Mashed Potato Surprise

Did you ever think to throw some really different things into mashed potatoes? I do. Things you wouldn't even dream of at times.

I remember when I was a kid... I hated mashed potatoes with a passion. Don't ask me why, I haven't a clue. I mean seriously, how can you go wrong with potatoes, milk and butter?? What's really ironic, is that I wasn't a finicky eater, I ate pretty much anything, or at least tried it. But, with these, the only way I would eat them, is if I put either mayo or Miracle Whip in them. Usually it was the Miracle Whip, mighty tasty stuff. My Grandma gave me the idea to do it, said it would taste like potato salad... she was right... it did... So that's how I ate them, lol.

Come to tonights dinner. I wanted something different. I had a thawed pork chop in the fridge and knew I was going to use the adobe seasoning on it and just pan fry it. Potatoes were on my agenda... But what kind??

Too long to fry them. Didn't want nuked. So I thought, boil them and add something to them to kick them up. You'd be surprised at what I put into them... (other than garlic)

Pepperoni.

Yep, you read it right, and that's exactly what I did. Using cream for the milk, a touch of butter and pepperoni... that was my potato mix-in. Sounds gross... Mighty tasty!!

Give it a try... you'd be surprised!

PS - FYI - also when I was a kid... which got me thinking about pepperoni. My uncle used to make pancakes and throw pepperoni into the batter... THAT was also amazing tasting!

BLT Pasta Salad...

I know, it's late for me to be blogging about one of the dishes that I made for Labor Day this year, but I have school work to do now, so I'm getting a little behind.

I searched for days for what to make to take to Grandma's. I needed to use ingredients that I already had in the kitchen. So when I found this recipe, I thought... hmmm.... now, THAT looks interesting.

The recipe called for seashell pasta... o.k. whatever... I used the curly ones instead, it almost all tastes the same anyway.

Original recipe... pasta, bacon, Ranch dressing, onion and tomato.

Well, my additional items were, colby/jack cheese (you can't have pasta salad without cheese, sorry), parsley and for the 'green' to take the place of lettuce (this is BLT, ya know), I used green olives that I cut up.

Now, that might not sound very appetizing, but I'm here to say... it was...

The dressing I had to do half the night before and then add the rest (probably more than what it called for), right before I left the house. Pasta tends to suck up dressing, so it's always good to have plenty and don't add it all at once.

Most of this was to taste and it was mighty tasty. I think everyone liked it. At least, I didn't hear any complaining, lol...