In my never ending quest to make The Man a vegetarian (or to at least eat less meat), I pulled out the American comfort food that clogs almost every happy vegetarian’s arteries.
Yes… twice baked potatoes.
I know! I know! It’s full of dairy.
It’s one step at a time over here, people. One step at a time.
Twice Baked Potato
When your potatoes are overachievers.
- 2 whole baking potatoes
- 4 slices bacon
- .5 cup sour cream
- .25 cup milk
- .5 cup cream cheese (onion and chive flavor is awesome)
- 2 tbsp butter
- .5 cup cheddar cheese
- 4 bits green onion (slice the onions up and separate into two piles)
- 2 tsp onion powder
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Writer! Find your oven! Turn it on to 350 Fahrenheit.
Hint: Oven is usually in the kitchen.
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Poke holes in your potatoes. Rub them in a little oil if you have it, but not a lot because you don’t want them to drip. Place the potatoes in the oven. Keep them there for 60 minutes.
Think about potatoes. They are so versatile like those annoying writers who get starred reviews in multiple genres. Try not to hate potatoes. Fail. Those jerks. MUST THEY BE ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING?
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Take potatoes out of the oven. Realize that not only are they a versatile food capable of inspiring Seamus Heaney poems, but they also inspire children’s games like hot potato.
Hate them more.
Realize that you will eat them and they will become a part of you. You win in this power struggle. You the writer are going to triumph over the potato.
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Let them cool for 10 minutes.
Realize you could just eat them now as regular old baked potatoes. Why do you need to be fancy?
Because other writers are fancy. That’s why. And you can overachieve, too, even if you are still wearing your pajamas at 7 p.m. and you woke up at 8 a.m. Hey! You woke up. That’s achieving.
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Cut the poor potatoes in half lengthwise.
This feels violent. You are not violent.
Continue on and scoop the soft potato innards into a large bowl.
Save skins. They aren’t really skins. It’s okay. Let’s call them peels. That sounds nicer.
Save the peels. Try not to rip them.
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Add cream cheese, sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, onion powder, and 1/2 the green onions. Add all of that to the potato innards.
Then mix it until it is creamy. Use a hand mixer if you have electricity and stuff like hand mixers. If not just whip it into a frenzy with a potato masher. Do you have one of those? How about a fork? Even that will work.
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Put all of that stuff into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, and green onions.
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Put it in the oven again for 15 minutes.
Appreciate that you overachieved and went for it. You did it, writer! Eat up!
Dog Verdict: PLEASE PUT BACON ON THESE.
Man Verdict: These would be even more amazing with bacon bits, but I like them. I like them a lot.
Me: EVERYTHING IS NOT BETTER WITH BACON!
All others: (Blank stares).
Writing News
The Spy Who Played Baseball is a picture book biography about Moe Berg. And… there’s a movie out now about Moe Berg, a major league baseball player who became a spy. How cool is that?
You should totally buy Carrie’s book about Moe. It’s awesome and quirky and fun.
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Writing Coach
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