Nanny’s Creamed Potatoes

Nanny’s Creamed Potatoes

Ingredients:
Boiled potatoes, diced
Butter
1 T flour
Whole milk or cream to cover potatoes
Salt
Pepper
Onion, diced (optional)
Fresh parsley, chopped, or paprika
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Directions:
Dice leftover, cooked boiled potatoes. Place potatoes in iron skillet, called a “spider” by
Nanny. (Any heavy frying pan or an electric skillet will do.) Add a dab of butter (home
churned on Nanny’s farm); sprinkle 1 T flour over the potatoes. Pour in whole milk or
cream to just cover potatoes. Add salt and pepper as desired. Cook slowly over medium
heat until potatoes are warmed through and milk has thickened. Sometimes Mother diced
an onion into the potatoes before cooking. In season, she chopped fresh parsley over the
top or sprinkled with paprika. Some cooks like to stir in ¼ cup finely shredded cheese
just before serving.
Author’s Bio:
I’m Mary Emma Allen, a children’s author, cooking and travel columnist,
quiltmaker and quilt book author, family/inspirational writer, and writing teacher/speaker.
I’ve always been eager to try new ventures in writing; as a result I’ve enjoyed working at
many types of writing and my books reveal this diversity. They include WHEN WE
BECOME THE PARENT TO OUR PARENTS (), which
chronicles my mother’s journey through Alzheimer’s, TALES OF ADVENTURE &
DISCOVERY (), a collection of children’s stories I’ve also
illustrated, The Magic of Patchwork, Writing in Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont,
and several manuals for writers. My most recent work was a coloring book to accompany
the children’s anthology. Currently I’m working on writing activity books for children
and a YA novel inspired by my ancestors’ experiences during the Civil War era in the
United States. Visit my web site: or e-mail
me at me.allen@juno.com.
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SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
Setting the Scene:
Dill, a chef, recently separated from the woman he couldn’t imagine being
without, is remembering how Willa, aforementioned woman, taught him that the best
remedy for the blues is good food.
Excerpt from NEARVANA: JUST SOUTH OF NIRVANA:
When Willa took one half of their double-wide trailer and headed north from
Oregon on I-5, Dill took the other half and went south, toward Nirvana, New Mexico.
Dill loved green chilies.
He could love New Mexico.
Trailers don’t travel well cross-country though. That is how Dill’s half, the Cafe,
came to land in Near-Vana, just south of Nirvana. Dill decided it was about as good a
name for his cafe as any, so it stuck.
Cafe NearVana.
These days Dill stands in front of his trailer, stroking the outside wall—right
there, where Willa’s half used to be joined to his, half-believing it to still be there.
Feeling it, like a missing limb.
Thinking of Willa makes Dill hungry. When she wanted to make him feel happy,
she would cook dinner and dessert—recipes that had always brought her comfort when
she was down, before Dill. They were not low-cal, low-fat, meager-portioned meals, but
full-bodied, warming, fill-you-up-you-are-not-alone dinners. And she was right. He
always felt better. As a Chef, he knew it wasn’t healthy, but as a man, a husband, and a
human being, he could think of no better remedy for the blues.
“Willa called me her sweet potato. The first time she made this dish for me, we
talked about having our own little sweet potatoes. You know, children.”
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SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE