Friday, November 14, 2008

And His Bucket of Parts...

I never had a Mr. Potato Head. Although I always wanted one. Call it an early fixation with food, or maybe it was that I always had an appreciation for polymorphous objects, but I admired that tuber. I guess it can be simply put-- I love oddly shaped fruits and vegetables.

Last week, I squealed with glee when I spotted this baby at the farmers market. "Look," I exclaimed to Brian, "it's better than a potato-head! It's a potato-man!" It was weighed by the vendor (and it was a weighty starch), and I put it in my satchel. There it sat on the kitchen counter, offering me company, and a smile (mine, not the potato's) whenever I was in the kitchen.

But alas, the potato was consumed. It's limbs were lopped off and I made a rosti, or a large, shredded potato cake later that week. It was delicious, crisp and golden-brown, with just the right amount of chewiness. I said the Kaddish, then ate up! Just kidding...

In other news: You might notice a little something new, on the right-hand side of this site. It's a picture, and a link to my upcoming book. Lately, there has been a bevy of manuscripts, emails, and a healthy dose of me pulling at my already cropped locks. But this week I sent the final proofs back to my editor. I can hardly believe the whole process is winding down. And that whooshing sound that you just heard? Oh, that was just me breathing a huge sigh of relief.

4 Comments:

Blogger Nishka said...

Congratulations!! I can't wait until it's finally here.

That potato gives me the heebie-jeebies.

1:25 PM  
Blogger keely steger said...

Exciting news about the book! Can't wait to read it!

4:37 PM  
Anonymous b + d said...

Now that you are about to become mega-rich and hyper-famous, we have three requests before you forget about us:

1.) Signed book, when available.

2.) Seeing your post on Potato Man, B wants to know that you are up on fruit/vegetable (mis)shapes in the EU:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/world/europe/13food.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

3.) Three years and eight days ago you had a recipe for a parsnip soup. D, having been both raised Irish Catholic and fired from an Austrian restaurant, just doesn't want to hear about potatoes, even in umlaut-bearing rösti form. We made a parsnip puree last Sunday, followed the big JC's really simple recipe, but then added black truffle oil. Amazing. But. Simple. This was our first time handling a parsnip, and we want to do it more often. We know that you shouldn't have to take fairly obvious requests like the piano man at Marie's Crisis--we're not asking about salsify, we're asking for the West Side Story medley--but there it is: if you could teach us the many ways of the parsnip to keep us happy in the cold months, we'd be even more grateful for your nosheteririzing.

8:59 PM  
Anonymous Anne said...

i echo nishka - i'm not sure i would have been brave enough to eat that.

10:30 AM  

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