Friday, January 13, 2012

Guest Blogger: Comfort Potatoes From The Mom Chef


I first started writing this blog mainly because I needed a good excuse to feed the husband new dishes. I was tired of serving the same old, and I wanted him to hop on the healthy wagon with me. Never in my wildest dreams would I start reading so many blogs, bookmarking so very many recipes and truly looking forward to other bloggers' posts.  

Today I'm happy to share the words of one of those bloggers with you. Christiane, aka The Mom Chef, tests out magazine recipes on her hubby and beautiful little girl, always offering up her honest opinion and often with a bit of humor. I can still remember the first post I read of hers about making a blue igloo cake. She cracked me up - and made a pretty impressive dessert that I'd never imagine tackling. I was hooked.

I have a feeling you will be, too.



Country-Style Potatoes - Comfort From Things That Go Bump in the Night

di·chot·o·my: division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups.

I am a dichotomy. I love sunlight. I love Mary Poppins and Brigadoon. Many things make me cry; videos of returning soldiers surprising their children, Lassie being kicked, Folgers commercials. I could never go hunting because I couldn't kill anything. Even spiders are sent out of the house, unsquashed, though I loathe the critters. And I never, I mean never, watch horror movies because they scare the bejeebers out of me.

And yet, that contradictory flipside of me relishes reading the king of horror. Sitting directly behind my desk sit two bookcases. One entire case contains over fifty Stephen King books.  I'm entralled with his writing style and I adore his humor. The fact that he can make me laugh in the midst of scaring my pants off is amazing. In print. 


Actually, here is one little piece of a horror movie that I have inadvertantly seen. It's stayed with me my entire life. I was working at a camp in Wisconsin at the time. A few friends and I wasted the evening by driving around. We ended up parked behind the drive-in theater and caught this one glimpse of film.

Picture a high school girl getting into the bottom bunk of her bed. As she lies there, she feels a drip on her, puts a hand up and realizes it's blood, seeping down from the top bunk. In that moment, as she realizes what it is and what's happened, a blade thrusts up through her stomach from below.


That's it. That's all I saw. I soon as I saw that, I forced the driver of the car to leave (lots of screaming works every time). That night I went to bed and didn't sleep. I spent the whole night not sleeping. I lay there absolutely aware of every sound and movement around me. I lay there waiting for the monster under the bed to get me. 

Thirty-one years later, my arms and legs still never, ever hang over the edge of the bed. If I hear a bump in the night I don't recognize, I'm awake and watchful for a long while, sometimes the rest of the night. While I'm not sleeping, I'm trying to force the logical part of my brain to recognize that a blade that long could never have been thrust up from under the bed because there just wasn't enough space to do it. And then I continue not sleeping.

Do you know what scene that little snippit of movie was from? C'mon, there are a few of you that saw it, or the one of the eleven sequels that followed it. It was Friday the 13th. Jason. Do you know what today is?

Yeah, it's Friday the 13th. You're not superstitious, are you? Things that go bump in the night don't keep you up, I'm sure. There's nothing under your bed but those dust bunnies. Right?

Uh huh. I know. I feel the same way. That's why, when it's morning and my sun is up and shining brightly through my window, I feed myself comfort. Eggs, bacon and the most glorious, delicious potato dish you could imagine. No, this isn't a low fat or low calorie dish, but it's the kind of breakfast that chases away shadows, removes fear and brings back the smile. Now if it could just do something about the dark circles under my eyes.

Country-Style Potatoes
From The Mom Chef


2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Put the chopped potatoes in a large pot of water that's been seasoned with salt and boil until almost soft, but still a little firm (they will finish cooking in the skillet).

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until golden, approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the potatoes are done, drain them.

Add the canola oil to the onions, raise the heat to medium high and add the drained potatoes to the skillet. Use a spatula to mix the onions and potatoes. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper. Then flip the potatoes with the spatula on occasion, letting the bottom get crispy before flipping them over. When they are done to your crispy-goodness, serve them up with bacon and eggs.






19 comments:

  1. Meghan, thank you so much for allowing me to do a post for you. I have loved reading your blog since the day I landed on it. I giggle at your attempts to nudge your husband into a healthier way of eating, including those classic meatless Mondays. This was a thrill for me!

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  2. hi Meghan,

    thank you for having one of my favorite bloggers and friends on your blog today! The Mom Chef Rocks!
    I would certainly love to sit in front of that delicious looking breakfast, and of course how can you not love potatoes and those look delicious!
    Have a great weekend!
    Dennis

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  3. I will concur that this was indeed good eats (sorry, Alton). I can vouch for the movie story at the beginning ... The Mom Chef don't do horror flicks. :) I remember my first experience. Poltergeist. I was 13 or 14 and went to see it with friends. That night I stayed up late to watch tv and fell asleep. And wouldn't you know I woke up near the end of National Anthem and the snow that came on the tv afterwards. I never ran so fast in my life.

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  4. Glad to see Mom chef guest posting today!
    It has been sometime since I have has the traditional breakfast as you have pictured here-yum. Your potatoes do look delicious, good enough to serve at any meal.
    Have a great weekend!

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  5. Love the potatoes and will do them. Don't do horror movies. Haven't seen one since the onslaught of the werewolves.

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  6. This is a great blog! Love it. Of course, you kinda have to watch who you let in as a guest... she might bring a bunch of us Undesirables with her... ;-)

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  7. Love the mom chef and how delightful that she has led me to your blog!

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  8. Potatoes look wonderful; think I might have to do them this weekend. Horror movies just don’t scare me; in fact I find them sorta funny they are just to fake to bother me. My 15 year old son hates horror movies and we respect that and let him know if we think a movie we are going to watch will bother him. I love king as well, and I have all his books. I have to say the Friday the 13th thing is funny to me as well; I have 2 children born on the 13th and 1 born on Friday the 13th. We have fun with it but then I was never superstitious, breaking a mirror never meant anything more to me than having to pick up the glass. I don’t toss salt over my shoulder and I know the only reason you don’t walk under a ladder is because things might drop on your head. It is all good fun. BOO

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  9. This dish looks wonderful - perfect for a chilly winter day with a pot roast. Love the Mom Chef - she's the best!

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  10. Thanks to all of you for stopping by - it was such a pleasure to host The Mom Chef. She's great, isn't she?

    As for me, I don't do horror movies. I think the last "scary" movie I watched was The Frailty, and it scared me for MONTHS. But I definitely love potatoes and think these would be perfect on a cold Saturday or Sunday morning. Mmmm!

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  11. Hi Meghan! I'm so glad to meet you and now follow your blog. I'm chuckling at Christiane's comment about you nudging your husband to healthier eating...so glad I'm not alone! ;) I look forward to many more visits with you and exchanging a bit of humor here and there....I love Christiane for so many reasons...thanks for having her as a guest here! She always makes me smile!

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  12. Hi Meghan,
    You have a great guest over here today. I had to cover my eyes a bit though, I remember seeing that movie and it still scares me to this day. I have to older daughters and they want to put on scary movies, so I have to go in the other room. This is perfect for a weekend morning. Hope you have a great weekend.
    -Gina-

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  13. oops. I hit publish too soon...Christiane, your dish looks yummy and oh so comforting...it's snowy and cold here so this is perfect for a day like today!

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  14. I just love home fried potatoes. Perfect! Wonderful guest post. blessings, Catherine xo

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  15. Hi Meghan,
    Nice to see The Mom Chef on your blog. Her blog is one of my favorites.

    Christiane-I don't do scary movies. The last scary movie I saw was Wait Until 'Dark, and I had nightmares for months. If I had your potatoes and eggs for breakfast they might make me forget my nightmares.

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  16. I can't do horror movies. I can't do horror books. But I can totally do this breakfast :) Love it! And the English teacher in me is definitely loving the use of dichotomy :) PS: I have a giveaway going on that I think you'll both be in to!

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  17. Nice to come over and check out your blog. Chef Mom is one of my blogger buddies and any friend of hers... :) This looks like some great potatoes. Well done to both of you. I think one of the scariest movies I ever saw was Silence of the Lamb in college. I slept with the light in my from for almost a week. LOL! I only watch scary movies in the day time... less scary that way. I also will mute it at home. It's the music that freaks you out. I remember in high school my friend and I were watching Freddie Kruger and we turned off the volume and it actually became funny. Great post!! ~ Ramona

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  18. Love meeting new bloggers! Such a great guest post :)

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  19. Thanks for all of the comments! Y'all are welcome to guest post anytime. :)

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Thanks for taking the time out of your day to show my space a little love.

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