First Ever Container Potato Harvest

I had hoped for more and bigger spuds, but I guess it would be wrong of me to complain too much. Next season I'll have to put them in sooner.

I Should Have Known

I had heard that there is a national day in the U.S. for practically anything and everything. So it should not have come as a surprise that there is even a National Greasy Food Day. No, I'm not kidding. Today is the day that is dedicated to the foods that may not be the best in the world for us. So be it. But you can mitigate the worst of the effects of fried food if you use healthy oils. Here is one of my favorite crockpot recipes that uses extra virgin olive oil(EVOO) and also as three ingredients that are easily grown in the garden.

Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 4 medium potatoes, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces(peeled or unpeeled)
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary(chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Add oil to the crockpot/slow cooker. Cover, set to high and allow the oil to heat up while preparing the potatoes.(15 minutes is a good preheating time.) 

Combine all of the ingredients in the crockpot and toss to mix with the oil. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours. Or until the potatoes are tender and browned. Your crockpot should be 5-7 quarts in capacity. 

Columbus Day

Love him or hate him, there can be no argument that Christopher Columbus' voyages changed the world map and the way people eat. Without the age of discovery unleashed by his travels, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, corn and chocolate would have remained locked in the New World for years, decades or centuries to come.

Try to imagine German, Irish or other European cuisines without potatoes. What would many cuisines of the world be like without peppers, both sweet and spicy? And would you want to live in a world where the Italians had never encountered the tomato? So if you can't celebrate Columbus for the man he was, you can celebrate the food diversity his voyages triggered in the rest of the world.