best baked potatoes ever

Can you really improve on a baked potato? Yes! And here's how!

Take russet idaho potatoes (try to get real idaho russets...and the fresher the better)

Thoroughly wash each potato

Really Scrub the skin of each potato with the rough side of a clean sponge

Liberally brush a good amount of olive oil onto each potato

Sprinkle good kosher or sea salt onto the skin of each potato

Set on a baking sheet and roast in a 425 degree oven until done, approx 45 min-1hr

After potatoes are done, take out of oven and let rest on counter for 10-15 minutes

Dress as you like. In my opinion, nothing beats butter salt and sour cream (except for maybe some peas or broccoli.)

Enjoy...and remember to eat the skin, it's delicious and healthy!

Comments

heart cookies

got this recipe from martha for valentine's day. it is a mix between an oatmeal cookie and a shortbread cookie and oh so yummy. i'll be taking these to a preschool party and around to some of my friends tomorrow. they are reminiscent of graham crackers and chocolate frosting, which my husband and kids love, so i'm hoping they enjoy these. the dough turned out be a bit different than the recipe claims, but i made it work. i've changed the recipe only slightly-i dipped the hearts in melted chocolate chips rather than sandwiching nutella between two cookies. one great tip on melting chocolate is do it in the microwave! it's so easy and you don't have to worry about a double-boiler and all that clean up. ina garten, the barefoot contessa and one of my cooking idols, gives a great explanation on how to do it here . i'm sure the nutella way would be good, too. it's just not something i regularly have in my pantry, for good reason.

pear salad with lemon-garlic vinaigrette

i have a friend who served me this salad. it was love at first taste. i think i could spend the rest of my life with that dressing. i found myself wanting to eat it so often, i had to find something else to pair it with (just plain drinking it was not an option, although, it did cross my mind.) it actually happened by accident. i added pears to my salad one day and loved it so much, the next day i decided to leave out the lettuce/spinach altogether. the result: a fantastic and easy salad that just may make your lips pucker up and make your heart skip a beat. 2 fresh pears, peel on and diced grated parmesan, or any other sharp cheese almonds, chopped or slivered (the original recipe calls for crumbled bacon, which would be fantastic even in this salad!) lemon-garlic vinaigrette juice of one lemon small clove of garlic, minced 2/3 cup canola oil salt and pepper to taste combine in a jar and shake to emulsify (or you can whisk in the canola oil to emulsify.

sunday slow cooker: red beans and rice

in honor of mardi gras this year i made red beans and rice from scratch. i am grateful to say that 6 years of my life took place in new orleans, la. well, actually it was 5 years and 1 month + 11 months while we were displaced because of hurricane katrina, but we won't talk about that. and during those 11 months in utah my heart was still in new orleans. in case you're not familiar with new orleans, their claim to fame is FOOD. and no ordinary food will do, no no no. it must be GREAT FOOD. and believe me, we had GREAT FOOD while we lived there. and lots of it. one of our favorite dishes was red beans and rice. now that we don't live in new orleans, it's not as convenient to just run to the store and buy a can of already prepared Blue Runner beans. so, i decided to come up with a recipe all on my own that used the slow cooker (it was sunday dinner and now with 1 o'clock church i'm using my slow cooker every sunday...many more sunday s

a new nothing with a speckled handle

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