#61 The Potato

#61 The Potato

It says on my calendar that it's National Potato Chip Day so my cookbook is Potato by Alex Barker and recipes by Sally Mansfield. They can talk all they want about eggs being the perfect food but in my book it's the potato. It's an amazing versatile food and they show pictures of over 150 varieties in this book. I had no idea there were so many kinds or that so many of these are very new inventions. Have you all tried the funny purple ones they serve in the fancier restaurants? They're pretty but I don't taste much difference. Then there's the Canadian invention the Yukon Golden, that's only been around since 1980. They're such a beautiful golden yellow you hardly need butter but add it anyway. I had three kinds of potatoes in my pantry but I could get by just fine with only the lovely Russet. They can do it all and they mad Idaho famous. They're also used in the McDonald's fries so we all eat tons of them.

My very favorite way to prepare potatoes is mashed, the milk, the butter and then I hand whip them into a creamy texture. I don't mind a few lumps. If I have left over whipping cream or cheese, in it goes. Garlic, bits of bacon it's great. Then lots of gravy. I make meat loaf and several other dishes just so I can make the mashed potatoes that go with them, delicious.

Now this is hard to believe but I know two people who make their mashed potatoes with just the water they're cooked in. No milk, no butter blah, life is too short, live it up. The cookbook for today is #61 Potato.