One potato, two potato, three potato, more....and more.

There are literally hundreds of kinds of potatoes grown in the United States alone.  Essentially all these potatoes fall into seven different types.  They include russets, reds, whites, yellows, blue/purples, fingerings, and petites.

The misunderstood potato has often been cited as high in calories, but the truth is that a potato only has about 100 calories.  It's all the other stuff we like to put on potatoes that gets us in trouble.  You know, like butter, sour cream, bacon, etc...

The potato is such a versatile stem.  You can:

·         fry it, as in French Fries

·         bake it, as in loaded bake potato

·         mash it, as in twice baked potatoes

·         boil it, as in tossed with butter and parsley

·         shred it, as in hash browns

·         roast it, as in roasted potatoes with turmeric and curry

·         tot it, as in tater tot hot dish

·         soup it, as in Creamy Potato soup (today's recipe)

Why are potatoes so popular?  It turns out that if you combine potatoes with milk or butter (for you mash potato lovers), you create a dish that you could live on because potatoes with the peel have more potassium than a banana, more vitamin C than an orange, and more fiber than an apple.  That, along with the vitamins A and D of the milk balances it out.

Now, we are not recommending you live on a diet of potatoes alone, especially when there are such great vegetables and fruits available.  But you can't argue with the fact that potatoes are the most universally grown crop in the world. 

As a crop, potatoes come in forth to corn, wheat and rice.  China grows the most potatoes.  Americans eat 142 pounds of potatoes a year. 

More interesting facts:

• The word potato comes from the Spanish word "patata."
• The potato is the most universally grown crop in the world.
• The potato is a member of the nightshade plants and it's greens are poisonous.
• The Inca people of Peru were growing potatoes in the Andes Mountains as far back as 200 BC. They used the potato to treat injuries. They also thought it made childbirth easier.
• Potatoes were introduced to Britain and Ireland in the late 1500s. It didn’t go so well at first. Many people blamed them for diseases and condemned them because they weren’t mentioned in the Bible.
• Both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette wore potato blossoms to spiff up their outfits. (Partly to boost the crop’s popularity in France.)
• Potatoes were often eaten aboard ships to prevent scurvy because they are loaded with vitamin C.
• The first “French fry” was allegedly first served in the United States by Thomas Jefferson at a presidential dinner.
• Potatoes were the first food to be grown in space. In 1996, potato plants were taken into space with the space shuttle Columbia.
• Potatoes are environmentally friendly. They’re easy to grow and don’t require massive amounts of water, fertilizer or chemicals to thrive.
• Potatoes can be used as batteries.  The highest voltage from a potato battery was 538.1 Volt DC achieved in Germany in July 2009.

Potatoes are becoming more and more important in the developing world. That’s because they’re an easy crop to grow. They yield more nutritious food, more quickly and on less land than any other crop.

There is much to enjoy about the homey spud. It is comforting and nutritious and now is the time to get this vegetable into our recipe. But just one more fact, the potato is not a root as is commonly thought. The fact of the matter is that a potato is a stem of the plant as seen in the diagram. 

So let's get started cooking spud stems, shall we?  By the way, the word "spud" comes from the word used for a small spade.  Therefore, a small potato became a "spud."

Cheesy Potato and Bacon Soup

What you need:

4 slices smoked bacon, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried parsley

3 lbs red potatoes, peeled and chopped to bite size pieces

4 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup 1/2 n 1/2 or milk
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese **

What you need to do:

In large pot or dutch oven, fry bacon until crispy.  Remove bacon and most of the grease.  In same pot saute the onions, bell peppers, garlic and parsley.  When vegetables are soft, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add salt and pepper and potatoes.  Turn down heat to medium and cook the potatoes through.   Turn heat to low and add 1/2 n 1/2 along with the cheese.  Stir until cheese is melted.  Taste for seasoning.

Serve hot with rolls and butter.

**You can use any kind of cheese that melts well.  To add a little snap use pepper jack or asiago.  I used three kinds of cheese:  cheddar, fontina and pepper jack....yummy!

Find the potato you like and have fun with all kinds of recipes.  They are versatile and oh so yummy.

Now, go out and make something good.