Wine, Egg Hunts and BEST Oven Fries Ever!

So my night out was wonderful! I didn't end up having a cocktail, but did have plenty of white wine and raw oysters (oh, how I have missed you!).  It's amazing what nine months of abstaining can do for on'e tolerance- I have become quite the lightweight.

I was so excited to take Dell Harper to her first Easter Egg hunt at the church Sunday afternoon.  I got her all dolled up, replete with bonnet (which she was not a fan of), got Hubs and Mama to join us, and readied my camera.

To arrive in an absolute downpour!

We all huddled in the breezeway with the babies, while the older kids got sopping wet.  That's what I get for being vain and staying up late to straighten my hair the night before!  It cleared up when we got home, and we snapped some pics (ruined hair and all) on the front porch.

Saturday night I made the BEST oven fries! I am attempting to clean out the freezer, and I unearthed a huge package of ground tenderloin made from trimmings by the butcher.  Mama and Daddy came over and we feasted on tenderloin burgers and oven fries.

The recipe for the fries comes unsurprisingly from America's Test Kitchen- writers of Cooks Illustrated.  Their cookbooks are some of my favorite reading material, and appeal greatly to the Home Ec nerd in me.  Each recipe details the various incarnations and techniques tested to produce the very best recipe.  For one of my science requirements in high school I took Nutritional Science- besides English, probably my favorite class I have ever taken.  Cooks Illustrated is like that- edible experiments!

Anyway, here's the superbly simple recipe:

Ingredients:
3 russet potatoes (baking potatoes)
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees
Cut the potatoes into evenly sized wedges (I got about 6 per tater)
Put the potatoes in a large bowl, and cover with hot water.
Let soak in the water for 15 minutes
Meanwhile, cover a rimmed baking sheet with 4 tablespoon of oil, making sure it is evenly distributed.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the oil.
Drain and potatoes and pat dry with paper towels.  Wipe out the bowl, and put the dry potatoes back in.
Toss the potatoes with the remaining oil, and lay out in a single layer onto the baking sheet.
Cover the baking sheet tightly with foil, and bake for five minutes
Uncover and cook for 20 minutes.
Using tongs, flip each fry over and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, and try to let them make it to the table before devouring!