Baked Potato Bar

Potatoes, can I mention how much I love them? Maybe it's in my blood... Have I mentioned my husband was born and raised in Idaho (which has nothing to do with it being in my blood)?  Or that my dad's dad is from Idaho as well (okay that's my blood connection!) - oh and one of my great-aunts (and 4 other ladies) broke the World fastest potato peeling record in 1992. As far as I can tell they still have the record, but I could be wrong... It's hard to beat 5 Idaho school district cooks - not that I've tried! 

One of the best ways I like to eat potatoes is a plain, simple baked potato... However, I also love to dress up baked potatoes.

Baked Potato Bar

First, you'll need a baked potato (or at least 1 per person!). I wash the potato, dry, pierce with a fork, wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 400 for an hour for an average sized spud (more for larger, less for smaller.) Test with a fork to make sure it is soft in the middle. Remove from oven and while still hot (use a hot-pad to hold) bang it on the counter 4 times, rotating it each time - this helps loosen the potato and makes it extra fluffy! Unwrap, place on plate, open however you like and fluff with fork. Then to the toppings!

 You can use any toppings you like on a baked potato, these are just a few of the ones we love. Butter, Sour Cream, Broccoli Cheese Sauce, Ham,

 Green onion, chives,

 Broccoli, cheese and cheese sauce (not pictured). Growing up my family use to put chili on them as well...

To make the broccoli cheese sauce, I just chopped up some of the cooked broccoli and stirred it into the cheese sauce. The best part is you can decide if you want only a little broccoli, a lot of broccoli, little chunks, large chunks or a combination.

 Okay, now back to the potato...

 This is usually the way I do mine - in separate sections as I don't want my toppings to mix but I can't decide on just one type!

 So Sour cream on one, Broccoli on another, Cheese on another and ham on the last one.

  Then the broccoli gets topped with broccoli-cheese sauce, the sour cream gets chives, the ham gets cheese sauce and a bit of cheese, and the regular cheese gets topped with green onion.

That's just the way I like it, I should have taken a photo of my husband's - it was just stacked super high with everything! 

 

What are your favorite toppings for a baked potato?