Tag: Strange

Food, Potatoes, Strange, Tater Talk

Six Alternate Ways to Use the Potato

Sarah Paasch

Although I would rather not admit this to myself, there are some people whose fancy is not tickled by potatoes. While I cannot fathom this idea, I suppose that I should be inclusive of all people on the potato loving spectrum. Maybe through this post, I can turn even the most dedicated potato hater into a spud supporter. I present to you, alternate ways to use a potato:

  1. Mail them to a friend!For the small price of $9.99 (or the price of a potato, a sharpie, and shipping if you’re into DIY things), you can send a note to a friend while also providing them a snack! In case you haven’t heard of this, there is a service called Potato Parcel that will write a note, print a picture, or make a postcard on a potato for you. This is 100% anonymous, too! I’ve had a few of these mailed to me by a good friend, and let me just say that receiving this is a dream for a girl with a potato passion. They even will send sweet potatoes to your sweetie around Valentine’s Day. Mother’s Day is May 13th, just in case you want to show your mom how much you care.
  2. Launch them with a potato launcher! While suggesting this to you all pains me, I suppose that every potato has a purpose. I’m willing to bet that certain potatoes sprout knowing their purpose in life is to be launched. If you’re looking for a way to take out your aggression on potatoes, look no further. You can even find instructions on how to make one of these bad boys here.
  3. Make a potato clock! Unfortunately for me, my science teachers never thought that I needed to learn about this potato phenomenon. Have no fear, you can learn here how to rig one up. If creating an electrical current with a spud isn’t your forte, you could always just buy one on Amazon like the one over there. Either way, I won’t judge you. If you have a clock powered by potatoes, you’re already cooler than most humans I know.
  4. Removing excess salt from soup! Are you finding that your soup is just too dang salty? Wash and cut up a raw potato and throw it into your soup or stew. After a few minutes, remove the potatoes. The potatoes should have soaked up the excess salt, leaving your soup a lot more tasty. 
  5. Keep your goggles and windows from fogging up! Do your windows, ski goggles, or swim goggles often fog up and annoy you? This problem, like many others, can by solved by a spud. Simply cut a potato in half and rub the insides on your goggles or windows, which will fix the fogging.
  6. Remove berry stains from your hands! Ever dreaded using strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries because they would stain your perfect hands? By simply rubbing a raw potato between your hands, you can remove berry stains and leave behind perfectly clean paws.

Potatoes are pretty cool, huh? I hope that someday, you call all appreciate these spuds as the main dish they deserve to be. Thanks for reading!

Food, Potatoes, Tater Talk

Peculiar Potatoes Not Found in Your Local Piggly Wiggly

Sarah Paasch

Once upon a time, I had a brother-in-law named Geoff that loved growing strange kinds of fruits and vegetables. (Well actually, he still does it but for story telling purposes, I’ll keep the wording). Any kind of strange fruit or vegetable you could think of has probably grown in his garden. This has included but is not limited to: purple carrots, purple cauliflower, dragon tongue beans, and tomatillos. I swear these are all real.

Every year for the past three Christmases, he has given us strange seeds with specific growing instructions to follow once spring hits. Thanks to him, my attention has been called to a whole new world of potatoes that not even my wildest dreams could imagine. He hasn’t given me potato seeds yet for Christmas, but I’m hopeful. *hint hint*

While you won’t necessarily find these in your local Piggly Wiggly (not to leave out Pick N’ Save, Festival Foods, Jewel Osco, Kroger, and Wal-Mart), they do exist and deserve the proper attention that all potatoes need. If you’re intrigued, you’ll probably have to grow them to find out just how great they are. You should consult Geoff on the whole growing part though on his blog The Four Season Gardener.

Now, the moment you have all been waiting for!

All Blue Potatoes

Purple skin and blue flesh equals the prettiest of all potatoes. This potato, I’m told, is great mashed because of its meaty insides. They can also be made as baked potatoes and french fries. Online reviews tell me that they’re incredibly flavorful, and some even go as far as saying they are the best potatoes they’ve ever tasted. Unfortunately, it will turn pale when cooked. Why must heat ruin a good thing?

 

 

 

Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes

This particular potato wins the peculiar potato award for best name ever. The skin of the Russian Banana Fingerling potato is smooth, waxy, and the color of a good pair of khakis. When used, the skin is rarely peeled because of its thinness. Interestingly enough, these tubers are part of the nightshade family. Also included in the nightshade family are eggplants and petunias. These potatoes must have interesting family reunions! If you find these milling about in your kitchen, they can be grilled, baked, steamed, fried, or boiled. They have even been used as a pizza topping because of their tenderness.

P.S. They are from the Baltic region, and Russian sailors brought them to North America at the ports of Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and British Columbia. Thanks for blessing us with more taters.

All Red Potatoes

With cranberry-red skin and rose colored swirls, these potatoes could be a work of art. Great boiled, steamed, roasted, or scalloped, these potatoes will dress up any kind of dish you make. They even hold their color when cooked! Bonus right?? If you’re growing them, I even hear that they’re resistant to droughts and scabs. This potato is more technologically advanced than I am. We should all give it the respect it deserves.

Ever had an even stranger type of potato? Leave it in the comments below and it could be featured in a future post!