Weirdest. Dinner. Ever.

With all the summer goodness, I can't decide what I want. Many of our meals are just "grazing" - grabbing something yummy and eating. This might be fruit, or fresh veggies or what ever. My meals are definitely a little more low key. On Saturday, I went to the Madison Farmers Market for the 1st time this season. I am usually a regular down there, but between working and swim meets, I hadn't gotten down yet. I of course chose a busy, busy day - the 3rd of July - and a peak time - around 10am - to go. It was crowded! BUT I picked up a few great things. Much to my surprise they already had Door County Cherries! I also got a few herb plants at a great price since it's time for the nurseries to move them out. I also picked up some potatoes. They were small potatoes. I wasn't sure what to do with them.
Then it hit me!
SALT POTATOES!

They are a specialty from UpState NY where my husband is from. They are a summer staple - you will find them at fairs and local/regional events. They are simple - salt, water, butter - YUM! I did find a recipe on the NY Times site - but you really don't need one. About a cup of salt to 8 cups of water is what I used. I mixed Kosher and Pacific Sea salt because I was almost out of Kosher! Let them cook until tender. Because of the high temps, the potatoes get nice and creamy. It's hard to explain. After draining, add some butter and let it melt. The potatoes should just soak in the butter now. I added about 1/4 cup butter. Then - eat! David said that the potatoes at the Fairs look different - they are all wrinkled up - probably from spending hours cooking in salt water.  I am growing potatoes in my community garden plot and have all intentioned of making many of my potatoes from there into salt potatoes!

Here's a little blurb from Wikipedia as to why they came about up in the Syracuse area.

"The Syracuse, New York area has a long history of salt production. Salt springs located around Onondaga lake were used to create consumable salt that was distributed throughout the northeast via the Erie Canal. Salinated water was laid out to dry on large trays. The salt residue was then scraped up, ground, and packaged. Salt potatoes were created in the nineteenth century by Irish immigrants working the springs who cooked their potatoes in the salty brine."


So... why was the weirdest dinner ever?? Because I had bought pineapple the say before with the intention of grilling it. I think I have mentioned before that I HATE cooked fruit - jams, jellies, pies, YUCK! However.... grilled pineapple. Oh my heavens, it's so... so... fantastic. Love it. So, to go with my potatoes I grilled pinapple. Sounds logical to me, right? No matter what you might think, my plate was like a little piece of heaven.