One of my very favorite cookbooks is My Mother's Southern Entertaining by James Villas with Martha Pearl Villas. There are just a few pictures in this book and normally I like more pictures - less strain on my brain - but this tribute by James is filled with quotes from Martha Pearl - little tips and suggestions that make this a great read as well as a great cookbook. 
Martha's Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Chives is a favorite of ours and James had this to say about his mother's recipe:
"Mother is usually obsessed with using her favorite red potatoes for salads, stews, gashes, and the like, but when it comes to any form of saclloped potatoes that need plenty of starch for ideal texture, she settles for nothing less than genuine Idahos. And since fresh chives are gowing in profusion by graduation time, she livens up the classic dish with a least a quarter cup. So check these potatoes after about 40 minutes to make sure they don't dry out; the top should be crispy golden but the inside buttery soft." 
This recipe is not for those watching their waist...it's loaded with cheese and butter and finally....cream!
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Chives - Adapted from My Mother's Southern Entertaining
1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
3 pounds (about 6 large) Idaho potatoes
3/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups cream, as needed
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a large, attractive baking or gratin dish and set aside. In a bowl, combine the cheeses and chives and set aside. Peel the potatoes and slice them widthwise in very thin slices. Arrange an overlapping layer of potatoes in the prepared dish, sprinkle the layer with part of the cheese mixture, dot with a few butter pieces, and season with salt and pepper. Continue making layers with the potatoes, cheese mixture, butter, and salt and pepper until all used up, then pour enough cream around the sides to almost but not quite cover the potatoes. Bake till the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.
