Monday, January 23, 2012

I say potato, you say potahto

One of my favorite Christmas gifts I received this year was a shiny yellow soup pot. It looks picture perfect on my vintage O’Keefe & Merritt - no stainless steel for this lady. I love my 50’s inspired kitchen and have filled it with black and white tiles and lots of colorful Fiestaware.

I have been a vegetarian for 35 years and don’t eat anything with a heart except for artichoke and nothing with eyes except for potatoes. I used to love to cook and even taught a vegetarian cooking class back in the early 80’s. My six week class was a big hit, was actually written up in the paper, and for a very brief moment in time thought about going to culinary school.

When Cassandra was in middle school I worked part-time as a personal assistant for a very busy professional lady. My job description included cooking her dinner three times a week. In the year and a half that I worked for her, only once did she dislike what I made. It was my Popeye Pie, a spinach/potato pseudo-quiche that she tried to eat cold – big mistake. I forgave her because as I stated, she was a very busy lady and this was before microwaves.

Despite my impressive (just being facetious here folks) resume, I don’t LOVE cooking the way that I love crafting. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that after all your hard work slaving in the kitchen, you have nothing to show for it except for a sink load of dirty dishes. Whereas, after altering a Mike’s $1.00 balsa wood box you have something tangible, albeit not something that you can actually use because it is so tiny, but, you can take it out and admire it whenever you like. Can’t do that with food!

Tony likes everything I make…or at least that’s what he tells me. Between work and crafting and now blogging, we eat lots of salads for dinner so there’s little cooking done in our nifty-fifty kitchen. My sunny new pot has inspired my creative juices and I have decided to make up for the Popeye Pie and use the humble potato again, this time it won’t be eaten cold.



Now to the recipie - this is rather loosey goosey and it is hard to make a mistake - even for a novice.

Ingredients
4-5 peeld & chopped russet potatoes
3-4 chopped leeks
3-4 cups of water
1- 1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
2 Tbs dill weed
1 tsp salt
pepper
2-3 Tbs sour cream 
butter

Add the potatoes and leeks to the salted water and cook for 30 to 45 minutes. Add caraway seeds, dill weed and milk and cook for another 20 minutes or until the potatoes begin to fall apart. Add butter, sour cream, heat and serve. Garnish with fresh dill and serve with a simple arugala salad, crusty bread and a glass of wine. Great on a rainy day.

After dinner, let your husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/children do the dishes. YOU'VE been slaving over a hot stove all day and need to rest. Sit down, take out your altered Mike's box and admire with pride! If you don't have one, then look at mine. Please.




6 comments:

  1. This is so pretty and love your story too. Your soup looks yummy. Should of sent me some with MY journal hehehe

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  2. I *LOVE* your soup pot, I can picture your cute kitchen, and that soup looks heavenly! :) I really enjoy watching cooking shows, and wish I were better at it. I keep trying new things, and most aren't winners, LOL. Oh well, I am jotting down this recipe and trying it out this weekend when it's supposed to get cold. Could you substitute kale for the leeks? I've never had a leek before ... :)

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  3. Tanya, Tony and I also love the Food Network and our favorite show is Chopped! About the leeks. They are like very mild onions and this soup needs them. They have long fat stems and you do NOT use the tough green tops. This soup is just like eating a baked potato with sour cream and chives...just substituting the leeks for the chives :-) Kale could be added, but you also need something to add that oniony flavor. Let me know how it comes out!

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  4. I love how you have a well-written little story in your posts. Makes for an entertaining read, and I love seeing what your talent creates! I can just picture your fifties kitchen, and though I don't know you well it seems very fitting for your style :) Oh and did you know that fiestaware actually has a small amount of radiation in it? Or at least it used to...in my high school chemistry class (2003-2004) my teacher brought in some of hers along with a Geiger counter. When we held the counter near the fiestaware it registered a little radiation! I believe she attributed it to the paint used on the dishes. But of course it's a very minute amount and not harmful at all, but I thought that was really interesting! I bet all your colors look so fun in the black and white tile kitchen!

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  5. Katie you are absolutely right about the radiation! Fortunately, or unfortunately, our fiestaware is all new (Macy's and Kohls) and is actually made in the USA. It's the vintage Fiestaware, and only certain colors, that has radiation and believe it or not that Fiestaware is very valuable. Thanks for the kind words and you've given me an idea - think in the future there will be a blog about my dishes!!!

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  6. Oh those $1 boxes from Michaels!! They look so fabulous to all of us here on the other side of the world with no Michaels.. or Joannes .. or Hobby Lobby! Love your box and little mini - great job. xx M

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