Loaded

Oh yummy.  Scott smoked ribs yesterday.  And you've heard about his ribs.  WOW.  That's all I can say.  So the rest was up to me.  It's kinda hard to 'one up' Scotties ribs.  But, I mighta done it.  I knew it had to be in the potato part of the meal or the dessert.  So I did both.  I was thinking about loaded baked potatoes, so I decided to try something new.  Loaded MASHED potatoes.  Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about.  I boiled up some red potatoes in heavily salted water and only peeled about half the skins off (I don't like overly "skinny" potatoes.)  Mashed them up with whole milk, one finely sliced green onion, about a 1/2 cup finely sliced fresh chives and some sour cream.  I crispy fried up a 1/2 pound of bacon and stirred that in the mix.  Unbelievable.  All the flavors melted together and the salty occasional crunch of the bacon really added a special touch.  I wanted to add some shredded sharp cheddar cheese, but I didn't have any-but I bet that would be good too.  It would be great with just the chives and green onion, for another twist.  This is one of those sides that can go many different ways and is sure to please each time.  A steakhouse kinda side.  Seriously, you would be hard pressed to find better.  If you don't believe me, just ask me.  For dessert, strawberry, rhubarb with a touch of raspberry pie.  I was short on filling, so I dumped in some frozen raspberries and it too, turned out magical.  Magically delicious.  With homemade pie crust and fresh whipped cream.  The pie crust alone, is blog worthy.  Scott's grandma's recipe.  Paper thin and crispy.  I took me years to figure it out.  For the first 10 years of our marriage, Scott was the official pie maker in our house.  He called his grandma, got the recipe and started making pies.  Good pie crust takes a little patience, something I am lacking and Scott has lots of.  For those of you that know us, and you don't have to know us well, know this to be true.  It drove me crazy that I could not make a good pie.  I would get so frustrated trying to roll that crust.  Forget it, scoop the whole works in the trash and eat the filling raw.  Slowly, but surely, after watching my Scottie, I picked up a few tricks and a little patience.  Come to think of it, I did come to know the Lord somewhere in there, that mighta helped too-couldn't have hurt.  Low and behold, I became the pie maker in the house.  Scottie rarely makes pies anymore, because I like to do it now.  I think he just likes to sit across the island and watch his protege do her thing, and smile.