Busy Birthday Cake Season

I like to make fun birthday cakes for my family, but have no formal training at all...unless you count my ex-husband's mother doing my first cake with me 15 years ago.  I guess that SHOULD count because she is amazingly talented far beyond anything I could do.  Anyway, August to January we have LOTS of birthdays around here.  Here are a couple of other cakes I did that I forgot to post.  Those of you that know my husband know that he LOVES to fish...so here's what he got for his birthday last month...

Katelyn turned 16 back in November and had a 50's themed murder mystery party (very fun, by the way).  It was about a 50's rock star, so of course there needed to be an electric guitar cake : )

I am thinking I will try a Valentine's cake next...Dave has a cousin that has a cake decorating business here in town and she offered to teach me some tricks : )

What to do with Leftover Ham? A Casserole, of course!

                                Baked Potato and Ham Casserole


Whenever I make ham (or any meat for that matter), I hate to see any of it go to waste...so I am always looking for ways to use it.  I found a recipe that actually calls for bacon, but I used ham instead (same thing, right?).  Then I changed things up a bit to make it my own.  SO EASY and YUMMY.

Ingredients:
5-6 large potatoes
Leftover ham : )
1 can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup of milk
2-3 cups of shredded cheese (divided)
1/2 Tbsp. minced dried onions
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
pinch of garlic salt (or more depending on your tastes)


Bake five large potatoes (I have one of those microwave potato-baking bags that my mother-in-law gave me...love it!).  Once they are baked, dice them and spread them out in a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Next, cut up your leftover ham and make a layer of that on top of the potatoes.

In a separate bowl, combine a can of evaporated milk, 1/2 cup of 1% milk (or whatever you have at your house), 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and then season to taste.  For seasonings I used about a 1/2 Tbsp. of  minced dried onions, a tsp of dried parsley flakes, 1/2 tsp. of black pepper, and a little garlic salt...maybe 1/2 tsp.  Once you have it seasoned to your liking, pour the mixture evenly over the ham and potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese (I used the three-cheese pizza blend) over the top, cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 or until heated through.  Seriously...I made this thing so fast and it was GOOD!  Enjoy!