Believe it or not, I think spring might be coming. Although it’s snowing today (finally!) there is a feel in the air that is a little different. Just a hint, but it’s not so raw and there is so much more light. I don’t think I can make it to town but tomorrow for sure, I will head in a pick up a couple of bags of potting soil so I can get my Asian greens and some spinach started. I think I can harvest from the greenhouse now and I want to have some started greens to take the place of any I take. I always have soil on hand but I checked the shed and I can’t find the bag. So much for being prepared.
We had a busy weekend around here. DH and I decided to paint the library. This involved pulling all of the books and knickknacks off the shelves and washing the wood work as well as picking out a paint color. We have been married for 37 years. We have endured job loss, 5 teenagers at home at the same time, moving, serious illness and deaths in the family with stoic resolve and unwavering support for each other but picking out a paint color nearly lands us in divorce court every time. Life would be easier with fewer choices.
I made Phoebe a dress this weekend. It came out all right but the fabric is too stiff and doesn’t drape well. Thank goodness I used a cheap remnant and stiffened the pattern with interfacing. I will make her another this week with better fabric. It won’t take more than an hour as the tedious work with prepping the pattern is done.
Lat night, at 5:00 it occurred to me tha Bruce had Men’s group and I had not thought about dinner. I had some leftover mashed potatoes so I added a couple of eggs, some salt and pepper, grated cheese and a 1/2 cup of flour to them and fried them up. With some of our bacon (more like ham really) fried with a bunch of onions and some pickles and applesauce, I had dinner on the table in 20 minutes. It tasted really good and was filling, nutritious and cheap. I won’t say healthy as the bacon is a bit fattier than is probably good for us but certainly better than a fast food alternative. I say that like fast food is an option. I’m a solid 35 minute drive to the closest drive-through. Not so fast and with 2 teenage girls ar home, certainly not cheap either.
This felt like a weekend where I did a lot of thinking about preparedness. A simple thing like soil is vital for me if I want to get my plants started yet I let it slip. A meal that can be prepared with what’s on hand matters. How many times do you need to eat but can’t even think about what to prepare much less have the ingredients on hand. That’s why the notebooks are so important. I am definitely putting the potato pancake recipe in my emergency food folder. I have everything on hand and it can be prepared on the stove top. I am thinking that without the bacon, they would be good with fried eggs too.
February 16, 2010 at 11:24 am
I am learning more and more how to have stuff on hand and to work with stuff on hand. I admire your ability to think ahead and know what are “staples” such as soil! I follow this blog and make lists of staples.
Would, could you do a blog on how to “stiffened the pattern with interfacing”. It sounds like a great idea in terms of saving patterns. And how do you do it before you know how the garment is going to fit? Or am I supposed to already know how to do that.
Thank you so much for writing. I get so much out of it.
February 16, 2010 at 11:34 am
Potato pancakes (or patties as we call them) are one of our favourite uses for leftover mashed potatoes.
In fact, I purposely cook huge pots potatoes with the intent to having leftovers. After cooking and draining, I put some into a bowl leaving them whole. On another day, those will be sliced up and fried in a little butter and olive oil. Sometimes I add onions or chives. Other times I add fresh or dried dill, depending on the season.
The only thing I add when I mash our potatoes is milk, so they are great to use in other recipes. The mashed potatoes get used in potato patties, potato puffs, to top a shephard’s pie or simply reheated as mashed potatoes. I also have a recipe for crescent rolls that calls for leftover mashed potatoes.
On nights when I don’t feel like being super creative in the kitchen, having leftover potatoes in the fridge gives me a head start to getting supper on the table.
February 16, 2010 at 12:14 pm
sounds like a busy weekend! I believe you are right, the air “smells” different and the light “looks” different, time for seed starting indeed! (woohoo)
My hubby is so boring with his tastes…no crunchy bits on potato pancakes, not onion or chive; he just wants them reheats. No shepard’s pie…gah!
February 16, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Yes, Kathy, I agree spring is in the air even though it’s snowing today! But on Friday we heard some spring birds singing. We were so thrilled we had a barbecue!It’s important to my well-being to enjoy any little hint of spring even if there’s snow! LOL!
I loved your recipe. I read a great recipe on one of the food storage blogsites – I Dare You To Eat It (do you read that one?) Her recipe is for “groovey mashed potatoes”. She adds a little Miracle Whip (I use either mayonnaise or sour cream) and some extra spices (I use Penzey’s toasted onion powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper). But what makes it filling and quite delicious is a drained can (or frozen) of corn mixed in. I would have never in a million years thought of adding corn, but it’s delicious. I use this recipe on top on my shepherd’s pie.
February 16, 2010 at 1:44 pm
“picking out a paint color nearly lands us in divorce court every time.”
LOL. We are approaching our 42nd anniversary and can totally relate!! It was Christmas cards one year that nearly did us in…LOL
February 16, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Hi Kathy,
My husband and I were married 13 years and tried to hang wallpaper for our son’s room. I won’t tell you where Winnie the Pooh’s nose was stuck; but Tigger’s life will never be the same. After that “occasion”, I waited until my husband went out of town on a trip before I would paint, wallpaper, or rearrange furniture.
February 16, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Herbalpagen, at least your husband will eat potatoes, mine won’t touch them unless it is in the form of a french fry, and he won’t eat stews, casseroles, shepard’s pie, or any other concoction like that. Strictly meat, a few veggies, and bread, we have been married for 28 years and I have tried everything to change his eating habits. I have even cooked something like that and put it in front of him, and he won’t eat it but goes and make a PB and J sandwich. If the S ever HTF he’ll be in big trouble, esp. when the meat runs out.
Kathy, if you look at the back of the pattern, where it gives material recommendations, the first thing written is what the dress in the picture was made out of. So if you want it to drape like that, that is the type of material you should use. If you ever have any questions about sewing, and if I can help, just e-mail me.
February 16, 2010 at 6:53 pm
My husband and I can agree on painting and Christmas cards…but shopping for furniture with him makes me batty. Last time we shopped for furniture I ended up going into labor LOL. We won’t be looking for another sofa anytime soon.
We normally don’t have leftover potatoes, but we always have leftover beans, so I make bean cakes for a quick meal. Just add salt, pepper and chopped onion to leftover beans plus enough flour to make a batter. Fry til crispy and serve with salsa, ketchup or sour cream.
February 16, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Kathy, thinking about your mashed potatoes and that wonderful bit of extra light that we have these days made me think of planting potatoes in the garden and then storing them for the longest use possible. Where I live and garden is fairly flat, so the traditional underground/semi-underground “root cellar” is not an option that I can see. I may have missed this in earlier posts because I did not search your archives, but what are your thoughts on the best way to store potatoes where there is a hot and humid summer climate (zone 8)? We have a crawl space under the house that’s far cooler than outside in the summer and I’ve used that with some success, but have never been able to get them to last much beyond October.
Lots of LOLs when reading the “divorce court” comments. When we moved into our current house 8 years ago I wanted the half-wall removed between our kitchen and den, but DH just didn’t seem to have the time for several months. One weekend he went to the mountains, and I had the sledge hammer and crow bar out and that wall was gone before he even got to the interstate…..(married 28+ years and fortunately he just laughed when I told him on the phone what I had done).