Sheepherder Potoatoes

Finished dish... see how the water has thickened into a sauce?

Both of my Grandmas were young wives with young families to keep fed during The Depression. They had to get really good at making something out of nothing... My Grandma Clarke made a dish she called Sheepherder Potatoes that fits that description.

By the time I came along, she had a few more luxuries and made them in an electric skillet. That's what I remember and am trying to describe here. Once she had her skillet nicely warmed, she'd thinly slice potatoes and add them to the skillet with enough water to cover about 2/3 of the way and add a pat or two of butter and salt and pepper.  Be generous with the pepper!  Then she'd put the cover on and step away to do whatever else needed doing in her day while the potatoes simmered on low for a couple of hours.  They only need a gentle stir once in awhile when you check to make sure there's still water on them. When the potatoes are soft enough to start breaking apart, the dish is done.  Spoon out a taste and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.  The water will have thickened from the starch cooking out of the potatoes to make a peppery sauce, or gravy.

Everything is in the pan and ready to start simmering away.

Sounds simple?  It is.  And I think that's part of why it tastes so surprisingly good!  It's totally uncomplicated... just honest, simple, down-home comfort food.

I attempted to make some on top of the little Coleman Camp Stove that serves as my indoor cooking appliance on this mostly off-grid adventure.  I didn't achieve perfection with a dull knife, no cutting surface, imprecise heat, and a foil "lid" but I improvised with what I had and got close to what she made.  And they tasted pretty darned good!!

I can't remember now if there was a meat she served these potatoes alongside or not but while I was eating them I had visions of a green vegetable, maybe like sauteed spinach or chard, and a nice pan roasted trout.

Yup.  I'm STILL jonesing to go fishing...

Not What But How

My Mom never actually said those words.  Lots of moms do... and I've heard the phrase, or something similar expressing the same sentiment, most of my life... but I never heard it come from my Mom's lips.  I did see it in her actions though.

She was soft-spoken, gentle, intelligent beyond her education, and patient about getting what she wanted in a life that was frequently difficult.  She grew up in a home where an alcoholic father spent money for beer rather than feeding the family and where his drunkenness could turn violent.  She had to quit school after the 8th grade to work and help support her mom and siblings and, while she always wanted more education, she never returned to school.  Being saddled with so much responsibility, she gave up a lot of personal goals and freedoms and married late in life.  I was a long sought conception, an easy pregnancy and a very difficult delivery... hence my only child status.  And then by the time I was 12, my Dad was disabled by a lung disease his doctors blamed on his younger years farming and breathing the grain dust thrown up by threshing wheat on his father's Wyoming ranch.  Because of her limited education, her employment opportunities were also limited but my Mom always worked.  She worked hard doing things like pressing clothes in a dry cleaner, waitressing, cooking and washing dishes in a cafe and sometimes being a cleaning lady in the homes of people who were financially better off.  There were slights and hurtful things said to her, and about her, by her family and my Dad's family and by members of the predominant Church in our community (which in a such small town is basically the lifeblood of the community) and yet, I'd say her life was quite successful.  She loved people.  And there were those around her who loved her.  And rather than hold a grudge, she was always willing to give people another chance.  I know there were disappointments that broke her heart many times in doing that... but I so admire that she was always willing.

And I hope that I am, too.

I hope that my words and actions can:

  * bring you moments of

   joy.
   * the feeling of being

   truly loved and

   supported.
   * peace in troubling

   times.
   * comfort in grief.
   * relief from weariness.
   * hope for a better

   tomorrow.

Yes, there are times when I feel very acutely the "lack of" in my life.  And yes, I've been known to complain about it.  Sometimes bitterly.  But what I'm finding is that I really want to use knowing how it feels to do my little part in making the world a better place.  And I want to share, hopefully not in a bragging sort of way, what I'm doing to get past the lack and into a place of abundance again.

If you feel so inclined, I invite you to comment about the things that would help me give these gifts of joy, love, peace, comfort, relief and hope to you.