredging
1 tablespoon butter
Milk I used 2%

Put layer of potatoes in buttered baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and dot over with half the butter; repeat. Add milk until it may be seen through top layer; bake 1 ¼ hours in moderate oven (350 degrees F) or until potato is soft.
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Growing up my favorite meal was probably breaded pork chops and scalloped potatoes. I'm not quite sure what the appeal of scalloped potatoes was since it's a very plain dish but scalloped potatoes were without a doubt one of my favorite things to find on the dinner table (and generally they only appeared at Sunday dinner).

This is the first time I've seen a recipe for scalloped potatoes like my mother made them. I've made them myself at least once, way back when, but it was long enough ago that I didn't trust my memory. I was always hoping to run across a recipe that made them like my mother made them. I know, why not just ask my mother? Well, her memory is as bad as mine and it's possible she hasn't made them in a very, very long time. When we discovered Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes in a box, I think these scalloped potatoes may have been permanently retired (it's been years since I've had those potatoes in a box too).

Tasting these was very nostalgic. They needed more salt, and I wish I had whole milk in the house to use for this but otherwise that old familiar taste was there. It wasn't quite the same since I didn't have breaded pork chops along side them but maybe next time.

I still can't tell you what the appeal is. There's no cheese, very little butter and no other seasoning besides salt and pepper. It's a mystery to me. Since this is the first time I've come across this recipe, I'm thinking that maybe not too many people feel the same way about this type of scalloped potatoes.

Blast From The Past: Russian-Style Chicken Cutlets from August 2006. That was the recipe that reminded of another childhood favorite (which I have had since I was wee little), City Chicken. I still have to tackle that recipe.

Question of the Day: What were some of your childhood favorites?