My Contribution to Earth Day

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This is my story.
So a few days ago I made a batch of potato salad. A batch - seriously. When you are using giant Russet potatoes from Cash & Carry it is hard to tell exactly how many you need. It turned out great, but a few days later, no matter how good something is, you get tired of eating it. I had a brilliant idea. My kids love scalloped potatoes. What a bonus that I already had precut, precooked potatoes; never mind the pickles and the mayonnaise. I reasoned...a lot of those down-home southern recipes use mayonnaise in them. And the pickles, I could just pick them out.  Did I mention that I really like pickles in my potato salad, the more the better, and a little dried dill to amplify the flavor. So the pickle picking took some time, but after that a little grated cheese stirred in and some garlic salt and we were good to go.
There wasn't enough time to partake of the cheesy goodness before the kids' baseball games and practices. So, needless to say, by the time we got home everyone was hungry and excited to indulge in Mom's scalloped potatoes. I gave them a little taste as I was dishing up the kids' helpings. "Hmm, quite good," I thought, "I think I'm going to be able to pull this off, they are not going to have a clue that they are eating left over potato salad".
Sam was the first one to dig in. A few bites into it he asked confusedly, "did you put pickles in this?" (I'm laughing right now as I retell this) I admitted how I had made the scalloped potatoes and that he must have eaten the one pickle that I missed. Soon the girls were commenting on how it tasted like pickle scalloped potatoes. I was so amused, it was very hard not to laugh, all the while I continued to try to convince them that it was quite good and a brilliant idea to boot. I watched as the girls tried adding garlic salt and pepper to augment the flavor, but apparently to no avail. Sam piped in, "I'm only eating this because I have to". (I'm still laughing, the whole thing cracks me up) Levi, on the other hand, although sitting right there, completely missed the whole pickle thing. He loved it and asked for seconds. That-a-boy, way to make your mama proud.

I did not set out today, Earth Day 2010, to make a difference in the world, but apparently I did make a lasting impact on those around me. And I must say, I am quite proud of how I creatively Reduced, Reused, and Recycled my unwanted leftovers! :)