What do you like on your Baked Potato?

What do you want on your baked potato?

When we go out to eat at a nicer style place to eat, there is usually a choice of potato. Sometimes chips, fries, wedges, seasoned fries, waffle fries, and then there is the glorious baked potato. The server usually ask, would you like butter and sour cream with that?

Yes please, is my usual response. Sometimes you can even get bacon on it, chives, or parsley. But in the restuarant you are not going to get much more of an option. I think it was a fast food place that offered baked potatos with cheese, brocolli, chili, and anything else, I am not sure. I go to one restuarant here in town that has a loaded baked potato. They claim it is a one pound monstrosity and comes loaded with cheddar cheese and Applewood-smoked bacon for an extra fee. I usually eat it when I go there because it is still less expensive than most things and filling as well! It is pure comfort, add a cup of soup and it is a very fulfilling meal. (By itself it is a meal also) The cost of a potato makes it an economical choice for any household.

When I managed the steakhouse in IL, we had baked potatos and also a special option of a baked sweet potato. Loaded with butter and brown sugar and dusted with cinnamon, I have even seen them offered with a bit of whipped cream to top them off. (HEAVENLY) I am not sure which I prefer? Leftover potatos were the reincarnated in other dishes: Cow Chips, Fried Tators, Potato Soup, stew, etc.

But the simplicity of the baked potato wins out more days than not. I can microwave one in about 5 minutes: wash it, wrap it in wax paper, and then put it in the microwave for 5 minutes, turning halfway thru cooking. My daughter aptly pointed out the other night that her mother does not wrap her potatos. I told her it was not neccesary but I prefered to wrap mine to keep the skin moister. If you have to do several for a large group you can always place them in a 400 degree oven for 40-50 minutes or so depending on their size. Wash them and then I will rub them in oil to make them shine and dust them with sea salt for added flavor. You can wrap them in foil and even cook them on the Grill outside while grilling other foods.

Now they are ready to eat, so I return to the question, What do you want on your baked potato?

Keep in mind the potential is unlimited: Butter, sour cream, chives, cheese (shredded or sauce),alfredo sauce, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, feta, tomatoes, green peppers, pizza sauce, onions (fresh or saute'd), bacon, brocolli (any veggie you like), chili, pulled pork, steak, shrimp, chicken, sausage, chopped pepperoni, ham, philly cheese steak toppings??? If you like it, you can try it!

A baked potato is the ultimate in comfort food, it can be like life at the core, simple. Simple you say! Come on do not laugh, we all are born and we all must die, how can it get any simpler than that? Sure in between birth and death, there is life to be lived, when we are younger we attend school, as we age, we have to find jobs, pay taxes and other bills, but what we add to our lives adds flavor and makes it what we enjoy! So again I ask, "What do you like on your Baked Potato?"

Responses to question:

surfergirl from California: These 3 toppings make it ideally delish for me.. Butter, sour cream, & chives RT @skipsrecipebox

CookingAsshole from Portland OR: @skipsrecipebox sour cream, cheddar cheese, chives/garlic spears, and bacon....

LJ from IL: i like...bacon..real bacon..not bacos...cheese...sour cream...and butter...salt...pepper... I like chili n cheese sometimes too… and broccoli n cheese.

joykeepin from TX: @skipsrecipebox chives, and butter :)

Add your topping choices to the comments, thanks!

I Think I Will Have Dessert!

How many times do you finish a good meal and the server or host/hostess would ask, "would you like some dessert?"

Whether it is a family dinner, date, church or community social there seems to always be plenty of desserts on hand. There is cake, pie, candy, brownies, and fresh fruit. We like the sweet things in life.

Fresh fruit seems to be one of those things that we can not wait til summer for. I can remember as a kid growing up on the farm in Illinois and my father and I would go out to the "40 acre" wood and he would show me all kinds of things to be found there.

There was asparagus, mushrooms, and the glorious beautiful ripe blackberries! Unlike the asparagus and mushrooms the blackberries could be picked and consumed right off the vine. But beware!!! Beware there were briars and stickers and they were not easy to claim but oh so sweet when you popped one into your mouth.

I think we would eat more than we claimed and placed into our buckets???

Once picked we would take them back to the house, gently rinse them, and we could do many different things with them: Freeze for later use, bake a blackberry cobbler, blackberry pie, blackberry wine, and blackberry jam.

But my favorite was once they were washed to place a lil' sugar on them let them rest on the kitchen counter and produce juice. Then after dinner get out the the ice cream freezer (if we were lucky) or go to the 'fridge and get the store bought ice cream out and serve heaping bowls of ice cream smothered in those beautiful sweet delicious berries....

Seems life is like that...

As a person we head out into the wild woods (world) and like '40 acres' to a young kid it seems pretty large. There are many things there to find: adventures, rabbits, pheasants, trees to climb, creeks to play in, hills to climb, turtles, and snakes!

There was treasure to be found, countries to conquer, food to be foraged, and there were the briars, thorns, & stickers and how they hurt while trying to achieve the act of capturing the sweet berries. They would get you every time but you had to suffer them to get the fruit of your labors!

As a young man I set out to conquer the world, explore my surroundings and find my sweet sweet berries. Of course there were the briars, thorns, & stickers....

I have encountered my far share of the rough briar patch in this life... But, I will continue on in this place, my '40 acre' wood, continue looking for the berries, fruit, the sweet sweet beautiful berries!

Cause, I want dessert!

Randomness...

Somethings to think about.....

1. Practice random acts of kindness and sensless acts of barbecue. -- Adair Lara

2. I really liked her alot... alot... She was very special, I was inspired by her! Check out her blog: http://thevixnsdiaries.blogspot.com/

3. Food & Work are all that remain... No taste for food and have the day off from work!

4."...in 1693 Dom Perignon discovered the process for making champagne. "Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!"

5. "I am sure you will find better things, you have a bright future ahead..."

6. I hate having to work so hard at getting a gals interest. I like a relationship and intimacy. There are friendships but there is no intimacy.

7.What toppings do u love on your Baked Potato?

8. Do not really want to say this... but... NEXT!