Baked Potato Meal

The baked potato morphed from a side item to the main meal after my brother left for college...and I think it's because my mother didn't really have to cook a full meal when Webster wasn't around (you know the son is always the favorite).

Anyway...my mother would set up a station on the counter (okay it was really the washer and dryer that we used as a counter) with the usual suspects: butter, sour cream, cheese, green onions and bacon. That's all you really need, but there were always other options...anything from the icebox and spice cabinet were fair game...olives, chili, hot sauce or A1...a favorite of mine!

With the counter full of fixin's my mother would announce it was time to dress our potatoes with caution in her voice meaning...You better hurry before your father gets his plate, you know it will take him an hour to fix his. I didn't listen to Mama, I got behind daddy and he made me watch as he explained every step in detail. People think we're crazy...you just put the stuff on the potato...what's the big deal? Well it is a big deal...you have to make sure that every single bite is delicious and has something good on it! Dressing a potato like this will change the way you eat a baked potatoes from here on out. I promise.

Daddy's Fully Loaded Baked Potato

1. Clean potato and rub with vegetable oil and salt (Kosher). 
2. Bake at 350ºF for at least an hour.
3. Cut your potato in half and let the steam rise. 
4. Take a knife and score the potato on the diagonal then cross it the other way. This is an important step...doing this will ensure that each bite has something good on it! Season with salt and pepper. 
5. Add a few pats of butter and keep cutting the potato with knife until melted. you actually don't need much...I should skip this step...but I don't!  
6. 2 or 3 dollops of sour cream to make it creamy. 
7. Shredded cheddar cheese is next, Daddy says, you put the cheese on top of the sour cream so that the cheese doesn't stick to the potato. 
8. Crumble bacon
9. Sprinkle green onions on top. 

And that is the way to make your side potato the full meal deal. If you can get to step 5...you can create your own masterpiece from there...it's all about the layering.

Thanks Pop, still enjoying it like this...25+ years later!