AS THE POTATO PEELS

Today, in Barnesville, MN, the Potato Days Festival continues. It is a time to enjoy potatoes in all forms, including potato wrestling. That makes Old Trunks wonders if you ever watched your grand mother peel a potato which she grew in her garden.

Recently, Shilpa was trying to decide what to do with a large beet. It reminded me of how my grand parents waited until the vegetables were fully grown before harvesting them. They wanted to get the most food out of it.

After Grandma died, Grandpa continued to plant beets for mother. She would ask if the beets were ready and he always said no. She wanted ping-pong sized beets for pickling; he wanted them to come to full growth for the most food out of one beet.

When we go to the market and see those little potatoes, you can rest assured it wasn't the size my grand mother peeled.

She would sit at the table with a little pan of water to rinse the potatoes before she pared the skins so thin you could see through the peelings. She would take the eyes out with a swirl of the tip of her knife. In her younger life the parings were put in a slop pail and carried out to the chickens which rummaged for their food. My other grandmother was just as careful and she did feed the peels to the chickens along with the apple peelings.

Grandma Mae always had apples and oranges to serve as snacks. For some reason, she felt the apple should be peeled and cut in sections. It took me years to get the knack of peeling an apple completely and having one long piece when finished.

As for oranges, she also peeled them for me, and sectioned them on the dotted line. At home, the oranges were cut in fourths and served with the skin on.

What Old Trunks does not have in common with her grand mother's is a slop pail or chickens. I do peel close, not for the sake of waste, rather because the nutrients are right under the skin.

What's under your skin today? Hope it is energy.

Happy Birthday, Shilpa!

e