| Potatoes and potato recipes can easily be a cook's | | | | TYPES OF POTATOES: |
| best friend. There are a multitude of different potato | | | | Irish cobbler potatoes have a very strong flavor and |
| types, and conversely hundreds if not thousands of | | | | aroma; they are excellent when boiled with the skin |
| different potato recipes. The potato is a root | | | | intact. |
| vegetable and probably the single most widely used | | | | The Katahdin and Kennebec potato are closer to the |
| vegetable today. Originating in the mountains of | | | | type most of us are used to, being excellent for |
| South America; it has journeyed successfully around | | | | general cooking and frying, they are used in multiple |
| the world and become a staple in countless homes | | | | potato recipes. |
| and multiple tasty recipes. | | | | Probably one of the reasons potatoes are so |
| TYPES OF POTATOES: | | | | versatile is the potato is about 80% water and 20% |
| The Bison potato was introduced to the world by | | | | solid, with an 8 ounce baked potato (without |
| the North Dakota State University, it is bright red, | | | | garnishes) being about 100 calories. |
| and is ideal for frying or baking. | | | | POTATOES IN HISTORY: Thomas Jefferson is |
| Potatoes have a long and colorful history, once | | | | rumored to have brought French fries to the White |
| believed to be poisonous, fed only to prisoners and | | | | House, and while that's a rumor, President Jefferson |
| those who considered infirm, (they belong to the | | | | (when writing to Horatio G. Spafford), set the man |
| "Nightshade family"), the potato is now a staple in | | | | straight as to the origin of the potato, giving |
| the world over. | | | | substance to their origin being in South America. |
| TYPES OF POTATOES: | | | | A simple web search will provide hundreds if not |
| The Chieftain potato is a good all-purpose redskin | | | | thousands of quality and nutritious potato recipes, |
| potato used in many tasty potato recipes. | | | | most easy to prepare and perfect for a family on a |
| The Desiree potato originated in the Netherlands, is | | | | budget. Potatoes are inexpensive, relatively easy to |
| yellow to the eye and has a very distinctive flavor, | | | | prepare (unless you get fancy), and are blend well a |
| resistant to drought and well-suited to organic | | | | most any other dish. |
| gardening. | | | | It seems certain the wide variety of potato recipes |
| Ireland lays claim to being among the first to | | | | stem from the fact they are plentiful and |
| seriously cultivate the potato, dating to the late | | | | inexpensive, and possibly served too often, causing |
| 1700s; in fact, the Irish became so dependent on the | | | | creative potato recipes to be implemented, no one |
| potato creating many nutritious potato recipes, that | | | | wants to here... "What, potatoes again?" |
| the country actually caused a potato shortage | | | | That said I'm going to make some potato soup, |
| resulting in famine in 1845. While tragic, it was | | | | sprinkle in some onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and milk, |
| instrumental in causing people to seek a new life in | | | | to commemorate this article, and as an edible salute |
| other parts of the world. | | | | to the history of a fine root vegetable. |