a Groovy Recipe

As I told you all before in one of my posts that I am too lazy to look up and link to, my mom wanted to make some Peanut Butter Potato Candy for Scout (and Funsocksgirl too, but especially for Scout who loves the stuff). She called me:

GrammaJ: I want to make my candy for Scout, but I don't have a mixer and it's too hard to stir. Can I make it at your house?

Groovy: Sure.

GrammaJ: I don't have any potatoes though. Do have a potato I can use?

Groovy: rummaging through the cupboard to see if any potatoes are lolling about. Yep, I have a potato.

GrammaJ: Do you have TWO potatoes? I want to make some extra to give as gifts to my neighbors and to set out for the Christmas family get together.

Groovy: Um, yeah, I have two...actually three. Do you need anything else?

GrammaJ: Actually, can I use your vanilla? I'm a little low.

Groovy: I have vanilla.

GrammaJ: I have powdered sugar, but do you have some too in case we run low?

Groovy: I'm a cake baker: I always have powdered sugar in the house.

GrammaJ: Thank you!

Friday came and along with it came GrammaJ. She always comes over on Friday to visit and do her laundry. This time she was also going to make her candy. However, she has some serious difficulties with her hands, so I peeled and washed and cut the potatoes for her. I drained them too and put them in the mixer bowl of my wonderful Kitchen Aid. Remind me sometime to tell you the story behind my wonderful Kitchen Aid...

She turned the machine on and added the vanilla and powdered sugar. She added more powdered sugar and MORE powdered sugar. She added all her powdered sugar and then started in on mine. It wasn't enough.

We took a break for a run to the grocery store!

She added more powdered sugar and finally it looked pretty good. She couldn't maneuver the bowl well with her hands, so I scraped the dough out onto the sugar laden counter top. Then we realized she also couldn't knead the dough, so I did that. And she couldn't hold the rolling pin, so I did that.

Then she got out her peanut butter. (Yes, she brought the peanut butter!) It was all natural. And organic. Because she wanted the candy to be healthy.

Yes, she was serious. :-O

If you're not familiar with all natural peanut butter, it can be very thin and oily at room temp. This particular brand was about the consistancy of an insubstantial soup. I also use natural peanut butter for everyday use, so I could not intervene with a good dose of Skippy. I spread the goop atop the dough. I spead it thickly because Scout likes it that way and then commenced to rolling it up before the peanut butter started oozing off the sides.

It oozed anyway.

The roll was ugly and misshapen and about the size of a rolled up bath towel.

Scout would love it. (I think you will too.)


GrammaJ's Peanut Butter Potato Candy

(It sounds gross, but it tastes terrific. My mom insists that I inform you all that this is a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe that she got from an actual Pennsylvania Dutch type person, so it HAS to be good!)

This recipe makes about 47,000 servings. If you double it...Well, YOU do the math!

1 medium potato
some powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
a jar of your favorite peanut butter (natural peanut butter is too runny, so buy the "bad" stuff for this recipe!)

1. Peel the potato and rinse. Cut it into chunks and cook in boiling water until easily pierced with a fork.

2. Drain the potato pieces and let cool to room temperature.

3. Beat the potato with a mixer and add the vanilla.

4. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until the dough is quite stiff. This will require WAY more powdered sugar than you think it will!

5. Turn out onto a countertop covered with still more powdered sugar. Knead the dough a few times until it is no longer sticky.

6. Roll out into a rectangle or something vaguely reminiscent thereof. I don't know about you, but I can NEVER roll my dough out into circles or squares or rectangles. I always end up with tasty, but ugly dough ameobas! Your rolled out shape should be about 1/4 inch thick.

7. Spread your dough with the peanut butter. Scout likes his thick, other folks not so thick. You'll have to be your own judge here.

8. Roll the whole shebang (what the heck IS a shebang, anyway?) up like a jelly roll. If you're like me, you will have rolled your dough too wide and if you make one single jellyroll it will be the size of a Mac truck. In that case you can make a second batch and not roll it as wide OR you can roll in from both ends until the rolls meet in the middle and then cut them apart. That's what we did with our second batch. We mailed the Mac truck to Scout.

Sidenote: This candy is HEAVY. If you are going to mail it to someone as a gift, you made need to secure a second job to pay for the shipping!

9. Wrap your roll in waxed paper and refrigerate it for an hour or two (a couple of days is alright too). Whe you're ready to serve it, slice the roll into 1/4 inch slices. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

I just heard a rumor from a friend that HER mother, who is probably NOT Pennsylvania Dutch, makes a similar candy and dips it in CHOCOLATE.

Groovy has some leftover ugly (but tasty) candy pieces from the badly rolled dough in her fridge...Hmmmmm.