We all know Idaho is where the best potatoes are from, but it isn’t necessarily where all the best potatoes are enjoyed. Our delightful tubers get sent all over the country to states like Kentucky… and after we spent a whole week in that wonderful place, it was apparent they are BIG fans.
Our journey spanned from Russellville to Burlington to Louisville; highlighting the size and diversity in Kentucky life. In Russellville the Tater Team starred at an event with the Concerned Citizens for Logan County. This organization helps to feed those in need, and it seemed that our Big Helping initiative could be of some service. The community was small but the support was huge! For a town with only about 7,000 inhabitants, you would have thought it was four times that size from the amount of signatures we collected on our donation board. Dorris and the other incredible organizers proved that just because one is small… doesn’t mean you can’t be mighty!
After Russellville we headed north, close to the border with Cincinnati, Ohio. Burlington, Kentucky, is home of the Immaculate Heart of Mary School. At this visit, kids in preschool up through 8th grade came out to hear the Tater Team tell their harrowing tales. It is during these visits that we like to pretend we are performers and the potato is our stage. We make jokes, give quizzes, climb the potato, and captivate the audience… well, at least up until 6th grade. Our visit is part of their Farm to School campaign which helps the kids identify with where their food is coming from. We don’t want them all thinking that their food magically grows on trees… we would prefer they KNOW it comes from 12,000 pound potatoes grown in Idaho. So that’s what we taught them. 😉
Our last stop in Kentucky took us back to familiar ground: Louisville. The difference was that we weren’t there for Derby this year. We were there for the Thunder Over Louisville. This one day event features an air show over the river on the Indiana border, then climaxes with one of the largest firework shows in the country. Seriously, the fireworks went on for 30 minutes with multiple ‘finales’ and were accompanied by some beautiful classical music. After a long day of interacting with a large percentage of the 500,000 to 700,000 guests, we stretched out on top of the potato to take it all in… it’s just one of the perks to the job.
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We ended the weekend with taking a trip out to one of our favorite locations. Visiting Muir Valley for rock climbing has become an annual Tater Team Tradition, and this year was no exception. If you’ve never gone, go. And if you haven’t seen us, come. We will be waiting.
And because I’m not a ‘bait-and-switcher’, here are some Kentucky Fried Tater recipes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WC83pJjtmE
http://www.food.com/recipe/kentucky-fried-potatoes-218746
