Potatoes and pancakes

We really didn't have a whole lot of hope when we planted seed potatos we bought at the hardware store in Catlett, Virginia. It was a whim really. We saw the sign for seed potatoes and remembered we'd read about someone who planted seed potatos, so the brother and I chopped em up and stuck them in bags with hay and compost. He was pretty sure I was delusional, in fact, never having seen someone plant potatoes and by virtue of the fact that the little things really didn't look like they would grow. I mean, they're sprouted potatoes. They don't look like fierce vines, exactly.

Wings teaches the brother how to sit on a horse.

These were the potato plants a few weeks ago:



And a few weeks ago:



And tonight:



This prompted me to think of all the amazing things that a person can do with potatoes. Like make Latkes. Latkes are a traditional Jewish Channukah dish,
given that they're uberfried in oil they really aren't exactly something you should eat more frequently than a few times a year. But they are very simple and they are wonderful.

Potato Latkes:

- A couple of good simple baking potatoes, shredded (My grandmother always said they weren't complete without knuckles in them from handgrating, I'm a vegetarian and I don't want to eat knuckles so I use my cuisinart)
- Eggs to hold them together
- Chopped parsley
- Sea salt to taste, and cracked pepper

Drain the potatoes and get all the moisture out, then mix up with eggs and salt and parsley. Fry in oil (I used a little olive and vegetable oil). Serve with applesauce or sour cream. Don't be a weirdo and use ketchup. That's just weird.

I garnished with chives, because chives are nice.

On another note, the tomatos look nice:

39?

We started with 32 tomato plants. 32, why not, seemed like a reasonable number when Margie was in DeBaggio's and well, 32 should keep our two families fed for the summer, plus countless friends? I mean, we fed everyone on EIGHT plants one summer.

We immediately lost two plants to unknown critters of the night. It then seemed perfectly logical to replace them with nine more. You know, lose two, get nine more. Right?

Then we realized we didn't have ANY full sized yellow tomatos and how could we ever be complete without a full sized yellow tomato?

I suppose they are in the mail.



All lined up and tucked in their bales.





How could we do any of this without our helpers?



We also require supervision:



I've also successfully got some bagged potato plants growing. These photos were taken about a week and a half ago and they've grown into MONSTERS since then.

Scenes from the White House Farmer's Market

Can I just share how awesome it is that a farm market has opened up downtown by my office, and is open from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m.? I'm sorry, City of Alexandria, I love you dearly, but you're on crack if you think I'm getting out of bed at FIVE A.M. to hit the farmer's market for decent produce. On a Saturday. The only way I'll get out of bed to be at something at 5 a.m. on a Saturday is if there's a horse show, and even then I have to be bribed with thermoses of coffee and eggy cheese sandwiches.

The WH Farm Market seems a little pricier than the ones a bit further out, but it's definitely a treat to be able to take a lunch break and go or go after work. The produce is very pretty.