The perfect pairing for the indulgently savory Ultimate Twice-Baked Potatoes is Gabrielle Zevin's novel "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow," complemented by the classic cocktail, the Old Fashioned. The novel’s exploration of creativity and friendship mirrors the rich layers of flavor in the potatoes, while the Old Fashioned's smooth yet robust profile provides a delightful contrast. Together, this pairing offers a feast for both the taste buds and the mind, making it a perfect choice for a thoughtful evening in.
Ingredients
- 4 large russet potatoes
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 6 slices bacon
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Bake the potatoes: Scrub the potatoes clean and pat them dry. Rub each potato with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until they are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Cook the bacon: While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon from the skillet and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Once cooled, crumble the bacon and set aside.
- Prepare the filling: Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut each potato in half lengthwise. Scoop out the insides, leaving a thin border of potato flesh to support the skin. Place the scooped-out potato flesh in a large bowl.
- Mash the potatoes: Add the sour cream, milk, softened butter, 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon (reserve a little for topping), and chopped green onions to the bowl with the potato flesh. Mash everything together until smooth and well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stuff the potatoes: Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins, mounding it slightly. Place the stuffed potatoes back on the baking sheet.
- Bake again: Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and reserved bacon on top of the stuffed potatoes. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve: Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
In love and at enmity, Sam and Sadie make passionate creative partners. Their friendship is the key to their success but becomes their greatest tragedy as rivalries, betrayals, and secrets threaten to destroy them. Spanning thirty years, their story is one of growing up, venturing into adulthood, and creating everything they love from pixels, code, and lines.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Sam and Sadie—two college friends, often in love, but never lovers—become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have read before. "Delightful and absorbing." —The New York Times • "Utterly brilliant." —John Green One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • One of the Best Books of the Year: The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, TIME, GoodReads, Oprah Daily From the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts. Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
Discussion Questions
- How does the author use gaming as a metaphor for life?
- Discuss the friendship between Sam and Sadie. How does it evolve over the years?
- What role does creativity play in their relationship?
- How do the supporting characters influence Sam and Sadie's journey?
- Explore the theme of failure and success in the novel.
- How does the timeline affect the storytelling in the book?
- What do you think is the author's message about collaboration and competition?
- Discuss the novel's portrayal of the gaming industry.
- In what ways do secrets impact the friendship between the main characters?
- What does the book suggest about the nature of partnerships?
Authors:
Gabrielle Zevin
ISBN: 9780593403355
Publisher: Random House
Published Date: 2024-06-25
Classic Old Fashioned
A timeless cocktail that combines bourbon, bitters, and sugar to create a smooth and delightful sipping experience. The Old Fashioned is both simple and elegant, with a balanced flavor that complements the rich and savory Ultimate Twice-Baked Potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 oz bourbon
- 1 sugar cube
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Orange twist, for garnish
- Ice
Instructions
- Place the sugar cube in an Old Fashioned glass.
- Add the bitters and a splash of water, then muddle the sugar until dissolved.
- Fill the glass with ice and add the bourbon.
- Stir gently to combine, then garnish with an orange twist.