Random Tater Pic of the Day #230

From the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, the groundbreaking "Steamboat Willie" by Walt Disney himself, Mickey peels a lot of potatoes...

"I Ain't Got a Pot to Peel Potatoes In" by Louie Innis

Mary Ann Peels Potatoes

Dawn Wells, better known as Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," shows us an easy way to peel potatoes, courtesy of the Idaho Potato Commission.

French Fry Diary 378: The Killer Potato

This past weekend news reached me of a particularly dangerous white potato. While being peeled alive, this potato cut my friend Taryn with a potato peeler.

Fearless to a fault, she got a Band-Aid on her pointer finger and went back to peeling. Again the potato forced the peeler to bite her, this time on the middle finger. After another Band-Aid and some tender loving care from her husband Brian, Taryn recovered nicely.

The offending veggie was subdued after the second attack. No one is really sure what happened to the killer potato after that however. Rumor has it the potato was put on eBay, but that's just rumor. Evidence does seem to suggest that it was in fact *gasp* devoured for its crimes.

Thanks to Taryn and Brian for the image, and for risking their lives in the pursuit of a potatoey good meal.

French Fry Diary 348: Simply Potatoes Homestyle Slices

I've mentioned it before, one of our Christmas morning traditions is a big breakfast. The potatoey portion of that tradition goes back a long way in my family. One of my father's favorite meals, breakfast or otherwise, was "fried eggs bacon and potatoes", said just like that, as if it was all one word.

This was a breakfast tradition on Sunday mornings. Sometimes there would be pancakes, or sometimes bakery stuff, and later McDonald's, both after church, but for most of the time, it was fried eggs bacon and potatoes. I/m old, and nobody was counting calories or checking cholesterol back then, suffice it to say. I do realize now that my mom would make boiled potatoes for dinner at least once during the week, good for mashing yourself with a fork, but there was an ulterior motive at work. She was making more than enough boiled potatoes in prep for Sunday, when she would slice them up and fry them in the bacon grease. That extra step, boiling the potatoes, was important.

I've never really been able to duplicate my mom's fried potatoes, though I've tried, and I've come close but they're never perfect. Others have also come close. Monticello's on South Street back in the 1980s came very close with their Monti-Fries, but they're not there any more. The next best thing would be the Simply Potatoes Homestyle Slices from Crystal Farms in your grocer's cool section, as opposed to the freezer.

They are already peeled, already sliced, and already cooked. It kinda does almost the same thing as boiling them a couple days earlier and storing them in the fridge. Because they are prepackaged, they will also keep longer, and bonus, they're gluten-free. They are ready to go at a moment's notice into hot bacon grease (or a more healthy substitute if you wish) and become a yummy cholesterol filled memory from childhood. Most of the time that works out pretty well.

French Fry Diary 61: Apple Peeler Machine

Checking out the Irish Hog the other day I came across the blog of The Spiteful Chef. There I came upon the entry about apple peeler machines.

It sparked my interest as I just got rid of one of these things at a yard sale. I could never get the darned thing to work. Yes, it leads you to believe it can peel apples, and potatoes, among other things, with ease – but I couldn’t do it. It makes me wonder if maybe I gave up too quick on it. The possibility of homemade spiral-cut potatoes is almost enough of an incentive to get another one...

How to Peel Potatoes the Easy Way

Yeah, it's in Japanese, but it's also pretty self-explanatory. Just an easier way to get to making French fries, so get to it!