Monday, May 10, 2010

a perfect day

My Mother's Day was perfect. It's not often I can say I have a perfect day!


Ella gave me these beautiful flowers. She was so excited to surprise me. I love Gerbera daisies. She chose the bouquet because it had pink roses.
  • Lynn and Ella took me to lunch at P.F. Changs on Saturday. So yummy!
  • Lynn stayed home from his responsibilities at BYU and got Ella dressed and ready for church. It was great to be there together.
  • Ella sang with the Primary for the first time! She's been waiting for that moment forever (I have too!). I was so disappointed when Lynn took her up and I thought he left her standing on the floor where I couldn't see her. Brinley Dayton picked her up and took her to the back row and held her the entire time. I had a perfect view. Love you, Brinley!
  • Patrick came to church with us instead of going to the single's ward. I think it was really to see Ella sing. He so loves and adores her. (It's definitely a mutual thing.)
  • I cleaned up on gifts: flowers from Ella, tickets to see Broadway's Lion King, this book I've been wanting and hinting about (I left a link on my desktop that said, "This is what I want for Mother's Day!"), a Target gift card and built-in shelving for my garage. (The shelving is a combination gift to Lynn and I from Patrick and covers multiple holidays. I'm super excited about it.) Funny thing, of all the hundreds of cards for Mother's Day, both Ella and Patrick bought me the exact same one! What are the chances?
  • The best part: my family was all here and Sean called me from Montana.
  • I didn't have to cook and dinner turned out fantastic!


    Patrick grabbed the salt just as I went to take this photo so it would look like he was helping. :) He did actually help.


    I really wanted glazed salmon sublime for dinner (a recipe I got from Steph and Dave Decker that is fabulous!), but Costco ran out of fresh salmon. How strange is that? So my second choice was Monterey Chicken, Butter-Pecan Sweet Potatoes and broccoli. (I'll share the recipes at the end of this post.)


    Ella sitting on her usual "perch" helping mix ingredients. Notice my Family Favorites recipe book is open on the counter. My family even knows where to look for recipes now.

    I have to admit it was a little difficult to just sit and watch (actually read my new book) while my family worked in the kitchen. I did give some general direction and know the sweet potato recipe was started twice. :)

    Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mommas out there. I hope your day was perfect too.

    ***I forgot to take a photo and we gobbled up both dishes too fast! I'll take one next time we make them and add later.


    MONTEREY CHICKEN

    4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
    1/4 c. bar-b-que sauce ( I use Bull's Eye)
    1/4 c. real bacon bits
    1 c. colby and jack cheese, shredded
    1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained (canned with green chilies added)
    sliced green onions
    pepper

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out chicken breasts to flatten. Season with pepper. Grill chicken until no long pink (we used our George Foreman grill) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with one tablespoon bar-b-que sauce, 1/4 c. cheese, 1/4 c. tomatoes, green onions and one tablespoon of bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

    ***This is the first time we marinated the chicken breasts before cooking and they were great. You don't have to though. Marinade: 1/4 c. olive oil, 2 T. soy sauce, 2 tsp. McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning. (We only marinade about a half hour or the meat gets too salty for us.)


    BUTTER-PECAN SWEET POTATOES

    8 medium sweet potatoes (5 lbs.), or one per person
    olive oil
    course salt
    2 T. butter, cut into small pieces
    2 T. light brown sugar
    1/3 c. pecan pieces
    1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and halve lengthwise; slice crosswise 1/2 inch thick. On a baking sheet, toss potatoes with olive oil (we brush it on both sides); season with salt.

    Transfer half the potatoes to a second baking sheet; cook both sheets until potatoes are tender, tossing occasionally, 25-30 minutes.

    Sprinkle with butter, brown sugar, pecan pieces and cayenne pepper, dividing evenly. Bake until sugar is carmelized and hard, about 10 minutes. Toss gently; serve immediately. Serves 8.

    ***I got this recipe from the Martha Stewart website. I used to only make it for holidays, but we love it so much we make it more often. I double the topping ingredients when I make it.

    Enjoy!

    100 comments:

    1. Can you post the Salmon recipe as well?

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      1. Thanks for this great recipe. You probably understand how difficult to find good recipes with meat. I have been cooking for about 6 years using recipes that I find on the internet and I am not always lucky enough to find good recipe of sweet potatoes. I wanted to offer you to record a video guide with the preparation of this dish and post it on Instagram, given that your recipe is good, but it lacks clarity in preparing it so that others can easily repeat it. I saw a lot of instructions on how to cook various dishes there and mostly such videos have from 43 to 46 thousand of likes ! Which suggests that their authors are always buy instagram likes to quickly boost their number.

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    2. I enjoyed your pictures of Mother's Day. It was fun to see Ella sitting on the counter, reminds me of when my kids were little. I also liked seeing the rest of the family. I'm going to try your recipes today. Thanks. I'm off to CA and Portland this coming weekend to visit Shanon and then Trent. Love Sheri

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    3. very excited to try these recipes...thank you for sharing them! =o)

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    4. I think it is funny that this recipe on pinterest has over 480 repins and only four comments on your blog, I am here to tell you that this looks delish and I am going to try it out.

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    5. I found your blog on Pinterest. This was my first time having Monterrey Chicken and it was fantastic. Thank you so much for posting this.

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    6. Thanks, ladies. I'm puzzled by the no comment thing too! Thanks to both of you for leaving one.:) So glad you liked the Monterey Chicken, I have yet to find someone who doesn't! It's a keeper.

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    7. Just repeating what the last two comments said. Thanks for this delicious recipe. I also found this on Pinterst. My little ones ate the chicken plain, and it was very flavorful just after being grilled. I will be linking your recipe to my blog to share with my readers: http://theslum.wordpress.com/
      Thank you so much! Is your blog on facebook?

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    8. i tried your recipe last night on the monterery chicken family loved it. thanks so much for posting this. excited to see what else i can find that you have posted..
      tena

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    9. Thanks, jacf7275 and Tena, for letting me know you enjoyed the chicken. My daughter won't eat it either, but she loves the grilled chicken by itself too. Works for me. And jacf7275, thanks for the link up. I always appreciate it! :)

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    10. The chicken and the taters have gone in my Pinterest cookbook....thank you so very much for sharing!

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      1. I made the chicken today! I skipped the cheese. It was delicious!!! Thank you!

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      2. I made the chicken today! I skipped the cheese. It was delicious!!! Thank you!

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    11. You are going to LOVE them. Thanks for leaving a comment. :)

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    12. I just want to make sure it's okay to post your pic on pinterest. Thanks.

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    13. I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

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    14. Could I just grown the chicken on the stove top before baking or does it have to be grilled? Thanks .. can't wait to try this!

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    15. I made this tonight it was really good thanks for sharing

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    16. You are welcome. So glad you enjoyed it.

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    17. yummy! I can't wait to try this. I am pinning this!

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    18. I also found this sweet potato recipe on pinterest. I will be trying both this and the chicken recipe very soon! But you know the thing I'm most excited about from this post?? The picture of your "family favorites" recipe binder. I have family favorite recipes, but they are in a thousand different places. It took your picture to make me think, "Gee I should put those in a binder!" (Well, DUH!!) HA HA!! Thanks for the good ideas!

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    19. I didn't try the Sweet Potatoes, that's next on the list, but the chicken was awesome! Thanks! My kids loved it, a little spicy one said, but the others were like, no way, lol!

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    20. I agree it can be a little spicy, but I swear each can of Rotel tomatoes I open has a different level of hotness. Glad you all liked it.

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    21. Ooooh yum that Monterey Chicken looks delish! I love that it uses Rotel tomatoes because with coupon shopping, those are usually very inexpensive, as is BBQ sauce and cheese, so this looks like a simple, inexpensive meal I'd like to try. Thanks for sharing!

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    22. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!

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    23. This was delicious! I pan fried the chicken because heating up the grill is such a hassle, and my husband commented on how tender and flavorful the chicken was. {score!} Thanks for sharing the recipes!

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    24. I know what I want for my Birthday dinner this Saturday!! Thanks for sharing!!

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    25. I found your recipe on Pinterest. I love everything about this recipe. The ingredients sound wonderful, I have a George Forman grill, and it is fast and easy! Sharing on my blog, Around the World with Recipes at blogspot. If you would prefer I don't share, please let me know. I can't wait to try this!

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    26. Love the recipe. I, too, found it on Pinterest. Sometimes people pin and don't get back to actually try the recipes for a bit. I am like that. So posting now to say thank you.

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    27. I am going to try the sweet potatoes with the Honey and Pecan Salmon on Pinterest! I've made the salmon before and it's delicious! Thanks for posting!

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    28. We really enjoyed this! Found it on pinterest. Thanks for sharing!

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    29. Found this through pintrest and made it tonight! Delicious! Thanks!

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    30. I also found this through Pinterest and made it over the weekend. I actually did it all outdoors on the grill and it worked great! Thanks for sharing.

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    31. Great idea during the warmer weather! Thanks, Mary Ellen.

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    32. I will be try the , potatoes tonight, and trying to decide on the chicken or salmon. Thank the comments are very helpful,so once I have tried I will post.

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    33. Saw this on Pinterest! Thanks for sharing, and your family looks so nice. :)
      Best,
      Gloria

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    34. Hi! I put a link to this chicken recipe on my blog. It looks delicious!!! Can't wait to try it :)

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    35. Sounds great! If the marinade is too salty, try the Montreal chicken seasoning instead of Montreal steak.. much less salty. We also use the low sodium soy sauce. I can't wait to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing!

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    36. Thank you! I will definitely try both.

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    37. I seen this on Pinterest. Made the chicken tonight. Loved it. I only made half with the tomatoes and thank goodness I did because the kids didn't like them.

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    38. I made this a few days ago and it was fabulous! I'll be posting it as my Recipe of the Day tomorrow on my low carb blog: http://www.lowcarblayla.blogspot.com/
      Thanks for such a great recipe!

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    39. Just found the chicken on Pinterest...looks great! Trying both the chicken and sweet potatoes this week for my family...can't wait to taste them both!

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    40. Thanks for the inspiration! Made a BBQ version of this the other day for supper. Totally a keeper!

      http://culinary-cool.blogspot.ca/2012/06/barbecue-monterey-chicken.html

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    41. Nicole, your recipe looks yummy! I think it's great when others take a recipe and put their own twist on it. So glad it's a keeper for your family too.

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    42. I made the chicken and the sweet potatoes tonight...both were fabulous. Thank you!

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    43. Awesome, Donia! Sounds like you enjoyed them as much as we do.

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    44. I made the Monterey Chicken tonight. It was the best chicken we've ever had! Thanks for sharing...can't wait to make it again!

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    45. Cant wait to try this chicken recipe... BBQ sauce, bacon bits and cheese... three of my fav things. Glad I came across it on Pinterest!

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    46. I've never posted before after making a recipe, but I have to tell you, this chicken was AMAZING. I found myself eating the last bite and wondering when I could make it again. It was loved by everyone! Thanks so much for sharing!

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    47. I just had to come back and tell you that I cooked this tonight and it was WONDERFUL! The George Forman Grill is a lifesaver too. This recipe was easy, really quick and delicious! Going to add this comment to my blog too! I would give this 5 stars!

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    48. I made this tonight after finding it on pinterest. I cooked the chicken on the stove top before browning the goodies in the oven. It was very tasty, but I highly recommend grilling the chicken to give it that "crunchy" effect. I altered this for my children (just used cheese and bacon) but otherwise followed the directions for the myself and the hubby. OH SHOOT.... I just realized I cut up the green onions, but never took them out of the fridge to a la mode the chicken :(

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    49. I made the monterrey chicken and absolutely loved it!!!! So amazingly scrumptious :) I love marinating my chicken so I used the marinade and it is so simple, quick, and easy!!! I love that you don't have to marinade over night. I use the marinade nearly every time I cook only chicken breast. Thanks Love the recipe!!

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    50. I am making the chicken tonight, so far it is coming along nicely, can't wait to try it, thanks for posting!

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    51. I made the chicken dish tonight for dinner. SCORE! It was awesome! Thanks for sharing. :-) The barbecue sauce paired with the bacon was just fantastic!

      ~Stacy @ Stacy Makes Cents

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    52. Thank you for the recipe! It looks scrumptious! I am going to attempt a freezer meal version, as I am gathering recipes now for a giant freezer meal occupation. Yum!

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    53. Oh...please let us know if the freezer version works!

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    54. My son looked ast that picture and said I want that Mommy!

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    55. My son looked ast that picture and said I want that Mommy!

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    56. My son looked ast that picture and said I want that Mommy!

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    57. I am going to make the sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving this year. They sound DELISH!

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    58. The sweet potatoes are awesome!!! I love the little bit of spice from the cayanne pepper and that there's not much sugar in the recipe. After baking the potatoes with the olive oil & salt, I threw them in a casserole dish, alternating potatoes and topping so I could make sure I didn't waste any of the topping. Great recipe; thanks for sharing!!

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      1. Oh, I love that you put them in a casserole dish after roasting. Great idea! I'm going to try it.

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    59. Top the chicken with the tomatoes along with the other ingredients. Wish I was having it for dinner too! :)

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    60. Top the chicken with the tomatoes along with the other ingredients. Wish I was having it for dinner too! :)

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    61. I'm making the Monterey Chicken again tonight. I first tried it a month ago and we loved it! Our family doesn't like sweet potatoes, so I made twiced baked potatoes instead. I made extra and put in the freezer (already gone). Tonight we're having the chicken with green beans. This is my favorite recipe from Pinterest. Thanks for posting!

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    62. This was a delicious way to cook chicken. Definitely a man pleaser meal. And such a versatile meal for serving sizes!

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    63. Made the chicken and sweet potatoes tonight and they were outstanding! Thank so much for sharing the recipe.

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    64. Made this tonight. Just baked my chicken and added the topping the last 5 minutes. DH and I liked it one kid out of 3 (typical) did too

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      1. Yep, I still can't get Ella to eat it. Everyone else LOVES it!

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    65. wonderful!! I made this last night and it was tasty and easy!! thank you!!

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    66. I pinned this several months ago and just made a plan to try out my pinterest recipes (1 new every week). I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing!! It's getting filed away with the favorites. Thank you so much for sharing!

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    67. I pinned this a couple of months ago and just got around to making it. Delicious!!!

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    68. Thanks Kim for the easy and awesome chicken recipe!

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    69. Thanks you everyone! So glad you all like it. It was my requested dinner for my recent birthday celebration.

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    70. Thanks, Kim, for the delicious sweet potato recipe I found on Pinterest. It's a keeper!

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    71. Thanks for your Monterey Chicken recipe, I made it last night and my family loved it!

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    72. Thanks for the recipe. This is my favorite entrée at a local restaurant. Sounds like Sunday dinner now. Your family is lovely and your little girls curls are to die for!

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    73. I am trying the sweet potatoes today to take a cookout. I love sweet potatoes and I tHink everybody else will too. Let u know my results. Tomorrow. Thank u for sharing

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    74. just made the chicken for dinner. huge hit!! thanks for sharing. :)

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    75. Ok just came back from the grocery store! Excited to make the Monterrey Chicken!

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    76. I made this tonight and it was so great! ALL 5 of my kids liked it! If that's not proof that it's wonderful, I don't know what is. I marinaded my chicken in kc masterpiece steak marinade because I had it on hand. My husband was working (and I'm completely helpless when it comes to a grill) so I dusted off my old electric griddle and "bbq'd" them on it. I wouldn't change one thing about this! Except next time I'm making double!!!

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    77. I found your blog through Pinterest and the chicken has become a family favorite! It's delicious, thank you for sharing the recipe!

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    78. Your recipe sounds delicious, but I have a question...only cook raw chicken for 5 minutes? Can this be right? Please clarify so I can enjoy some! Thanks!

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    79. I made both of these and they were delicious!

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    80. Saw this chicken on Pinterest. Made it last night. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

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    81. My family loves the MONTEREY CHICKEN!!! Thank you for the recipe!!

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    82. Just made this for dinner tonight and my kids really enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!!

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    83. Love the butter pecan sweet potatoes! Have made them 3 times now. Such a great change from simply baked or mashed potatoes!

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