Category: america

Entering a bookstore and just knowing you want a book.

I was reading someone’s story about entering a bookstore and just knowing they wanted a book. They were sitting on the floor being surrounded by some choices that they pulled. I don’t need to name them all but one caught my attention “The Potato book” it was a 1973 potato anthology forward by Truman Capote. But what really caught my interest was I had bought a potato book way back when and was inspired to see if i still had it.

I had donated a bunch cookbook a few years ago to a rummage store because I needed the room and you know I don’t cook. The second reason is immaterial because I do like to buy old, used and new cookbooks. I’m fascinated, intrigued and sometimes it adds to the conversations around me. People love to talk about food and so do I. I went through some books in the pantry, and I realized I still had kept several of my cookbooks especially the ones that were given to me or ones I just like and want around. well, I was delighted and relieved to see I still had my ‘potato book’. Now this book is nothing like the one they were writing about yet I was so happy to find mine, so I sat down and started to read it.

it gives a short history of the potato how it came in a Spanish armada ship, sir john Hawkins introduced it, Sir Francis drake brought back a load of potatoes in 1586, then Sir Walter Raleigh brought it in Ireland, and it reached the royal family in England in 1619. They even mention king louis xv1 wore a potato buttonhole. ‘It became highly fashionable’. The potato travelled to England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Germany. There were some disastrous blows that involved and effected the reputation of the spun but it still continued on its way to The United States and Australia.

‘Potatoes became popular and eaten as a vegetable everyday around the world’. It gives a bunch of nutritional facts containing vitamin b1, b2, b3, vitamin c and ‘it has more potassium than a banana’. Included in the history were some old etchings/drawings of farmers and women working in the fields. Then it ends the book on how to grow your own potatoes. Now growing up my parents grew potatoes, and I remember as a kid going out with a shovel and digging up potatoes for supper. later as an adult I was digging up potatoes in my own garden. potatoes are an amazing staple, and we do take them for granted. In this book it shows what can be done with a potato. The book starts with the perfect potato, then it goes to tasty beginnings, sensational salads, the main courses and then classic accompaniment.

Funny how a story can lead to another story. And how fun it is to open up a book even a cookbook. I think I will just leave this book here and leave the page open to the Cornish pasties. I could put rutabagas on the shopping list.

almostfinnish

The Popular Potato best recipes, by Valwyn McMonigal, 1989

Taking this detour of life.

Friday: It all started I worked in the morning.

I picked up my son from school it was the last day of classes.

We all met at home planning to go out together for some recreational sport and celebrate our little milestones of success.

We had a quick snack on the boarder chips with avocado salsa, herdez cheese con queso and Blanco, picante sauce and sour cream.

So, we leave, and it starts to rain it’s dreary out and we get stuck in traffic. I mean this is a long line of cars. We’re only 2-4 miles from our destination.

Now I’ll remind you I don’t live in a big city rush hour traffic is like maybe 8-10 cars. This is triple maybe more. We finally get around the bend and then we can see cop car lights all down the road on every block no one’s coming in, going by or going out.

We get detoured off to the left side of road because we still want or think we’re going to get to where we planned. It was a mess everyone is getting detoured all roads are full this way that way. We keep going down the road a mile here take a right go another mile take a right. We don’t have a plan ‘b’ we’re hopeful that we can finally just make a right here to the place but no obviously the road is blocked and closed.

You know it’s hard to think fast in traffic but for some reason going home was not an option. Well in my mind it wasn’t but to some it was their first thought. Any who, we like this bowling place, and we like to give them our business so going somewhere else in another town was out. We headed to a place called the water street brewery for drink, conversation and maybe an appetizer. This place is right down the road but again another long detour and we are finally there. A lot of other people had the same idea. No troubles we got a big booth all to ourselves.

The first thing I do is text a friend someone who has a police scanner and usually knows exactly what’s going on around our area. Yep, she did. Here’s what she said high speed chase that ended in a crash. Bad injuries in the other car and the person who was pursued by police tried to run but they got him. I guess there was a lot of Debrie. I’m so sorry to hear this news but at the same time I’m thankful that we had not left earlier and got caught up in this accident.

We order lemonade and Margaretta’s. cheese curds and everyone wanted just a bowl of soup. It was perfect and just enough to get everyone talking about their week. I have observed that everyone seems to open up when we go out for lunch or dinner, so the conversation was delightful.

I am so glad that I finished up my paintings for this year 2024. My son is happy to be almost finished with his first year in college. My daughter is excited to be working on art and planning to rent an art table at next year’s anime convention and sell art with a friend-business partner. My husband he’s retired but he works on many ventures and adventures. We worry about the upcoming election, the direction our country has gone, the inflation prices that have skyrocketed, our boarder and how other countries are dealing with some of the same very serious issues. God help us to understand and discern the times in which we live. Even though there’s a lot of disinformation out there a lot of us know exactly what’s going on in the world. This sleeping giant is waking up. We the people are waking up.

almostfinnish