easy recipes

Many people have grown up on the relatively cheap foods provided in fast-food restaurants. There are many advantages to eating fast food - tastes good, ready if you are in a hurry, no dishes to wash, available to those whose living situation does not include cooking facilities. The down side is that there is a lot of waste from the eating utensils and food containers (styrofoam or plastic or paper cups, plastic spoons and sporks, boxes, wrappers, et cetera for the main course).

Another interesting phenomenon is that now, two or three generations of people in some families have grown up without learning how to prepare food, without ever having shopped for and handled some of the basic ingredients. Many, though, are pleased to be introduced to these experiences.

Here are two recipes: homemade potato salad and apple pie. These should be fairly simple. If you like your results, you can always experiment with a more sophisticated version on your next try.



Baking a potato is a cinch. Wash a medium-sized Idaho potato (or use smaller potatoes, like reds, which would less time to bake) with water. Put it in a regular oven, or in a toaster oven that has 'bake' on one of the knobs. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour. Remove carefully with a thick pot holder. Tada!

You can eat your potato plain, or with salt and pepper, or butter, or sour cream, or chopped onions, chives, green onions, or some bits of cheese, or salsa, or all of the above.

If you bake an extra potato, or have half a potato left, you can later make:

Baked Potato Salad

cold baked potato
your favorite ranch salad dressing
your favorite mayonnaise
bread and butter pickle slices

Remove the potato skin (not necessary for red potatoes). Cut the potato into little cubes. Chop some of the pickle slices. Place potato and pickles in a bowl. Add equal amounts of salad dressing and mayonnaise, enough to coat the potatos, to your liking. Mangia, mangia!


Apple pie

Buy a package of 2 frozen pastry pie crusts. Almost any type apple will work - you'll want three to six depending on the size. The hardest work is peeling and cutting the apples into thin slices approximately the same size. Then, put them in a bowl. Add a couple spoonsful of sugar or honey or syrup, and stir with a big spoon until the apples are lightly coated. (You can add spice like cinnamon or nutmeg or a tiny bit of clove if you have it on hand, but not too much. Too much spice will overpower your fresh apples. You can add a tablespoon or two of flour if you like thicker juices. Lemon juice for a little spark.) Fill one of the pie crusts with the slices of apple. Dab some butter or margerine (or pour a little olive oil) on the apples if you have some.

Some people place the other crust carefully on top and pinch the edges of the two crusts together. Mine ALWAYS breaks. I cheat some times, and just place squares and triangles of the pastry on top of the fruit. It looks beautiful and artistic when it comes out, and no hassles with pinching the crusts together. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of the crust. Place the pie on a sturdy pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes or until the juices are bubbling and the crust is happily browned. Let cool for an hour - it stays very hot for a long time! A slice of cheddar cheese, or some vanilla ice cream goes well with apple pie. You've baked an American tradition!