Temps in our neck of the woods hit a balmy 4 degrees today - with the windchill your face hurt! But fear not! 5lb bag of potatoes on sale for $1.49, some frozen cheddar, staple of sour cream, a few strips of bacon and some chopped up chives...add a good crusty bread from the Farmer's Market and you have the makings of a stick to your ribs cold weather cozy meal.
Making 'soup meals' always gives me an appreciation of the simple things...same goes when I make Bean Soup. There is something rhythmic and timeless and zen about peeling and chopping potatoes, onions, anything. I would love to know the count (into the hundreds of thousands I'm sure) my grandmother Agnes, from Scotland, hit with spuds. A common meal for them was a 'wee' bit o chopmeat (browned up and tiny like bread crumbs) sprinkled over the humble potato.
For a long time spuds were considered The Devils domain, they grew underground in the dirt that surely led to hell and the leaves were poisonous. During the time of the great climate change a savvy king, Louis XIV tried to promote the filling tuber because it grew protected underground, but the masses wouldn't have it...preferring to starve to death...many of them did.
This year I will be growing them and in a way I find that equally timeless. I cannot wait for the mystery of an entire meal falling from the confines of the potato towers I am planning! Until spring though I've no choice but to shop the sales and @ $1.49/bag well that will be more than enough to feed my hungry home :)
"What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow."A. A. Milne (1882-1956),
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