We DESERVE these potatoes.

I'm surprised B and I are even still awake right now. We spent the weekend cleaning the carpet in my place in preparation for him moving in soon. This sounds like a good and practical idea in theory, and it is just fine...until you realize that you have furniture - a LOT of furniture - that has to be worked around. Add in a Labrador that is dying to "help" and a neighbor that leaves nasty letters in the mailbox when we so much as cough, and you have a SUPER fun weekend going. NOT.

But we got it all finished. Finally. And the house looks amazing. So we decided to grill up some steak tonight and treat ourselves, and what goes better with steak than baked potatoes? Twice baked potatoes with a lot of stuff thrown in, that's what. And we had a handy-dandy recipe all nice and safe in the cookbook of family recipes that B's mom gave me for Christmas. Perfect.

Luckily, it's an easy recipe. To begin, take some potatoes and bake them however you normally do. I usually coat mine with a teensy bit of olive oil, then sprinkle generously with freshly cracked sea salt and black pepper. Bake them for about an hour at 375.

Once the potatoes are done, take them and very carefully cut an oval in the top of each potato and scoop out the potato innards. Try not to destroy the potatoes as you do this. I personally think I did pretty good.

Now it's time to take the potato mash and mix in the good stuff. Add 1-2 tablespoons of butter per potato and 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream per potato. Now, I only used 4 tablespoons sour cream total, but I'm not a huge sour cream fan. You can add more if that's your thing.

Next, mix in any other savory goodness you want. We used freshly cooked and crumbled bacon (LOTS), green onions (lots of those as well), and Mexican blend shredded cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.

Once you have the filling created to your satisfaction, very carefully put it back into the potato. If you broke the potato while you were scooping the mush out, use foil to hold it back together. Put the re-stuffed potatoes on a baking sheet, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the insides are warm and gooey.

These were absolutely delicious, and much-needed (as was the glass of wine we had with the steaks, but that's another story). The moral of the story is this: home improvements are overrated. Momma-in-law's potatoes are not. Get cooking, not cleaning, my friends!

B's Momma's Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:
Potatoes (however many you think you need)
Butter
Sour cream
Any other toppings you want.

Directions:
Bake potatoes for about an hour.
After potatoes are done, gently cut an oval out of the top of each one, scooping out potato pulp into a bowl.
Mash potato pulp.
Add about 1-2 tablespoons of butter per potato and about 2-3 tablespoons sour cream per potato.
Add the rest of the toppings of your choice.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.
Carefully put the mixture back into each potato. Put potatoes onto a baking sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes until thoroughly heated.
Devour, and enjoy!