Who likes taters? Raise your hand. I do! I do!

Potatoes are one of those things that just give you so many options as a side dish. The options are really endless. I couldn’t even tell you my top three favorites. I love fried potatoes, baked potatoes, french fries, scalloped potatoes, potato wedges, mashed potatoes, chips (does that count!?), and my friends would say that I love potato pancakes.

Now, I can be honest with you and tell you that I have never had a potato pancake. I have seen the light-up signs at fairs and carnivals but have never had the interest in trying one, probably because I would rather eat a funnel cake or cactus taters. Oh my goddess, how did I forget cactus taters under my top potato picks!? Gee whiz! Those babies are high on my list! If you don’t love a good cactus tater, we can’t be friends. Nah, I’m just kidding, but you better get them taste buds checked. Hahaha.

I am sure you are asking why my friends would say I love potato pancakes when I have never even eaten one. This has been a thing in our group for, let’s see here — ten years maybe? So, like a decade ago!? Man, I feel old. One of our very good friends, Joe Kranger, has been a part of our lives since before my son Tyler was born, and he will be twelve this year. See, I feel old again. I have a pre-teen!? *Sigh*

He used to work with our other friend Jason Rymell at Advance Auto, which is honestly how we met Joe to begin with. We were all car friends. Hung out at the circuit and our car meets that Joe ran every Wednesday night down at the Advance Auto parking lot on the Golden Strip.

Well, one day, Jason called me from the store. Ya know, back when caller ID wasn’t a popular thing. He handed the phone quickly off to Joe, who was like, “Why are you handing this off to me?” I am sure they were calling because we were probably all hanging out that night, and he wanted to touch base, but man, did they catch me at the wrong time! That same week I had two prank calls that said something to me that I won’t repeat. Just a random man who was being a disgusting pig, prank calling women, I guess. Of course, I went off on the guy, but he hung up on me before I could even finish. So, when Jason handed Joe the phone and I said “hello,” he responded with “POTATO PANCAKE!”

Oh my goodness, I went off like a rocket thinking it was that man calling me again. And when I say I went off, I mean I went OFF! Joe got scared and handed the phone back to Jason while saying, “I don’t know what I said, but she is so mad!”

I heard Jason on the other end, “Andrea! It’s Jason and Joe! It’s OK. Calm down!” (As he is just cracking up laughing, wondering what in the world just happened.) I felt so bad, and explained why I acted like a crazy lunatic over the words “Potato Pancake!”

So now that’s our group thing still to this day. Joe tells people not to get on my bad side or I will “Potato Pancake their butt.” Or if I get feisty, he tells me POTATO PANCAKE, and I just start cracking up! I am a very easy-going kinda gal. I am always smiling and a very positive person, but if you get on my bad side or hurt someone I love, that’s when the potato pancake comes out in me. I don’t get mad very often, which is why it came as a shock from Joe. He said he has never seen me like that and never wants to get on my bad side after what he witnessed that day. *Insert laughing emoji here*

Folks, I don’t think many of you have ever heard this story. In fact, I don’t even think my parents knew about it till now. Maybe back when it actually happened, but that was a long, long time ago. I have calmed down hearing the words ‘potato pancake,’ and I believe my love for actual potatoes has grown also. I love playing around with taters and seeing what I can come up with. One night I didn’t have much time to make my double-baked potatoes, so I just whipped something up fast and came up with this amazing recipe. It tasted like hot potato salad!

I’m like, “Andrea, you did it again!” Now, I wasn’t saying that before I tried it. I actually apologized to my family before we even sat down at the table to eat, saying, “Guys, I am so sorry I didn’t have time to do the potatoes I was going to do. I just whipped these up quickly, and they probably won’t be as good.” Oh my goodness, one bite, and we were like, “dangggg!” These are so simple that it’s ridiculous. It will make you go crazy, just like it did for me with potato pancakes!

Easy Red Potatoes
Ingredients:
• 2-3 lbs of red potatoes
• 1/2 stick butter
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Italian Seasoning
• Seasoning Salt
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375. Cut and dice potatoes into bite-size pieces. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Melt butter and olive oil together. With a rubber brush, brush the butter mixture all over the potatoes. Sprinkle seasonings over potatoes. Place in the oven for about 40-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes until tender.