Eaters' Guild

Potatoes

Potatoes are the fourth most popular crop on Earth (bested by rice, wheat, and maize). They can be cultivated by planting seeds or vegetatively, buy planting potatoes, or cut portions of potato that contain at least two eyes.

I can't say with complete authority how potatoes spread across Michigan, but I can say that Kalamazoo was one of the first places to have potatoes as we know it. A man named Titus Bronson (the founder of Kalamazoo) brought potatoes to the land in 1824, according to the book A Fine Place for a City by Nick Kekic. Kekic reports that Henery Osterhout, another turn-of the century pioneer, wrote of Titus' arrival in Ann Arbor: “[Titus] was the first man who brought potatoes to Ann Arbor – you could not get them from Detroit or anywhere...and although he had eighty bushels...you could not buy of him; he was going to plant them and make money out of them.”

Light Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds unpeeled red potatoes, cooked and cubed (5 cups)
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped dill pickle
• 2 tablespoons chopped sweet red pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1-1/2 teaspoons snipped fresh mint or 1/2 teaspoon dried mint
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon snipped fresh basil or 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

In bowl, combine potatoes, celery, pickle, red pepper, onion, parsley and mint. Combine all remaining ingredients; pour over salad and mix gently. Cover and chill for several hours. Yield: 10 servings.