Hi everyone! My name is Laura and I am here today from Mom Envy. Over at Mom Envy, you’ll find a whole lot of free printables, DIYs/Crafts, holiday ideas, recipes, planner printables, organization tips, and more. We touch on everything related to your home, life, and kids.
Just like Grace, I have two young boys. In addition to our boymom status, we are both Gilmore Girl enthusiasts. Unlike Grace, I have never had the pleasure of meeting any of the actors (not going to lie, I am totally jealous of Grace, especially her late night chat with Kelly Bishop). But let me get to why I am here today posting in place of Grace. We have actually switched blogs for one day this week. Since she is doing Whole 30 this month, Friday Night Dinner would have been difficult. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really see Emily Gilmore serving up a Whole 30 meal. It worked out perfectly because I wanted to use her professional experience as a labor and delivery nurse to write a post over on my blog. So, welcome to Friday Night Dinner at A Literary Feast served by a different host.
Season 2, episode 11, contains heaps of termites which left me feeling itchy throughout half of the episode. Lorelai wakes up happy to greet the world. Then her mood quickly changes as she steps through a board on her front porch that has been a recent snack for termites. After the master of all trades, Kirk, examines the house, he determines that termites have caused about $15,000 in damage. Unless Lorelai takes up some form of adult entertainment, she is out of ideas on how to get the money. She spends the majority of the episode begging men in fancy suits at various banks to give her a loan.
When Rory and Lorelai attend their first Friday Night Dinner of the episode, Rory opens the can of termites worms about Lorelai needing a loan to fix their house. Lorelai in no-way wants to accept help from her parents and is angry at Rory for interfering. So this causes a fight between Lorelai and Rory (which left me feeling like I had just had a fight with my own Mom).
In an attempt to save Lorelai, Luke rides in on his white horse (wearing a backwards blue baseball cap of course). Ultimately, Lorelai puts a stop to his rescue mission and turns down his offer to loan her money. Meanwhile, Rory has been unable to reach Lane for half of the episode. When Lane finally turns up outside of the Stars Hollow High, Rory is shocked to see her dressed in a cheerleading uniform (and no, it’s not Halloween or a prank). By the end of the episode, Rory is thankfully on board with the peppier version of Lane and all is well (I am still not sure I have ever come to terms with Lane as a cheerleader).
The episode concludes with Lorelai being served a whole lot of humble pie. She eventually co-signs a loan with Emily which gets her the much-needed money to fix her house. Lorelai demands to know what strings will be attached to the loan, but Emily becomes defensive and irate at Lorelai for suggesting such a notion. Of course, in the end we learn that the money has strings (there are always strings, Pinocchio). Emily will be hosting the D.A.R luncheons at the Inn for the foreseeable future.
So in honor of Friday Night Dinner, I will be sharing with you some humble pie. Despite having two Friday Night Dinners in this episode, we only see salad and rolls. So Grace had the idea for me to serve up some humble pie. What’s more humble and rustic than some potatoes? Today’s recipe is a humble potato and bacon slab pie. It’s filled with simple Idaho potatoes, bacon, a little onion, some seasoning, and cheese. It pairs perfectly with a Friday Night Dinner salad. And we do know that the Gilmore girls love their pie.
Humble Potato and Bacon Sheet Slab Pie
- Ingredients:
- 2 sheets of Puff Pastry dough
- 4 Idaho potatoes (other potatoes would work as well, you just may need a few more if they’re smaller)
- 8 slices of thick cut bacon
- 1/2 a large Vidalia onion
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 8 oz of your favorite cheese, shredded
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350.
Set the puff pastry dough out to thaw per the directions on the box. If you are not ready to use it by the time it has thawed, place it into the fridge.
Dice the bacon into small pieces. Brown the bacon lightly in a large frying pan.
Dice the onion small. Add it to the bacon and continue cooking another 3-5 minutes.
Place them into a separate bowl. Leave the pan (no need to clean it, you want the good stuff that’s left in there!)
Peel the potatoes.
Slice the potatoes thinly. They should be about the thickness of a butcher’s knife blade.
Place 2 tablespoons of butter into the frying pan.
Add the potatoes. Pour the bacon and onion mixture back on top of the potatoes. Let them cook for a little bit before stirring. After about two minutes of cooking, stir the bacon and onions into the potatoes. Cook over medium-high heat for about 3 more minutes.
Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic or use a garlic press (depends on how much you love garlic, I’d put the whole bulb in if my husband would let me). Add to the potato mixture and stir. Cook another two minutes.
Take the pan off the heat. Add 4 oz of shredded cheese and mix.
Line a large jelly roll pan with foil.
Remove the puff pastry and unfold it. Place one sheet all the way to one side. Place the other sheet all the way to the other side slightly overlapping in the middle.
Pinch the puff pastry sheets together in the middle.
Pour the potato mixture on top of the pastry sheets.
Drizzle 1/2 cup of heavy cream over the potato mixture.
Cover the potato mixture with the remaining 4 oz of shredded cheese.
Pull the sides of the puff pastry dough up over the edges of the potato mixture, creating a rustic crust/edge.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes-1 hour (or until potatoes are cooked through and no longer firm.
Let it rest for 5 minutes. Enjoy!
**If the edges of the puff pastry start to brown but the potatoes aren’t cooked, gently place a layer of foil on top of the entire thing in the oven (no need to press down, simply lay it on top).
With all the baking I do, I’ve yet to wander into the puff pastry arena. I’m scared of temperamental pastry (and I always forget stuff at the store, so I usually end up trying to throw something together as a substitute). I’ll have to put this on my list, because my family will eat anything that smells like bacon. Thanks for the idea! Also, I enjoyed Grace’s post on your blog, I’ll have to check out the rest of your site.
If you make your own pie crust, I bet you could do it that way, too! Yes, check out http://momenvy.co. I think you’ll like her printables for home organization. 🙂