Baked Egg Boats with Bacon and Herbs

as i sit down to write this recipe, i cannot believe it has been three and a half weeks since my last post. 24 days. i kind of can't believe it. more importantly, i am in awe that i still have readers. thanks for hanging in there with me.

since my last post, i packed up our house, we moved to a new house, encountered unexpected issues/expenses, unpacked, went to a wedding in buffalo, spent time with E's family, spent time with my family, had an earthquake (my first ever here in maryland) and are currently bracing ourselves for our first hurricane. is the end near?

i can assure you the end of good clean fun is not near. this little blog is dear to my heart but i think i needed the break. i didn't have enough time or energy at the end of the day to cook for 2-3 weeks, but now, i'm finally back in the kitchen!

this meal was the first dinner i made in our new (to me) kitchen. the stove is taking a little getting used to (it's electric - i've had gas for the past 5 years and the stove knobs didn't have any numbers on them. it took me a little while to remember which way was high and which direction was low. but i think i have it now.)

this recipe is a little time consuming but it's super easy. the hands on prep time is short, but baking potatoes takes about an hour and baking bacon takes 20-30 minutes. so total time is long but worth it.

we had our baked egg boats with freshly picked corn on the cob (boiled for exactly 3 minutes) because in late august i can't get enough fresh corn. it made for a wonderfully filling summer meal. make sure you use fresh herbs if you have them. they really give this dish a little something extra.

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Baked Egg Boats with Bacon and Herbs
serves 4

2 baked potatoes (i use this as my never fail baked potato method - alton brown knows what he is talking about)
4 pieces super crispy bacon, crumbled (this is my never-fail-perfectly-crispy-bacon method)
1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (i use heluva good special reserve extra sharp white cheddar)
4 eggs
1 large tomato, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped
fresh thyme
fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper

halve cooled potatoes and scoop out flesh, leaving roughly 1/4" of flesh being careful not to break through the skin (save potato flesh for mashed potatoes). sprinkle potato boats with half the shredded cheese. break egg and drop one in each potato half. sprinkle remaining shredded cheddar on top of the eggs. sprinkle each egg with a little salt and pepper.

broil potato egg boats for 3-5 minutes until egg is just set and cheese is bubbly. remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped herbs, tomatoes, and bacon. serve immediately.

Almond Scones

are you sick of scones yet? me either!

hopefully i have converted some of you scone haters with my vanilla bean scones or my lemon scones. these babies are not dry and crumbly ya'll - they are moist, tender, and packed with flavor!

plus, they have lots of butter and cream, so how could they be bad? (i sound like paula deen with my butter and ya'lls:)

every time i make a new scone recipe i deem it my new favorite. this time, without a doubt, these almond scones are E's favorite. in fact, i am pretty sure he said "these are little bites of heaven" in between mouthfuls. he ate 4-5 the night i made them.

i asked if they were too almond-y and he said there is not such thing. in fact, they reminded him of a long-time wasti family favorite - danish puff - a sweet almond pastry with almond icing made lovingly by E's mom on christmas eve.

these scones certainly don't take a candle to danish puff but one bite does transport me to the holiday and has me counting the days until christmas - 144 to be exact!

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Almond Scones
makes 2 dozen

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
3 tbs almond paste
5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup 1% milk
1 tsp almond extract

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

in the bowl of an electric mixer mix together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. add cold, cubed butter and mix on low until butter is the size of peas.

in a small bowl, lightly beat together milk, cream, eggs, zest, and extract. slowly add milk mixture to electric mixer on low. mix until just combined. dump onto floured surface and roll out into a square (about 1/2" thick). cut into 12 squares and then in half into 24 triangles.

place on parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes. bottoms will be just starting to brown. let cool completely.

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Almond Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbs almond extract
1-3 tsp milk

whisk together sugar and extract. add enough milk to reach a thick yet drizzable consistency. pour icing into ziploc bag. snip small corner off and drizzle over cooled scones. let scones sit until icing has hardened and store in airtight container.

Where the magic happens . . .

i have had some questions about what my kitchen looks like. considering we are about to move and my workspace will be completely new and different, i thought now is as good a time as any to show you where all the magic currently happens.

hop on over the meadowvale finds and you can see and read about all the details of good clean fun's kitchen! (let them know Good Clean Fun sent you:)