Amazingly Plain and Brown

Exotic fruit looks so yummy, interesting and enticing.  I'm mostly drawn to it out of curiosity. Yet, have you ever tried processing a pomegranate?  The seeds are gorgeous in color and shape, but they are tenaciously horrible to get enough out to make a worthy contribution equal to the labor involved.  Those little jewel-like demons can do permanent damage staining your clothes!  The juice is great, but thousands of seeds only make a cup.  Sprinkle some around for pizzazz, but after a few, the interest wanes.  

Star fruit has a neat shape, but what a waste.  Kiwi is ok.  The thing is, that exotic fruits and vegetables are expensive, not always available when you need it the most, and usually picked green in order to transport it from Chile, Australia or Mexico.  Plus, it is susceptible to spoiling almost as soon as you get it home.  Still, at times I forget what I know and have been bedazzled by exotic fruit.  

I appreciate the plain brown potato in my life more and more.  They are inexpensive and always readily available.  You can buy them in bulk or one at a time.  They are always in season, they store well, for month if done right.  It seems like you have groceries if you have potatoes.  you can serve them every day and not get tired of them.  Even though they need cooked and seem bland on their own, that is part of the beauty of a plain brown potato.  You can dress them up or dress them down.  Add a little salt and pepper, sour cream and chives, bacon bits, broccoli or chili gravy. 

Finding new ways of cooking them is sort of fun.  They can be boiled, baked, grilled, sauteed, scalloped, skewered, mashed, riced, diced, sliced or fried, deep fried or broiled; becoming fries, tater tots, home fries or hash browns, lefse, dumplings, bread and more.  You can make a main meal of a baked potato with a bar of goodies to stack on top.  The skins are even good simply broiled with butter,salt and pepper for Jojo's.  Twice baked gives you easy pre-prep for a fancy dinner.  Potatoes compliment any dinner. 

Plain brown potatoes don't seem to feel insecure around the other flashy fruits and vegetables, they must sense their worth and value as a staple of life.  They don't get puffed up with their own egos thinking they're irreplaceable, because they see the rice and pasta on the shelf and know they are just the same-no more, no less.  They don't need to advertise, they sell themselves.  Having a potato famine would be disastrous!   We have become so used to having easy access, any time we need them.  We depend on them!   

I am married to a plain brown potato who is more precious than any words could express.  He is priceless.  He is my beloved and amazingly plain and brown.   

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