One of my favorite “food groups” is potatoes.  Baked, mashed, fried, made into a salad – I love them all.  So the fact that September is National Potato month gave me an excuse to find new recipes to play around with.  I can just hear Bob, my late hubby, announcing, “My wife takes a recipe and departs therefrom.”  Nevertheless, they all turned out well in spite of my tinkering. 

To accompany the recipes, two different potato stories kept popping into my mind.  Bob loved the one about my parents, knowing that my mom could be very impractical.

Several years ago, Bob and I invited a guest speaker at our church, along with our minister and his wife, over for dinner.  At some point, we found out that the speaker, Fred, had graduated from Atlanta Christian College.  I asked when he had attended ACC and discovered that it was the same time my dad was there.  When Fred found out who my parents were, he looked at me curiously and asked, “How did you turn out so normal?”  Knowing my mom and dad, I fully understood what he meant.

Fred proceeded to tell me about his acquaintance with my parents.  Dad had been sent overseas in World War II and had not finished college.  After his return to the United States, he felt a calling for the ministry and decided on ACC.  Soon after Mom and Dad were married, they left Knoxville and moved to Atlanta.  Fred was from the Johnson City, Tennessee, area. He and another student would ride with Mom and Dad to Knoxville when they went home for a visit, and then someone would drive down from Johnson City to get them.

As they drove toward home on one of their breaks, my mom asked my dad what he had done with the snack she had prepared for them all.  He informed her that it was under the front seat.  She pulled out a sack and opened it.  Upon looking inside, she proclaimed, “Bob, you are a fool!”

“Darling, you should not call anyone a fool.”

“Well, honey, I just can’t help it.  You ARE a fool!”

According to Fred, they bickered back and forth for a while longer, never forgetting to add in the “honeys” and “darlings.”

“And just why, darling, do you think I am a fool?”

“You brought the garbage instead of the snack!”

The guys in the back seat finally stopped laughing long enough to ask Mom, “Alice, what did you fix for a snack?” to which she replied, “A potato.  I baked a potato for each one of us!”

We have laughed about that incident ever since we heard it.  There were times afterward when I asked Bob what he wanted for supper, and he said, “I think I want a snack.”  I know exactly what he was asking for – a baked potato!

I guess I should not be telling this story, but I am going to swallow my pride and share it anyway.  After all, I’ve told it before.  And it is about potatoes…

I knew a joke about a man who was invited to a costume party.  He racked his brain for an idea – he wanted something original that did not take a lot of time and material to prepare.  On the day of the party, he painted his face red and stuffed his mouth with mayonnaise.  When someone at the party asked him what he was supposed to represent, he quickly pressed his cheeks (which forcefully expelled the mayo) and replied, “A pimple!”

On a particular day in my household, there was a lot of friction at the lunch table.  I know it was summer because I remember the open windows and the kids being home from school.  Bob was either working or asleep (he used to work a swing shift), so he was not present for the meal.  I decided we needed a little humor injection to loosen up the tension.

For some unknown reason, the pimple joke popped into my head when I looked at the bowl of mashed potatoes sitting in the middle of the table.  It occurred to me that maybe they would work as well as mayonnaise, so I crammed my mouth full of them.  Somehow I managed to get my children’s attention, smacked my cheeks really hard, and announced that I was a pimple.

Let me just say this: Mashed potatoes have a lot more substance than mayonnaise.  They went everywhere, including into the face of the son who was sitting across the table from me.  There was a large blackboard behind him; it was all splattered with little bits of potato.  My children sat there shocked.  Then the laughter started – situation defused.

The downside of this at the time: I had a huge mess to clean up.  However, it does make a good story now, and I still giggle when I think of the looks on my children’s faces.

Now that the stories are out of my system, here are the recipes, with my changes included.

Chicken Fajita Spuds

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-by-1/2-inch strips

2 tablespoons olive oil

1-1/4 teaspoon fajita seasoning

1/8 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (adjust according to personal taste)

1 yellow onion, cut into strips (I used a sweet onion)

1 large green bell pepper, cut into strips

Juice of one lime

8 to 10 baked potatoes

Topping ideas: shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, salsa, tomato, guacamole

Toss together first 4 ingredients in a bowl; cover and chill 2 hours.

Cook chicken and marinade in large skillet over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.  Remove chicken and keep warm.

Return skillet to heat; add onion and pepper.  Sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until tender.  Return chicken to skillet; stir in lime juice.  Serve over baked potatoes with desired toppings. 

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Tangy Olive Potatoes

4-5 medium-sized russet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tablespoons butter

4 ounces Canadian bacon, finely chopped

1 medium-sized onion, chopped (I used a sweet onion)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives

Arrange potatoes in steamer basket over boiling water.  Cover; steam 20 minutes or until tender.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; add bacon, onion, and thyme.  Sauté 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Stir in potatoes, cream, salt, and pepper.  Cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated; stir in olives.  Serve immediately.  Makes 4 servings.

Salty Rosemary Fries

2 large baking potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large garlic clove minced (or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder)

1-1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/8 teaspoon table salt)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Non-stick cooking spray

Cut each potato lengthwise into 10-12 wedges.  Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with next 4 ingredients.  Toss to coat. 

Arrange potato wedges, skin side down, in a single layer on baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 450 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.