If all were to go swimmingly…

Aardappelen, pomme de terre, papa, potato.

From what I have seen over the last year, potatoes are a staple of the Dutch diet.  Every national dish contains potatoes, mothers can carry one or two 10 kilo (22 pound) bags of potatoes on the back of their bike- or sometimes the handlebars- no problem, and when there is a 10 kilos for 1.99 euros sale, people go crazy!  Needless to say (since I am Minnesotan) potatoes are a rather important part of our diet now as well.

So, while making baked potatoes over the last year in our convection oven, I have been a strong advocate  for poking holes in the potatoes before putting them in.  I know that it is a bit different than a microwave (400 degrees for 30 minutes, rather than weird micro-waves for 15 or 20), but I still get a bit nervous and feel the need to stab them each several times.

Matt, on the other hand, does not understand the poking of holes, and chooses to live on the edge by not doing so.  Of course this generally makes me at least a little nervous.  Early today, while making our lunch of baked potatoes, he heard a pop, and much to his pleasure, then brought me in to the kitchen.  He proudly showed me how the skin of a potato had a small bubble which had exploded, leaving only a slightly dented potato and no further problems.  So, I suppose that generally the whole poking the potatoes in case of explosion only applies for microwave ovens.

Two minutes later a giant potato exploded loudly and splattered all over the whole oven…

He politely cleaned it up and moved the remaining potatoes to a plate before continuing the baking process.