Storing potatoes & easy recipe

This picture almost makes them look green,
they were perfectly fine.

Last weekend I used up the last of the potatoes that were stored for winter use.  We put up just under 100 lbs for the off season and they lasted through the end of February.  150 lbs will have to be the number for this year so that we can make it most of the way until the next harvest.  

Three factors will ensure successful storage of your potatoes:

• A good cure right after harvest
• That the potatoes aren't washed - you can brush off a lot of the dirt being careful not to harm the cured peel - but don't wash them
• Store them in the dark - if they aren't in the dark, they will turn green - if you eat too many green potatoes, you could become very ill.  

A burlap bag inside of a cardboard box proved very effective this year in the mudroom.  Temperatures didn't stay below zero for too long so that room was fine.  Had they stayed below zero for any length of time, that room would have gotten too cold.  Potatoes like it just above freezing.

There are three of us in the house, we don't have company for meals very often but we both take leftovers for lunches for our off farm jobs.  Potatoes stretch or fill out chicken & biscuits, stews, soups, top shepherd's pie, stand alone, are spiced up for side dishes, put in foil packets with onions and cheese on the grill; they are used in a pile of my cooking.  One of my favorite potato recipe is so simple that it is hardly worth writing down and probably is somewhere on the interweb, but it is so good, that even if I cut up two potatoes for each of us, there aren't any leftovers.

Herb roasted potatoes 
3T olive oil
2T minced garlic
1T each of oregano & thyme
Salt to taste
Paprika for color
3-5 medium potatoes - cut up into 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400 or 425 degrees.
In a large bowl mix the first five ingredients until blended.
Add potatoes and toss until evenly coated.
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper - spread potatoes evenly.
Bake for 25 - 35 minutes until potatoes are crisp and tender.

Enjoy!