Wow, Has It Been That Long?

Well, apparently it has.

So here we are in the improbably-numbered year 2014, and I'm not dead yet, and I'm still trying to kick myself into creativity. There are two problems with this: 1.) I'm a lazy procrastinator, and 2.) my scanner doesn't work with my everyday laptop, so I am at the mercy of my old laptop for scanning images, which has undergone some weird regeneration and now works just fine, but I still don't trust after it ate an entire chapter of a story I wrote just before I replaced it. (The laptop, not the story.)

The first day of the New Year, my creative burst was to defy my mother.

Mom believed that meat and potatoes belonged on the same dish, but never, ever, ever in the same pot while cooking. She said that it made the potatoes look unappetizing, although none of us would have dared declare a dish unappetizing when it was served as leftovers, all cooked together. Over the years I've thrown my turnips, potatoes, and beef into the pot all together, and my ham and potatoes and green beans all into the pot together -- and I can't taste a difference. Sorry, Mom.

New Year's Day we always have pork and sauerkraut, with mashed potatoes and dumplings. It's for luck, they used to say, so your new year goes smoothly. We love to eat it, so we go along with the superstition.

However, babies don't necessarily love sauerkraut, so I cut some bits of pork and potato to cook up separately for Joan, who is about 18 months old. I browned the pork bits, and threw some slices of potato in with them to sizzle in the fat, thinking about Mom turning over in her grave back in icy Pennsylvania. The potatoes browned up quickly and crisply -- maybe a little too crisp? -- but I threw in the tiny bit of water and put a lid on the pan for braising.

Five minutes later, I pulled it all off the heat. The pork was delicious and tender; the potatoes ... divine. They had softened and soaked in some of that yummy pork browny flavor. Bernie and I loved the flavor and texture, Joan not so much, but then her focus was entirely upon the pork bits, which she devoured like a piranha.

Happy New Year!