Potato Soup Recipe Leads Diverse Recipe Box Lineup

This month we offer recipes for potato soup, squash casserole, sweet potatoes, oatmeal cookies, custard pie recipe and more.

By Jean Teller
January/February 2013
Baked Potato Soup
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A pot of Baked Potato Soup simmering on the stove creates a welcoming aroma.
Photo By iStockphoto/Lauri Patterson
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Long before the Spanish conquistadors came to the Americas searching for gold, the Incas of Peru and Chile had domesticated, grown and even worshipped various types of potatoes found in South America.

RELATED CONTENT

When the Spanish came to Peru, in the 1500s, they discovered the wonders of the potato as well, and soon shipped the root to their homeland. Find more about the potato’s history in, Heirloom Potato Varieties Make Great Baked Potatoes.

So when did potatoes find their way into soups and stews? Archaeological digs have found evidence that the Incas dried the potatoes or soaked them in a stew to carry on long journeys.

It took considerably longer for potato soup to become the family favorite it is today. Many years of misinformation followed the poor potato; while they were easy to grow, and the plants were carried throughout Europe, the inhabitants considered the potato to be strange, weird and downright dangerous. Eating potatoes was equated with a variety of diseases, including leprosy, and was often banned as a result.

Idaho is probably the best known place in the United States for the potato. Planted in the territory around 1830, the potato was first planted by missionaries. Unfortunately, most Americans considered potatoes only good for the animals, and not for humans.

It took until the 1870s, with the development of the Russet Burbank potato (the Idaho potato) for the industry to grow into its own. Now, we take the potato for granted.

COLD WEATHER, HOT SOUP 

Margaret Bowman, Slayton, Minnesota, would like to replace her recipe for a potato soup that appeared in a farm magazine a few years ago. The recipe calls for mashed potatoes.  

Baked Potato Soup Recipe 
Easy Potato Soup Recipe 

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