St. Patrick's Day is the time to plant potatoes in much of the Midwest. They will withstand the less severe frost of early spring -- at least the usually less severe frost. This year -- hard to predict :-) My dad loved to garden and I remember his excitement at getting ready to plant potatoes because that meant spring was here. Barring rain or blizzard -- potatoes were in the ground in the middle of March as close to St. Patrick's Day as possible. Eventually the neighbor, also an avid gardener, came up with a great labor saving method he'd heard about. Save a spot in the big compost pile and just shove the potato eyes in the crumbly mix of organic material --near St. Patrick's Day -- and wait. I was reminded of this when pins began proliferating on Pinterest claiming that you ... [Read More]
Potatoes
Scottsdale Potatoes – Hashbrown potato casserole
My mother discovered these creamy, cheesy potatoes while visiting family in Arizona. Apparently that’s why they are called Scottsdale Potatoes! Here in Ohio, they are known as Cheesy Potatoes or Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole. Recently I’ve seen points further south that labeled them Funeral Potatoes – a name which belies their yumminess but apparently takes into account the fact that the recipe can be boosted to satisfy large numbers. ... [Read More]
Pierogies and Sausage
Happy Pierogie Day! I don’t know who decides these things, but when I read that October 8 was the day for pierogies I knew I had to share this recipe. I was introduced to pierogies a few years ago on a Vacation Bible School message board. One woman noted that she had spent so much time preparing for VBS that she would have to pull out her busy day recipe. Someone pressed her and she said they were having pierogies and sausage. It would take her a breezy fifteen minutes to get a meal on the table that everyone loved. Quick, easy and good . . . everyone was all over that! Over the next couple of days there were reports of everyone’s pierogies dinner. The moderators probably wondered if their company boards had been confused with a cooking forum! Since I’d never heard of ... [Read More]