Cozy Baked Potatoes w/Extra Salt

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons.  I love how the trees in Michigan turn red, purple, orange, yellow, burgundy, and brown.  There are a couple of maples near my house that are still half dark green, while the other half is flaming red.  Its beauty captivates my attention every time I walk or drive by.  It is as if the trees in our state decide to do one beautiful curtain call of color before going into their deep sleep of winter “death”.  Chicken Little must have lived in Michigan when he told the other barnyard animals, “The sky is falling!”  When the strong northern winds start blowing, the leaves and acorns start falling.  As I walked down my street today it was literally raining little nuts.  I laughed at the rain of little pellets.  As I looked around, squirrels were rushing about, gathering the acorns for the long winter months.  Here in Michigan, you can also tell it is autumn by the attractive smell of wood burners.  Many homes in my area burn wood as a supplement a natural gas furnace.  The thin veil of smoke in our neighborhood raises the image me of sitting by our fireplace as child, watching the red, yellow and blue flames dancing around as the gray smoke rose up the chimney.  If we were lucky, mom had marshmallows for us to roast, although mine often caught on fire.  Another reason why I love fall is because we can start using the oven to cook our food again.  It just doesn’t make sense, with or without an air conditioner to crank the oven to 350 degrees when the temperature is over eighty and the humidity exceeds that of Vietnam.  (Seriously, my husband announced one day in August that we had more humid weather than in Da Nang)  Today I baked potatoes and squash.  The scent of our dinner filled every room of our home, and nobody needed to sit on an ice block; the fragrant waves of heat from the kitchen actually felt as good as they smelled. 

            Cozy Baked Potatoes w/Extra Salt

            I am a firm believer in baking at least half of the bag, if not the whole bag of potatoes at a time.  Baked potatoes are handy to have on hand for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and if you have a bunch ready to eat in your refrigerator, the bear can grab one at any time and eat it.  Believe it or not, it’s healthier than some of the things my husband has stuffed down at midnight.  The midnight prowler doesn’t use the microwave for fear of waking the food police, so he doesn’t put cheese on it.  A plain baked potato is actually quite healthy as is.  (Do not store the ranch dressing in an obvious place)  

The best way to prepare baked potatoes is to wash them well, fork them two or three times on both sides so they do not explode in your oven, rub olive oil on each of them and roll them in sea salt.  (I like to rub them with my hand to make sure the salt is evenly around the potato)  Put in the oven for about an hour to an hour and a half.  You will know they are done when you touch them and you can tell they are soft on the inside, while the skin is getting a bit crunchy.  

            After your potatoes are finished it’s time to decide what will go inside.  The most obvious choices are butter, sour cream, salt and pepper.  But you can have fun by adding chives or green onions, bacon, cheddar cheese, tuna fish salad, or chili.  Don’t be afraid to experiment; it’s your potato, it’s your fancy.  Have at it.