Day Two Hundred and Seventeen - Jackets Required

When I was growing up we had potatoes practically every single day. The only real alternative was when we would have spaghetti. Otherwise, it was mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, scalloped potatoes [mmmmm], baked potatoes, BBQ-ed potatoes...and yes, even riced potatoes [because we never had rice...okay, sometimes Minute Rice]. We were a family bound together by our love for carbs. Eventually though, I got extremely sick of potatoes in all forms. With the exception of the mashed potatoes in my university dining hall and insane amounts of french fries - I cut potatoes almost entirely out of my life. My mum still finds this quite shocking and she's always wondering what I eat for dinner [since I don't eat meat either].

Recently though I have been allowing potatoes back in a little bit. I make something called Potato Surprise which is oven-roasted potatoes and other vegetables with balsamic and seasonings served on couscous. I also make awesome non-fried spicy fries in the oven. Tonight I decided to go all simple and I made baked potatoes. I actually had to look up on Wikihow to figure out how to make them. Heh. When they were cooked through I cut them open and fluffed them out - put in butter and sour cream and topped with [fake] bacon bits. It was a thing of beauty - like something out of a TGI Fridays advert. I've been successful in making far more exciting dishes, but these baked potatoes kinda thrilled me.

Oh yes, in England baked potatoes are called jacket potatoes [maybe only with filling - I'm not sure]. I find this insanely adorable. In my brain I have a whole episode going on with potatoes in jackets playing jazz in some smoke-filled underground bar.