Skillet Potatoes

Good Monday morning all. I'm wondering how many people are breathing a sigh of relief that I'm blogging about potatoes instead of chili cooks this morning?!?!?!?!?!?! Don't worry...I'll get to that later :o)

Okay, you all know Pappas Bros. Steakhouse is my most favorite restaurant in the world. In addition to the ooey gooey deliciousness known as Au Gratin (or as Gary calls them, A-You Gratin) Potatoes, they have these things called skillet potatoes. They are divine and I love them. I tried them out last night with our rib eyes and roasted broccoli. Try them out...they will go with anything!

Skillet Potatoes

8 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, diced
4 Slices of Thick Bacon (Peppered or Plain), diced
1 Medium Sweet Onion, diced
2 Green Onions, white and green parts diced
Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the diced potatoes on a large sheet pan and drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place them in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until they start to get a brown and crispy and a little soft in the middle. Remove them from the oven and let them cool. In a large skillet, fry your bacon until crisp and set the bacon aside to drain. Leave the bacon grease in the skillet and add your chopped sweet onion to it. Cook until the onions are tender and start to caramelize. Add the potatoes to the skillet and start mixing everything around so that the bacon grease coats the potatoes as well. Do this for 5-10 minutes (depending on how soft they were from baking in the oven) and then add the chopped green onions and bacon. Cook over medium heat until everything is heated through - the green onions won't be completely cooked and that's okay, unless you want them to be. Season to taste and serve with steak, chicken or pork. Enjoy!

Okay, so let's go ahead and get the big pink elephant out of the dining room. Yes, we went to TOT and surprisingly enough, everyone minded their manners! It was a really great day on Saturday. Dr. Ray won and I got 2nd. It was just the coolest win ever. He was waiting outside for us to pick him up Saturday morning (mainly because we're always late...we have punctuality issues) and when Gary brought him to the car I said, "Dr. Ray, you're going to win today." He told me that he wanted to, since no one had ever won it twice and he hadn't won it since 1983. He looks forward to that cook off more than any other one and he had his TOT jacket on as well. Never mind that it was a very sticky 85 degrees on Saturday! I know everyone was tickled pink for him and I'm so proud that he won. He beat me by one point, but I don't care. I'll take 2nd Place to him any day! It was great to be there and be a part of it. I know he'll be on Cloud 9 for awhile with this win.

I learned a few lessons this last week. First of all, stand up for what you believe in and what you feel is your idea of right and wrong. Second of all, appreciate the kindness and support of others; you never know who's in your corner. And lastly, and on the flip side of #2, you never know who doesn't have your back. And unfortunately, it's usually the last person you'd suspect to be the one to go behind your back. Oh well....life is about learning and evolving and I certainly learned a good lesson from this experience. I am also appreciative of the ability and opportunity for myself and others to apologize, mean it, and move on without worrying about lingering BS. I think those that were at TOT this weekend had a good time and I think everyone has moved on.

Have a semi-decent Monday everyone....I'll be back tomorrow spreading my own special brand of kindness and joy :o)

Kelly