2/4/12 - Today I learned that an iron nail stuck through a potato helps it bake twice as fast.
I always learn something new when I go visit my Grandma. She lives alone in a small house in Indiana, coincidentally right next to my coworker with whom I enjoy a ride every now and again. It was her birthday, so I decided it was time for my monthly visit to celebrate with her.
Grandma is a great cook, as are most grandmas, and she is a thrifty one, too. Growing up on a farm, she never had much money, but she did make the most of what she had. Each visit, I learn something new about life on "the farm", as she lovingly calls it.
This time, she told me about how, the other day, a man stopped her in the supermarket and questioned her as to why she is sniffing the potatoes. I smiled at the idea - my little old grandma, sniffing potatoes for an extended period of time in her quest for the best. She has been commenting often recently about the poor quality of potatoes in the store in the past year. Most of us probably wouldn't notice.
Anyhow, after this man interrupted her sniffing with his questions, she then regaled how to know a rotten potato from a good one. She then segwayed into life on "the farm" (I am unsure if she also told this to the man, but I wouldn't put it past her), and how they saved potatoes through the winter because prices were better in the spring. They would dig a hole in the earth, push straw down over the dirt, throw in the potatoes, another layer of straw, and then cover the whole thing with dirt. If you were lucky enough to have a basement, you could just store them in there, but most people were not so lucky. I love to listen; there's something romantic in the way she describes life back then. Little-House-on-the-Prairie-esque.
Anyhow, metal nails are heal conductors, so, when placed in the potato when baking, it cooks it from the inside out. A great trick that comes in a pack of 4!
I always learn something new when I go visit my Grandma. She lives alone in a small house in Indiana, coincidentally right next to my coworker with whom I enjoy a ride every now and again. It was her birthday, so I decided it was time for my monthly visit to celebrate with her.
Grandma is a great cook, as are most grandmas, and she is a thrifty one, too. Growing up on a farm, she never had much money, but she did make the most of what she had. Each visit, I learn something new about life on "the farm", as she lovingly calls it.
This time, she told me about how, the other day, a man stopped her in the supermarket and questioned her as to why she is sniffing the potatoes. I smiled at the idea - my little old grandma, sniffing potatoes for an extended period of time in her quest for the best. She has been commenting often recently about the poor quality of potatoes in the store in the past year. Most of us probably wouldn't notice.
Anyhow, after this man interrupted her sniffing with his questions, she then regaled how to know a rotten potato from a good one. She then segwayed into life on "the farm" (I am unsure if she also told this to the man, but I wouldn't put it past her), and how they saved potatoes through the winter because prices were better in the spring. They would dig a hole in the earth, push straw down over the dirt, throw in the potatoes, another layer of straw, and then cover the whole thing with dirt. If you were lucky enough to have a basement, you could just store them in there, but most people were not so lucky. I love to listen; there's something romantic in the way she describes life back then. Little-House-on-the-Prairie-esque.
Anyhow, metal nails are heal conductors, so, when placed in the potato when baking, it cooks it from the inside out. A great trick that comes in a pack of 4!
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