Straight To Potato Boat Recipe

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My mother’s cooking rivals any Martha Stewart magazine or Pillsbury kitchen, even today. Taught by her mother who attended a proper girl’s school to learn domestic talents, my mom can whip up a phenomenal Southern meal from any cupboard on the planet. Her imagination holds no bounds, recognizes no limits.

As a child of eight, I already recognized she had a gift in the kitchen. Christmas dinners for the four of us could have fed twelve. Her fried chicken was my father’s favorite dinner in her repertoire, and fresh vegetables took on a magical flavor resulting in her children adoring anything green. Cookies that looked simple usually melted in your mouth with the wonder of anise, almond or ginger on your tongue, and the pretty cookies beheld designs, shapes, sprinkles, and stenciled pictures that took one’s breath away.

So when my teacher asked for volunteers to cook for the Father-Daughter dinner, I donated mom’s time to fix my favorite food―potatoes. I had grown up with all the fancy, spicy, tasty, and savory dishes, but my best-loved veggie was the potato. Whether you fried it, baked it, boiled it, scalloped it, or cheesed it, the potato ranked highest on my food pyramid.

My mother cringed as she heard that I had not only obligated her to fix one of the blandest vegetables, but I had also committed her to one that was labor intensive. My choice for the menu was stuffed potatoes. These twice baked yummies took time to bake, scoop, mix, fill, and rebake―especially for a mom that worked an 8 to 5 day. Add that to the fact that she needed enough for 50 people, and she had a chore! But the thought of her husband and first-born going out on a date was enough to obtain her blessing, and she started her mission.

First, she shopped for the best potatoes, a step often overlooked by the average cook. Then she spent the afternoon washing and scrubbing each one. Not only did she believe in fresh food, but her cleanliness and sterile cooking requirements could parallel quality control requirements of the best hospitals. The baking took place in the oven in stages to create the quantity.

Then the work began. Scooping the potatoes took a careful hand to take the meat down to the skin without disturbing it. A torn skin was promptly discarded as it fell short of her close scrutinization. Once again, stages took place since proper mixing of the potato meat had to occur when it was hot to properly blend the butter, milk, mayonnaise, and spices.

Looking back I marvel at the production of that day. She took a day off her secretarial job to ensure her little girl had what she wanted for that special day. By late afternoon, my stuffed potatoes lay beautiful in rows on cookie tins with cheddar cheese evenly melted on each individual shell. But what amazed my little eyes was the garnish. Mom had taken my plain stuffed potatoes and turned them into little sailboats with toothpicks and colored paper―for 50 people.

I was the talk of the dinner that night as people recognized the love in the preparation, and in that night I realized just what lengths a mother will go through in loving her family. It’s not the ingredients of the dish that matters. It’s the devotion that goes into the creation that makes it special.

In that night, my family celebrated its endearment for each other. Even today, my family calls stuffed potatoes―potato boats―with a fondness that brings memories of a younger age and a mother's commitment to her own.

Twice Baked Potatoes (Potato Boats) Recipe:

Three baking potatoes, well-shaped for best baking and stuffing.

½ stick butter

½ cup milk

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black or white pepper

1 tsp chives

shredded cheddar cheese

Add other spices like rosemary, chili powder, parsley based on taste and theme of dinner.