Move along, folks. Nothing to read here.
I take notes about the potato bake each year but the farthest back I can find are 2011, so since I have to type up my scribbles anyway, I’ll just do it here.
Day before:
5:20 wash, poke and wrap potatoes. 3 boxes of large and one box of regular. (You do not need to buy an extra little bag.) Lloyd came to help. Done at 6:20. Chopped 2 bunches of broccoli before meeting.
Day of:
Arrive at 12:45. Set all ovens to preheat at 400.
Gretchen & Renee arrived to start putting art on walls and tables. That was awesome.
1:20 Large potatoes on top racks of kitchen ovens. Let heat back up, then load lower racks. (This step could wait half an hour with no trouble.) Take others to top racks in school ovens.
2:00 4 cans of chili divided up in three large crock pots. This was genius. No heating chili on the stovetop. (Later on, added fifth can, so get a fourth crock pot.)
(Still chopping broccoli throughout. We had 7 bunches. This time could have managed with 5. See below.)
2:30 Little potatoes in school ovens, lower rack. (I think the gauge is off on these.)
3:00 Get out roasters and coolers. Thin out 3 big 48 0z tubs of sour cream with 1/3 cup milk for the squeeze bottles, another genius upgrade.
3:30 Check potatoes – one from middle of each oven. Turn down to 225 if done. (This is when I found out the school potatoes were still undone. They might need monitoring. The were WAY soft at the end of the night, though.)
We did not have a big kitchen crew, but it all got done. We tried having a crock pot for keeping warmed broccoli but I don’t know if that was helpful. It was nice to have back-up.
We used new gardening gloves for handling the potatoes and that made a huge difference. Third genius change.
We need to re-write the list of jobs. Lloyd and John were there to help and we had a very small crew. We were efficient and quieter than a bigger crew, but it took more time.
We had lots of potatoes left over. Beautiful sunny day so some didn’t come. Easter is later this year and I think kids are involved in more after-school activities?
My feet hurt.
Deborah says
My notes for potato bake for next year:
Put more topping than you think you’ll need on your potato. I ended up with more potato than topping.
Great job, Lauren!
Brad says
It seems like I just read some unconventional way of cooking potatoes, but now I can’t remember it.
Peggy says
Sounds like such a great event!! Way to go Lauren & buds!!
And hehe….so ‘ya got to play a game of hot potato too!
Peggy says
…’ya all
Jill says
I’m so glad there’s a restaurant in downtown Lincoln that has awesome baked potatoes with a variety of toppings. I’m REALLY hungry for a potato!
Congrats on the evening going well, or well enough anyway. 🙂
Jane Sommerer says
Dad says if he had known about it he would have come.