In my mother's household, potatoes were part of every evening meal.  Sometimes they were mashed.  Very rarely, for special occasions, they were baked.  Usually, they were fried.

She would peel and dice the raw potatoes while the fat was heating in a big cast iron skillet.  A grease can sat on the back of the stove, to receive bacon drippings, and any grease that cooked out of hamburgers, steak, pork chops, etc.  It was spooned into biscuit dough and pancake batter, and strained into the skillet for frying fish, potatoes, or anything that didn't generate its own lubrication.

Mama's diced spuds got pushed around, flipped, stirred and flipped some more, until they were done.  I don't think she ever intentionally burned them, but I don't recall her ever cooking a batch of fried potatoes that didn't have a few black pieces in it.

Sometimes on weekends, by special request, we would have, "Daddy fried taters."  My father left the skins on, scrubbed the spuds and made thin transverse slices.  The big rounds were fried in bacon grease just like Mama's, but that is where the resemblance ended.  Daddy fried taters were more work intensive than Mama's

For part of the cooking time, Daddy placed a lid on the skillet to steam and soften the slices.  Each slice had to be slipped over or under others carefully so they wouldn't break up as they softened.  They were watched closely and tended carefully so that every one browned and none blackened.  For my father, a fried spud was primarily a ketchup delivery system.  His tastes live on in me.

Potatoes are not everyday food in my household, but we eat them at least once or twice a week.  Usually, I nuke one and eat it with a little salt and a dollop of yogurt.  Fried potatoes are a rare treat.  My method differs from those of my parents.  I dice them like Mama, but I don't let them burn.  Forty or more years ago, I stopped frying raw potatoes and started parboiling them first, so they would be soft without the time in a lidded skillet.  Now, instead of boiling, I microwave them lightly before dicing, leaving the skins on.  I fry them in vegetable oil and drain on paper towels.

Just like Mama, though, if there are any left on the Kid's plate when he's done, I clean up his plate for him.  Even cold, fried taters are tasty.

I'm preparing to go to work full-time, working by phone, from home.  I start getting paid for my work tomorrow, after weeks of preparations.  I suspect that the preparation phase is a lot more work than the work itself will be.  It is not a job in the sense of being an employee.  I'm an independent contractor -- or that's what the contract says, anyway.  My de facto independence does not seem to conform to the written terms of the contract.  Much remains to be seen.

I haven't been blogging much because I haven't had much on my mind besides this work-related stuff.  I have been scattered, and I can't blame it all on Mercury retrograde, which, by the way, is no longer retrograde.  (yay!)  When I've had time and attention to spare, I've been relaxing with games.  I did take a few photos yesterday, and they might possibly show up in my photo module later today.

[Greyfox, if you see this, I left the requested link for you privately.]