My interest in potato recipes began quite innocently while driving down a country road. As I passed a farm stand, a sign reading, “50 pound of potatoes, only three dollars,” caught my eye.Not able to resist a bargain, I stopped. “I’d like to buy that bag of potatoes,” I said.“Buy that one and I’ll throw in the other two I have left,” the manager said.I arrived home with 150 pounds of potatoes. My family thought I was crazy. Determined to prove them wrong, I sent my kids up and down the street handing out bagfuls, until our neighbors said, “enough, we can’t use any more.” I spent the rest of the day making batches of my standards: potato pancakes, potato pudding, and potato soup. And I hadn’t put a dent in the mounds of potatoes that covered my counters. So I began calling friends and family members for their potato recipes. Word spread. Recipes flew my way, along with all kinds of information about the potato.I learned that during the second century A.D., the Spanish conquistadores found the potato high in the Andes. They had many uses for this strange vegetable, but they had no idea that their discovery would be more valuable than Inca gold. One of the major vegetable crops in the world today, the potato serves us well as a staple for the needy or a delicacy for the gourmet.Potatoes With Appeal is the result of my “potato encounter.”From selecting and storing potatoes to using them in soups, salads, casseroles, main dishes, side dishes, and sweet desserts, this recipe book has everything. With 105 mouth-watering recipes, you will never tire of serving the potato.
