Cheap as Chips

"Potatoes are cheap as chips", a friend once said.  Well, yes, for obvious reasons.  As children we were raised on the potato staple.  How else was my mother to feed 4 children with hollow legs on a budget?  Potatoes can be used in such a variety of ways; just yesterday I watched a television chef make a creamy white sauce from leftover mashed potatoes.

I will eat potatoes in any form but I have to admit, I sometimes will make chips or roasted potatoes purely to have a little a lot of ketchup go along side them.  My dad used to ask me if I wanted some fries with my ketchup.  I still like ketchup and I'm not afraid to say it!

These potatoes are great whether you're a ketchup lover or not.  It's an adaptation of my mom's recipe; something she made a lot for us as children.  All you do is chop your potatoes into small cubes (about an inch or so in diameter), place them in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with oregano and salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for about half an hour at 200°C or until golden and crispy.

Until recently, I thought my mom was the whizz in the kitchen - and then she watched me make mashed potatoes.  I cut all the potatoes into small chunks so they cooked faster and she was impressed; she'd always boiled them whole.  I'm so glad I can make my mother proud in the kitchen with the little things.