Katie and I make baked potatoes with Taylor Swift and Vanilla Ice
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I credit Idaho potatoes for saving my life on at least one occasion.
The backstory
As a Ricks College student back in the early 1980s, a couple of fellow Rigby Hall residents and I borrowed a roommate’s car – a bright orange 1970s Ford Pinto – and took our dates on a short trip to see the remains of the Teton Dam.
It was going to be a quick outing that should’ve had us back before dark and well before curfew.
When a slick road sent us into a snow bank, I began to worry. Of course, we had no snow shovel, tire chains, or anything else we should have had before setting out into the wilds of Idaho’s high desert.
This was well before the advent of cell phones.
Not far from our little snowbound party was an old potato shed, where I hoped we would find a shovel or some other kind of tool to help us dig out. Luckily, we found a scooped pitch fork, not a shovel, but it did the trick.
After some digging and pushing, we got the bright orange Pinto back on asphalt and rolling toward Rexburg. To this day, I’ve still never made it back to the Teton Dam site.
I have, however, eaten a lot of potatoes, frequently recalling the time that some potato farmer I’ve never met left his pitchfork out for some dumb Ricks College kid to stumble upon.
Katie (my little sister who lives with us) and I baked a few potatoes last weekend for a baked potato bar dinner.
The Playlist
This playlist has a story of its own. I’m certain it will resurface in a future “How I Do It” column, but in brief, it’s a compilation of Katie’s favorite dance music, so I’ll offer my apologies ahead of time for the over-saturation of Hannah Montana tunes.
Meghan Trainor – Dear Future Husband, 3:20
Taylor Swift – Shake It Off, 4:01
Pharrell Williams – Happy, 4.0
Maroon 5 – Sugar, 5.01
Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby, 3:57
M.C. Hammer – U Can’t Touch This, 4:33
One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful, 3:26
Miley Cyrus – Party In The U.S.A., 3:27
Hannah Montana – Who Said, 3:15
Hannah Montana – If We Were A Movie, 3:03
Olly Murs – Dance With Me Tonight, 3:26
Ylvis – The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?), 3:44
ABBA – Dancing Queen, 3:52
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk, 4:30
Fitz and the Tantrums – HandClap, 3:11
Beyoncé – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), 3:20
The Recipe
Wash your potatoes well.
Stick them with a fork all over.
Smother them with avocado oil or any brand of vegetable oil.
Set them on the center rack of your oven and bake at 425 degrees for about an hour.
Serve with any of your favorite toppings, but especially butter, sour cream and bacon bits – I like to make my own. You can also try broccoli, pesto, sauteed mushrooms, M&Ms, or whatever other treats you like. My wife likes plain yogurt and ranch dressing.
Enjoy.
