stuffed potatoes

if you think you're going to be having a baking day or that the oven will be on for a while, why not bake some potatoes? and stuff them....
these are seriously delicious comfort food, and you can make them as simple or as fancy as you like.

8 large potatoes
100 grams butter
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped, cooked bacon (you can pop the bacon into the oven to cook with the potatoes - i do)
1 onion diced and sweated (again, this can be cooked in the oven), or
1 cup of sliced green onions, which you can leave raw
1 cup grated cheese
freshly ground pepper
1 cup grated cheese, extra - optional

bake the potatoes for an hour at 200 degrees celcius or so until they are easily pierced with a skewer.
slice the potatoes in half when they are done and scoop out their centres into a large mixing bowl.
add the butter, bacon, sour cream,onion/green onion, cheese and pepper. and stir around with a knife. the potatoes will break up into chunks and blend with the other ingredients. if you want your potatoes smooth, go ahead and mash them smooth, but i like mine with chunks. the butter will also melt and be absorbed by the mixture.
when mixed to your liking, pile the mixture into the potato skins and sprinkle over extra cheese, if liked. return the potatoes to the oven to warm through and serve.
if you'd like the potatoes to be fancier, you can add celery seeds, capsicum, mushrooms, sweetcorn, chicken, leeks etc to the mixture. the world's your oyster.