For the Love of Potatoes

When the kids and I arrived home around 7:00 pm, I asked Chris what he wanted for dinner. "Deep fried anything, covered with cheese," was his answer.

Obviously I was not going to deep fry anything. I made a basic salad, chicken, and oven fries.

At my house, oven fries are super simple:
1. tiny potatoes washed & quartered
2. into the bowl: oil, powdered garlic, pepper; stir then add quartered potatoes
3. dump onto a rimmed cookie sheet and broil on high, removing every 5-7 minutes to flip (2-4 times)
4. when they are golden and perfect, salt then eat them

I put herbes de provence on the chicken thighs, so I threw some in the potatoes as well. I took those potatoes out to flip them 3 or 4 times, all without incident.

Why is this remarkable, doing something without incident?

I am a klutz. Most of the time, I can get away with it - it's not that obvious, I make it into a joke (usually easy), or no one is around to notice. 

All evening, I had been using an oven mitt that comes up nearly to my elbows, but for this last move with the pan, I used a dish towel instead. 

The potatoes were done, and the rest of dinner was already on the plates. I scooped the golden gems into a large bowl to salt them and in putting the pan down, I squealed in pain.

Please take note that when you use a dishtowel for anything other than its intended purpose, it may not work as you hope, plan, or anticipate.

Also note that when a large rimmed cookie sheet has been in the oven under a broiler that is set on high, if you touch it, it will cook your skin a little.

The burn will continue to intensify over the next hour and a half, regardless of the baggie of frozen peas you use to ice it. Advil will help take down the swelling and let you sleep.

The next morning, your burn may look something like this:

Not bad, it doesn't even hurt anymore... not that I'm going to poke it or anything. The whole thing is a blister now.

All this for the love of potatoes... well, the love of my husband and the love of potatoes.

The spuds, chicken, and salad "hit the spot" he needed them to... and the kids gobbled it all saying with each thing they ate, "The salad is the best! No, the potatoes! No, the chicken!! The best is the chicken! No, the salad! No, the potatoes are the best!! Can I have all this again for lunch tomorrow?!"

Just the way I like them: happy, healthy, and full.