Tato skins (otherwise known as Potato Skins)

There was a really big football game here in Utah on Saturday. University of Utah was taking on TCU, They were both nationally ranked, ranked number four and six or something. ESPN even came with their whole crew broadcasting Game Day which I guess is a big deal for our little state. I knew close to nothing about this, my husband had to tell me that this was a big deal. Once again when it comes to football blah blah blah ESPN Game day blah did blah. That was the gist of my knowledge of the event.

The Utes LOST, not only did the lose they got a bushwhacking. Truly brought joy to my heart, they are after all our rivals. Both my parents and four of my siblings graduated form the Y (BYU). That is where my heart lives when it comes to football. My mom used to even wake us up to the BYU fight song, "Rise and shout the cougars are out..."

What does any of this have to do with potatoes you may ask, well I will tell you. When there is a big game I make potato skins. It is my assignment for the Superbowl every year, and they are really tasty.

Are you ready here we go. Heat up your oven to 425.

Next potatoes I like to use Idaho russets. I also like to look through the bag for little ones, Potato skins are suppose to be an appetizer and not a side dish so I like small ones.



Next you are going to need to wash them and you really need to scrub the living life out of them a clean potato is a happy potato.



Here is the tricky part and the part that makes all the difference. In a large bowl put in about 1/4 cup of oil, nothing fancy just veggie oil works. Add two teaspoons of salt, I used sea salt.



Now throw some potatoes in the bowl and toss them around, until well covered. Continue until all your potatoes are thoroughly covered.



Next step is to line a pan with foil and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Put the potatoes on the middle rack, make sure that they are floating over the pan. As they cook the oil will drip, and when they steam up the pan catches the mess and saves your oven and your house from getting smokey.



Cook your potatoes. I wish I could tell you that I have timed this, and have it down to the second on how long to cook the potatoes, but the truth is that I wait until the house is starting to smell like potatoes and then check them by seeing if I can squish them. If I can't squish them I cook them longer. I know you can call me crazy it's OK. If I were to say how long, I think it would be 45-55 min. You really want to get a hot pad and see if they squish before pulling them out. See don't they look fabulous.



Next you need to cool them a little. If you cool them to much they will get a little to gummy and then be yucky. I usually cool them just to where I can hold them with a rag and not burn myself.



Next is to cut them into quarters. You can cut them in half but they will go farther if you quarter them.



After that you need to scoop out the inside. You need to leave about a 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skins. Just take of the point I use a spoon or you can use a paring knife.



Now lay out all your skins out on a tray. I like to line it with foil because I really don't like cleaning baked on cheese of my cookie sheets. Taking the time to line your tray will save you hours of soaking later.



Yep you guessed it cover the skins with cheese I use the shredded Colby Jack or, you can use Cheddar. You don't need anything too fancy but you really want a lot of cheese because lets face it, cheese makes it tasty.



Next you cover them with bacon because if cheese makes it tasty then bacon is going to make it outstanding. You can buy already cooked crumbled bacon, that is what I used. You can also make your own by cutting bacon into small pieces, and frying up until crispy, take it out of the grease with a slotted spoon anddrain on a paper towel. If you don't like to be burned by popping bacon grease then you can buy it already done for you with out any fear of grease popping in your eye.

Cook them at 450 for 10-15 min. until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Take them out and top them with chopped chives or green onions and serve with ranch dressing.
I really wish I had a picture of them all hot a yummy, but while I was making these guest arrived as I pulled them out of the oven and they were gone before I could get a picture.

If you try them let me know what you think, I think they are super tasty.

Also if you are wondering what to do with this.

I usually fry them up the next day with an egg on top. If you are really handy and can make bread, you can use it for potato bread. I am open to any other ideas let me know what you did with your potato guts.

The other two.

It is true that I have two older children and they also dressed up for Halloween. Baubi was a gangster and Gowyn was Cinderella the bride. Here is proof and details.

Baubi changed her mind at least six times. Some of her options were Victoria from twilight, zombie, prom zombie, Mulan, Jessie, etc. She finally decided on a Gangster or should I say Gangsta.


I was making matching outfits for her and her best friend, since I was running out of time I decided to make just a vest.


If I had more time I think I would have made a short dress and have her wear fish net stockings and maybe a gold chain to a pocket flap. I still may do that since we haven't had our official photos taken.

She liked it the way it was I guess that is all that mattered.


Gowyn is her own sort of crazy or quirky how ever you want to see it. She is obsessed with Cinderella one might think that since she is now 10 she would be over it but nope she is not. She has been every version of Cinderella, the ball gown, pumpkin fairy, Fairy Godmother, the maid, the pink dress the mice made, and this year was the finale, Cinderella the bride. I have told her that we have worked our way through the entire movie and we are done. She is still hoping for the stepsisters or Mary the mouse, I say we are done.


Her dress is pretty simple it crosses over in the front and has long fitted sleeves. I made her veil to be like the one in the movie I used heavy interfacing covered in satin and gathered it on the top and put elastic around the base of her neck. I wanted to wire the sides and use fishing line to hold it up and then put little blue birds on the ends. I figured that way people would totally know that she was Cinderella. She didn't want it whacking people so she wouldn't let me.

I had her wear the hoop skirt I made for the ball gown and a petti skirt. We found out that if she twirled and sit down she looked like a giant marshmallow. It was her favorite part.


Gowin's best friend is a boy named Tia, we told him that he should go as Prince Charming so that when they go trick or treating people would know who they were. Also I don't know if you knew this but it is Prince Charming and Cinderella's 60th wedding anniversary this year(and we still don't know his real name). I think that Tai's mom did a fabulous job he looked great.


They were so cute together I wouldn't be able to say the next year they want to go as zombies or vampires. From super cute to super spooky. Maybe we will think of something else less gorey.

Watch Out For Falling Houses

Baby sister was the Wicked Witch of the East. She has cousins that are all the same age, so we thought it would be fun if they were all different characters from the Wizard of Oz. I have always wanted to make the Wicked Witch of the East since all you ever see of her are her legs there is a lot to be left up to the imagination.



See what I mean what ever you want above the knees. Fluffy skirt, peasant blouse, and a corset.



Her skirt actually has 14 skirts. Each tulle layer has three skirts. When I layered them together it looked like a bruise so I then lined the tulle layers, under skirt over skirt and there you have it 14 skirts. I added the orange ruffle with my ruffler foot. Tucked the over skirt up with a red sparkle bow to match her shoes.


I made the blouse and the corset and then bought her hat. Her favorite color is orange after all, how could I just leave that hat at the store.


She developed the greatest witch cackle and worked it perfectly. I think that trick or treating was started for three year olds. They were the cutest running from house to house excited every time they got a piece of candy. Can't wait until next year.

All for One and One for All

Lala has wanted to be a musketeer since last year, and it had to be pink when it comes to Lala the more pink the better. Here are some of the details.




I quilted the bodice and sleeves. The sleeves ended up being to short, I added a lacy flounce for a cuff. Sometimes mistakes turn out to be blessings it turned out to be the perfect touch.



Since I have made capes in the past and had to deal with a small child telling me all night long that the cape was choking them I added a little loop to hold the cape to the dress. I also added a loop at the waist to hold her sword.



Lala loves to twirl, and I wanted the skirt to stand out to show off her boots, so I added a petty skirt. The boots were spray painted pink, I then made the cuffs and velcroed them into the lining.



Finally the hat, I looked all over and couldn't find a pink hat. I ended up making hers. My computer is not letting me link up to her site but Brown paper packages had a great tutorial that I followed. Last but not least was the sword, now if she was being a pirate I could have bought her one but since she was a musketeer and needed a fencing sword I made that too. I used a dowel, pickle jar lid, fabric, and some electrical tape. Throw it all together with some silver spray paint and there you have it.

She loved it and really worked it all night long.