Making Potato Pancakes

 

Finding myself with a abundance of spuds, I decided to make a family favorite...
Potato Pancakes.  This is peasant food.  The kind of food I grew up with.  There were 8 of us at home... 
Buscia, (My Mother's Mother) Mom, Dad and 5 kids.  Mom had a knack for stretching a dollar
when it came to feeding us.  We were never hungry, but the work!  Feeding us was a full time job.
First the potatoes, peel a bunch...
Buscia did it with a paring knife, no fancy peeler...
in fact I don't remember having one at home till I was a teen.
Boy, I'm old!

 

The recipe simple, if grating potatoes with a box grater is ever easy...
Well, that's how Buscia did it.  She used to let me eat the tiny bits of raw potato
that were too small to grate.  Knuckles were bloodied, arms were surely sore
 after grating a giant bowl filled with potatoes.

Add a couple of eggs,
a cup or so of flour (depending on how wet the potatoes are)
salt and pepper to taste.

 

Now fry them up.  Busica and Mom used LARD, yes Lard!  Later Crisco.
I use vegetable oil. Drain on paper towels.  Hide in warm oven till serving.

 

Always served up with tomato soup, yes, Campbell's from the can.
I make a Tomato basil soup, slightly fancier and tasty...
one can tomato soup
one can cheddar cheese soup
one can of water
one can filled with V8 juice
teaspoon dried basil

Comfort Food, this is it!

 

Notice how shiny my box grater is... ( I use my food processor, first shred the potatoes with the
grater blade in batches then switch to the regular chopping blade...and nobody gets hurt! ;-) 
I just remembered, Mom also used a meat grinder that attached to the table.  The lucky available kid turned the crank as Mom fed the potatoes into the hopper.    I think I used that method too, way back in the day.
I know I have that grinder around here somewhere! 

Working on a project for our baby bug who will be 1 year old this week.  How I love our baby girls! She is a smart cookie with the vocabulary of a small cave dweller...  There's grunting and pointing...but I know just what she wants.  She's been walking for almost a month, and has the sweetest disposition.  It took a while to win her over.  I didn't watch her until she was several months old, unlike her big sister who I had much earlier on. Now we are great friends, though she is a little put out when Penny is here and in my arms. I have held them both at the same time.  Not an easy task! She is beautiful, dark hair and eyes, the opposite of her fair haired and light eyed sister.  I thought that she would have a hard time... a tough act to follow,  her amazing big sister...but she holds her own. She is special to all of us, quietly watching and stealing her way into our hearts.  More on my project soon.

Is there anything as naked as a house stripped of it's Christmas finery?  Getting the house back in order is a big job, but will have to wait! 

Have a great day my friends.  Thank you for stopping by!