169. Idaho Potatoes

 

In case you don’t know it already, I am from Idaho and live in Idaho. Of course, many of the things I am grateful for come from right here at home, as it should be. No one should be surprised then, that something I am grateful for is Idaho potatoes. It’s true that Idaho potatoes are not grown in northern Idaho (except the back yard garden variety) so finding them for sale in supermarkets here is not as easy as it is in much of the rest of the country. I certainly eat a lot of Washington potatoes since they are the predominant tuber sold here and I live much closer to those spud farms than any in Idaho. But even when I’ve lived in southern Idaho I’ve found that finding the grade A Idaho Russets was not common because most of our potatoes are exported. The times I spent in England were when I appreciated our spuds the most because there they were available, though quite expensive. But that’s when I grew to appreciate them most because I had a taste of home in the land of the Angles.

Someone told me that McDonald’s only used Idaho potatoes for their fries, and I do love their fries. I’m not sure I really believe that because there are a lot of McDonald’s in the world. But maybe. I know in Washington, D.C. I went to a Five Guys and they had bags of potatoes out with a sign saying what farm in Idaho they were from. But I enjoy potatoes in chip form, fries, hash browns, baked, cooked in casseroles… So, when I have been abroad there has been a sense of comfort to just step into a McDonald’s and have some fries. There’s a huge amount of irony in that because I don’t eat at McDonald’s all that much when I’m at home.

Some things you just take for granted, so much so that you don’t realize what an integral part of your life it is. Now is the time to take stock in those things and remember them. Idaho potatoes are a big deal for me and I’m grateful for them.