Potato Surprise!

Since we each had to preach this Sunday (on the 4th of July) my wife Kristi and I were both pretty well spent yesterday afternoon. This meant we ordered pizza instead of fixing a meal. But today we were busy in the kitchen again. Kristi canned peaches in brown sugar syrup as well as making a peach syrup from the skins & juice. A jar of peaches plus what didn't make it into a full jar went into a casserole dish followed by a box of cake mix and some butter. After a half-hour at 350, she poured some of the peach syrup on top and back it went for another 15 minutes. It's the classic campfire peach cobbler and it sure is delicious.

I harvested our spinach. This was washed (see photo) and became creamed spinach. I sauteed a small onion finely chopped along with a clove of garlic, pressed. In bacon grease, of course. Then I wilted the spinach in batches, adding another handful once the previous had settled down. After it was thoroughly wilted and dark green I cooked most of the water off. Next I stirred in probably 2/3 a cup of half n half. To finish, I added freshly ground nutmeg, salt and pepper. It's amazing how a great big bowl of spinach, some leaves nearly as big as my hand, turns into a scant skillet of soppy green goodness.

But that's not all. The main course was a rack of ribs from Tony Romas. These are the kind you let out of the package into a hot oven then pour the sauce over once they're warmed. Real good, real easy. Also corn on the cob. We cut off the ends, wrap in saran, then microwave for 5 minutes. Yum.

The surprise came from the potatoes. It was a double surprise. The first came when Kristi suggested baked potatoes to go with the rest of the meal. Fine. Surprise - the potatoes in the pantry had long since begun to sprout. So I thought we'd just make do with spinach, corn & ribs. Surprise #2 came from the garden. After harvesting the spinach I decided to sneak a peak at our own potato patch.

Lo and behold I found spuds! In an area not more than a foot square I found eight little beauties, shown here washed & peeled - all one step when they're this new. I just reached down under the earth until I found a round thing and pulled it out. I had already cleared away the rocks so it was truly wonderful to find actual spuds (not 'spanaway spuds' - a local nickname for the rapacious river rocks found throughout our soil). These I cut into chunks, boiled then mashed with butter and half n half.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading!

Galen