Celebrating America’s Super Spud (NAPSA)}—Baked,boiled, mashed or fried, potatoes are being eyed by many Americans. In fact, each of us eats about 126 pounds of spuds every year. That’s almost a potato a day! But potatoes can be used for much more than eating. For instance, you can rub a raw potato over your glasses to keep them from fogging up, or even use one to get a broken lightbulb out of a socket. Remove the fuse or shut off the breaker; cut a raw potato to the size of the socket; force it into the socket so the broken bulb sticks in the potato, and twist. To celebrate its 70th anniversary, the Idaho Potato Commission released a new Idaho Potato Tips Brochure. It features tips for buying, storing, preparing and cooking potatoes, along with many other tips and facts. Here’s a closer look: Picking Potatoes To ensure you’re buying genuine Idaho Potatoes, look for the “Grown In Idaho”seal, which fea- tures a silhouette of the state of Idaho. Idahois famousfor its Russets but also grows other varieties, such as Yukon Golds, Reds and Fingerlings. Look for potatoes with clean, smooth, firm-textured skin that have no cuts, bruises or discoloration. Storing Potatoes Store potatoes in a cool, dry place, but never in the refrigerator. Refrigeration converts potato starch into sugar. Baked To Perfection * Don’t foil your potato...never bake your potato in aluminum foil. It traps the steam and actually boils, not bakes, your potato. To make the perfect baked potato, scrub it, pierce the skin Potato Power—Idaho Potatoes provide fiber, iron, potassium, phosphorus,zinc and more. two or three times with a fork, and place the potato directly on the oven rack, at 450F for 50 to 60 minutes. Of course, it’s the taste, versa- tility and nutritional value of these handy potatoes that make them America’s favorite spud. Idaho Potatoes can be cooked in any number of ways, and fitness expert Denise Austin says they’re one of the best sources of complex carbohydrates out there. Nutrient Rich A 5.3-ounce potato has only 100 calories, 45 percent daily value of vitamin C, nearly twice the potassium as a banana, 3 gramsof fiber, no fat and no cholesterol. The USDA included the potato on its list of top-20 most antioxidant-rich foods. To receive a copy of the 70th Anniversary Tips Brochure, send a 39-cent stamp along with your name and address printed on a 3 x 5” card to: Idaho Potato Tips Brochure Offer, c/o Evans, Hardy+Young, 829 De La Vina Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Have a tip you would like to submit? Or looking for moretips? Visit www.idahopotato.com.
