I haven't always been in to polka dots. Its a rather new like for me. As a matter of fact, I hated polka dots. Why? Well, it is one of those things I can blame on my mom. When I was like 10 years old she bought me the ugliest old lady bathing suit-black with white polkas dots. I have hated them ever since. I'm not kidding. It almost permanently scarred me.=) But, I have fallen back in love because they are in for little girls. And I have two little girls. It started with the blanket I made for Meredith-pastel polka dots on a soft flannel. And she was given a pink and green newborn outfit with white polka dots (kind of a cute watermelon affect) that I had her newborn photos taken in. And she had a tan onesie with white polka dots. Are you picking up on a white polka dot theme? And then someone gave her a squeaky toy rhino thing-pink with polka dots. And I bought her a navy blue romper with white polka dots. And my sil just gave her a black shirt with white polka dots and pink highlights. Its so adorable. Anyway...that's the polka dots. But don't expect to see me wearing any except for on my legs. That would be so "80s".=)
How about potatoes? Potatoes are quite the subject. They belong to the deadly nightshade family, and originated in the Andes region. There are more than 5000 cultivated varieties worldwide, making potatoes the fourth largest crop following rice, wheat and maize. Potatoes were introduced into Europe in the late 16th century after the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire. Both Sir Francis Drake, and Thomas Harriot, an employee of Walter Raleigh, are credited with bringing them to England. European farmers were rather suspicious of this tuber, and were slow to adopt the potato as a main crop. By the 1800s the potato was a big factor in Ireland, which led to the Great Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s when potato blight destroyed the potato crop several years in a row. In the first decade of the 21st century(that's now) the annual diet of the average global citizen consisted of 73 pounds of potatoes. And how do we eat them? French fries, potato chips, latkes, stumput, mashed potatoes, colcannon, and baked potatoes to name just a few.
Personally, I like to eat my 70+ pounds of potatoes as potato soup. That's what's on the menu tonight. Potato soup in bread bowls. The soup recipe is an old standby. The bread bowls are an experiment.
Bernadette's Dilly Potato Soup
3 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp dill weed
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1 pound bacon-fried OR 1 to 2 cups chopped ham
parsley
-Peel and cube potatoes. Place in a large pot, cover with water and cook with a dash of salt, onion, celery and garlic until tender(45-60 minutes).
-Meanwhile, fry bacon.
-Mash in water. Add remaining ingredients, and bring back to a boil. Add more water or milk if needs thinning.
My aunt, who is a faithful blog reader, thinks that bacon with potatoes is an abomination. But she doesn't like donuts either, so should we really trust her judgement?=)
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| No soup and bread bowl photos yet, (I'll take them tonight and add them later) so you are stuck with the Polka Dots.=) |
