Mashed Potatoes
By John R. Greenwood
Lumpy mashed potatoes gagged a young boy. I fought and fought the Battle Royal of potatoes. I tried my best to tackle mashed potatoes as a boy, but to no avail; butter, gravy slathered heavy. The fact remained; lumps did not work for me. My life had been threatened and even then those lumpy items left by the devil would fight back, making the simplest swallow, a child’s worst nightmare. It would take many years and an electric mixer to calm my mashed potato phobia. The phobia finally cured by a young wife with a heart. Her children would never be forced to eat anything that would cause them to seek therapy as an adult. Mashed potatoes may be on your list of top ten comfort foods. But I assure you, it was never on mine.
This was a writing exercise from Old Friend from Far Away (The Practice of Writing Memoir) by Natalie Goldberg
J.R.G.2009
John,
ReplyDeleteA very tasty subject you have chosen to write about today.
Being from Northern Ireland, the potato always has been a main part of the everyday diet. Cooked in all forms, including mashed which is my personal favourite way. Mashed with the added ingredients of finely chopped spring onions, or with chopped cabbage.Of course you must have a chunk of real butter to add to the mixture!!!
Happy Cooking!
Eileen
Eileen, my wife with the Irish dimple has over decades of time, transformed me into a present day lover of all things potato, although I have to say my favorite still remains the French's fried version.
ReplyDeleteAh yea, the dinnertime battles, I remember them well. My gagger was the flecks of cream floating around in the milk, back in the days before homogenization, when milk came with a layer of cream on top and no matter how hard my mom would shake the bottle, some solid flecks would not dissolve.
ReplyDeleteThis is great John man, you consistently impress eh! Goodness, greatness through and through! P.S. wish I had seen you while in the area, I'll be retuning in the next few months and will most certainly let you know when I do! Until then good sir!
ReplyDelete