Happy 4th July! This is going to be my 12th 4th of July celebration – it’s one of my favorite days of the year. I remember my first was in California and we went to a concert where they played music along with the fireworks. My eldest was only 6 months old and he slept the whole way through. It was pretty awesome. This year it’s going to be awesome but in a different way. We’ll be sitting on a beach over looking the Strait of Juan de Fuca (the San Juan Islands) and watching fireworks over the ocean. You can’t get much better than that!
Of course, with any celebration comes a meal. I love baked potatoes. And my absolute favorite way to eat them is with sour cream and salad. I think for dinner tonight I’ll be making these along with a big juicy steak on the BBQ. Absolute heaven!
A few years after we moved to the state of Washington (not Washington DC which is on the other side of the country) I was asked to help provide meals each week for a church program. As summer was approaching one of the meals we selected was baked potatoes. I felt confident with this task as baked potatoes have been on my menu for a long time. However, my friends looked at me with horror when I suggested we should serve salad as a topping. Apparently it’s not as common in America, as it is in Australia. They all laughed about my crazy Australian ways, but I still love my potatoes with a cool, fresh salad on top. I think it makes it a perfect meal for a summer’s day.
Back in Australia, we often went to a restaurant near my in-laws called Spud Mulligans. It was basically a restaurant which served potatoes in nearly every combination you could think of. I swear there must have been about 40 menu items which all involved potatoes. My favorite was always the one with sour cream, lettuce and cheese. It’s so simple but so delicious. I now add tomatoes to increase salad content!
Another great combination is cottage cheese, with avocado and tomatoes. Really, you can put anything you desire onto a potato. Coleslaw is great, or you could go with the classic sour cream and chives. I’ve served baked potatoes at the end of a 5 day camping trip with canned chili and it tasted fantastic. (Don’t judge me! When you are in the middle of no where with no refrigeration canned food is the way to go!)
Dream away with your own combination, or use one of these two combinations. They are delicious.
- 4 large white potatoes
- Sour Cream
- Cheddar Cheese
- Lettuce
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
- Cottage Cheese
- Avocado
- Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- Preheat the oven to 390° F.
- If potatoes are dirty, scrub with a brush and pat dry. Pierce the potatoes with a fork in about 5 places.
- Place the potatoes directly onto the oven rack and bake for about 60 minutes. Potatoes are ready when a skewer can be inserted easily into the center. The texture should feel the same the whole way through.
- Using a large knife, split the potatoes length wise and width wise, creating a cross in the potatoes.
- Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of sour cream into the center of the potatoes. Top with lettuce, cheese and tomatoes.
- Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of cream cheese into the center of the potatoes. Top with avocado and tomatoes.
- If you need a shorter cook time, you can microwave the potatoes for about 5 minutes, turn them and cook them for another 5 minutes. Using oven mitts, transfer the potatoes to the oven and bake for about 30 minutes.
