Twice Baked Potatoes

I love potatoes. And you can do so many things with them! If you've got some time on your hands these are a great, hearty Sunday night side dish.

6 russet potatoes
1 cup light sour cream
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 slices bacon

Preheat oven to 400. Wash potatoes and place on a large cookie sheet. Bake potatoes for one hour or until soft all the way through.

While the potatoes cook, cook your bacon and crumble it.

Don't turn your oven off once the potatoes are baked - these are called "twice" baked potatoes for a reason. Once potatoes are cooked, on a cutting board carefully cut them in half length-wise. Be careful not to burn yourself with the steam that will erupt from the potatoes when you cut into them. Cut all of the potatoes in half and lay them out on your cutting board.

Once you've cut all your potatoes, go back to the first one you cut, which should be slightly cooler now. You may still need to hold it with a hot pad though. Stab the flesh of the potato a few times with a fork to loosen it up, then carefully scoop it out with a spoon. You want to do this without destroying the skin, so be careful! Don't pretend it's your arch-enemy while you're stabbing it with that fork. Scoop the cooked potato flesh into a medium sized bowl and return the empty skins to your work surface.

Once you've scooped all your potatoes, mash them up a bit, then mix the remaining ingredients with the mashed potato. You'll have a wonderfully goopy, slightly chunky mess in your bowl. If the potatoes are too thick for you, you can thin it out with a little milk or more sour cream - just remember that cheese is going to melt and will also thin out the potatoes a teeny bit.

Scoop the potato mixture back into the potato skins, return filled skins to your cookie sheet, and bake for 30 minutes.