Sliced Baked Potatoes

 

These baked potatoes are amazing. This has vertical slices made before baking, making the top cook to a crunchy, thick-cut potato chip consistency, with a creamy baked potato centre.

Preheat oven to 400°F

Using a sharp kitchen knife, carefully start making a series of vertical cuts width-wise through the potato, making sure not to cut all the way through - cuts should only be 3/4 of the way through the potato.
Place sliced potatoes on a baking sheet slices up, then drizzle top with oil, salt and pepper.
Bake for 50 minutes. Time may vary depending on size of potato and oven.

We had them with panko covered spicy tilapia, coleslaw and a vegetarian slider! It was great!

 

I proposed over the phone.

I proposed over the phone.

It didn’t seem weird at the time but in hind sight, I guess it is.

In today’s world where we have insane young people doing flash mob proposals and bringing in jumbotron images of “will you marry me” as well as convincing famous entertainers to propose for you from the stage, my phone call proposal made to the office seems quite tame.

First of all, it’s not like we hadn’t discussed it. As well, we had a plan, and I sort of jumped the gun. We were waiting for my youngest son to graduate high school that next year but it was New Years and I was feeling the romance of the New Year, 1987, and I got swept away. My wife (as she has been for the last 27 years) had to work and I was off and sitting home.

It just seemed like a good idea, and with no eye contact no one could be too embarrassed. And, if she said no (I never thought of that), no one had to see it. No video cameras, marching bands or jugglers to be equally embarrassed. There was no YouTube or Facebook to declare my stupidity to and no one would have been the wiser. I could even have denied it if she had refused, or I could have said I was drinking should I change my mind before she came home.

Now I hadn’t thought through any of this at the time, I just blindly jumped ahead as usual.

My wife responded positively but was thrown off by my impetuous behavior. I was over 40 and was not prone to romantic flights of fancy. I did suggest we get married in the Elvis Chapel Las Vegas, (I assumed there was one) but that was quickly ruled out. I tried for the glass elevator in Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit but even though I could have worked it out, we didn’t live in Wayne County and would not have had a proper marriage license to get married there.

In the end, being just a little bit crazy, we were married in Oakland County traffic court, with a wonderful presiding judge who emptied the courtroom except for our little  bit of family and we had a wedding! The court and judge set me back $10! It was a deal!

Looking back on my life, I like this one. It’s weirdly romantic, reasonably crazy and absolutely true!