Column and photos by Ali Carter, Vice President, WPGA Auxiliary
It is winter here in Central Wisconsin and the blowing winds and chilly temperatures have me longing for warm, hearty comfort food.
I recently came across this recipe from www.eatwisconsincheese.com and was intrigued by the use of apples and potatoes, so decided to give it a try (with a few tweaks and adjustments of course).
The combination of sweet roasted apples and red onions tossed with crispy potatoes and drizzled with a creamy white cheese sauce was just the comfort food I had been seeking for this particularly cold winter day.
Now, before you start envisioning an idyllic setting with me placing this beautiful dish on the table for my family as the snow gently falls outside our window, let me add a healthy dose of reality to this story. Creating this recipe did not go smoothly.
I found myself the center of a smelly cloud of chemicals from the sealant the mason was using on our stained concrete floors, men were coming in and out of the house to repair drywall and my dog couldn’t allow them to go about their job without trailing them and barking wildly, multiple radios were playing music … all tuned to different stations, and my daughter was repeatedly texting me as she tried to make plans for the weekend with her friends.
I was also making bread this same day and had the ingredients spread along my counter, mingling with the apples and potatoes, waiting for their turn. There was laundry piled high on the laundry room floor and bathrooms that needed cleaning. This was not exactly a Martha Stewart moment for me.
While I was grateful for the work being done on the house, I knew that I would complete the housework eventually, and I dearly love my sweet pup and wonderful daughter, I was struggling to focus on cooking. I shouldn’t have been surprised when I “oops’d” this recipe.
