I fancy myself a budding little cook. However the spud had eluded me from day one. Everyone assures me that they are the easiest ingredient to work with. Well thanks for making me feel like a moron, but I can not cook with potatoes. Funkbobito is the king of mashed potatoes because mine come out grainy and dry. I have just recently learned to make a respectable baked potato. And half the time it still has some undercooked parts in the middle. I can roast potatoes, I will claim that one, but that's only because I can cook the living daylights out of them with little interaction (that is where our problem usually starts). Well, last night I decided I would try to make twice baked potatoes. Everyone assured me that these were about as easy as any side dish you could make. Oh and I can't forget the lovely tip I got to do the 1st cook of the potatoes in the microwave. Well, once again the potato and I did not see eye to eye (sorry bad pun). I microwaved as everyone told me to and guess what, it wasn't done in the middle (if you guessed that before finishing the sentence, give yourself a few brownie points). So I cook some more, and some more, and some more and they never really got soft in the middle. So I decide I could get it to work. Well, no, I go to scoop out the middles and the potatoes just break into big chunks, taking the skin with them. After a few choice words about the stickin' potato curse I possess, they meet their fate in the trash and I find a bag of mashed potatoes in the cabinet (they really aren't that bad. Its really sad that I know that).

So our potato fiasco was accompanied by Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Vinaigrette by Giada. Well, what to say about this chicken. It was chicken-y. If I ever have a craving for chicken skin this will be the recipe I go to because the skin was fabulous. But the flavor from the balsamic just didn't penetrate the chicken as I would have liked. Oh well. Maybe roasted chicken parts aren't my thing. I am always disappointed by the lack of rich flavor. It looked impressive, but I will not make it again (well once I finish my leftovers).
Well, Joe over at Culinary in the Dessert made these Harvest Pumpkin Bars last week and I have had them on my list. These were a keeper. Sorry about their sorry looking appearance. The icing came out a little thin and then my overheated work place (85 degrees at 6am) caused some sliding. Despite that they tasted great. Very moist and a very yummy, but subtle pumpkin-y flavor. I will whip these up again.
Well another new recipe tonight and hope that it turns out. I will keep you posted.