Super Duper Louise Potatoes

Look at that cutie. Yep, I am blatantly putting the most adorable, coyly smiling child in front of you in order to soften my absence. I'm not above that... not one bit. hahaha.

Really, I am sorry for being so AWOL. August was what August typically is - lots of drinks on the patio with friends (when we had nice evenings), movie nights, travel, dinners, walks, some bike rides after I bought my new bike (super functional with it's flower appliqués and white basket). With September came welcome house guests followed by overstay guests (a bathroom renovation gone long and a move to my mother's house), a wedding in Vancouver (big love to K&I), a fantastic holiday and celebration of my birthday and Rhi's (momma bear to this adorable little girl) in San Francisco and Las Vegas (big love to Dean, Jay and Rhi!), a move back to my house and an attempt to get back to my normal. And, all of a sudden, I found myself two months (+) later than the last time that I sat before you.

Ahhhh.... life..... how it gets in the way sometimes. And how I wouldn't change that one bit.

So, with the summer and the garden has come the abundance of potatoes and with that comes an abundance of potato eating... And the reason for the cute child at the beginning of this post. She was the Chef and we made "Super Duper Louise Potatoes."

For a few hours before Sunday dinner, I found myself with two wonderful little guests - Louise and Mark. While Mark was quite content with Treehouse and playing with Wally and Jack, Louise wanted to help out in the kitchen. Perfect! So, Louise was going to be in charge of the potatoes and I was to be her sous chef.

Ingredients:
4 pounds potatoes (Yukon Gold... or nice Red... or whatever!)
Herbs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

First off, we nabbed some potatoes (Yukon Gold, I believe) from the back garden. She did the scrubbing, then I did the cutting (no knife zone!) and cut the potatoes into 1 inch chunks. The potatoes were tossed into the baking pan now.

Heat the oven to 450 F.

Louise and I went outside and picked her herbs for the potatoes. She just went to town! She picked a small bowlful... about 1/2 cup of mixed herbs - oregano, thyme, golden sage, rosemary, tarragon and probably a few errant basil leaves.

Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes, then get your hands in there and coat the potatoes.

Since we were still in a no knife zone, Louise used a muddler (that I typically reserve for my mojitos!) to smash the herbs. It worked perfectly!

Add the herbs to the potatoes in the baking pan. Then season with salt and pepper. Stir.

Put the potatoes in the oven and roast for about 45 minutes (until the potatoes are tender and you can stab them easily with a fork!), flipping or tossing part way through the cooking time. Then present, triumphantly, your (magic words) (kid's name) Potatoes!

To be served with or without ketchup. :)

(I only wish I had taken a video of her tutorial, as she explained to her family how she cooked the potatoes - too cute!)