The Hash Browns.

One meal that I can go back to again and again--besides pizza or the veggie bacon cheeseburger--is a simple breakfast of eggs, hash browns, and toast. And like those other things, I fail at preparing it. With pizza, it's the crust. I can't make good pie crust either. I can crisp bacon up good and proper, but doing anything beyond that is impossible--specifically the obstacle there is having fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, hamburger buns and other condiments at the same time. Even if iI did have "the works," somehow they never work together for me in the end; no teamwork between the onions and such. In my home, I cannot cut a tomato thin enough to my liking. Anyway, why make the veggie bacon burger when I can so easily order it anywhere.

The breakfast is so basic. It's really a damn shame I can't make that work. I used to sling breakfast at a cafe in the Empire. Eggs, I have worked out. They aren't picture-perfect, but decent. It's the hash browns that are the challenge. I've tried and tried and can't figure it out. Peeling, shredding, getting rid of the excess moisture is for some reason, harder than anything in the world. I'm clueless.

I remember one late night back in what must have been 2000 or so, a bunch of us were out partying. My roommate and I got back to the house hungry at a late hour. This is a great time for a hearty breakfast to soak up whatever ridiculous drinks you consume in your youth. I tried making hash browns--to this day not knowing where I went wrong--and it ended in tears and wasted potatoes. I distinctly remember saying aloud, "Why are they grey?" And completely defeated a few minutes later, "It looks like puke."

I've since realized that I can't go with fresh potato. So I've moved on to trying my hand with packaged, pre-shredded potatoes, with simple directions printed right on the back. Still failure! Tonight, they were burned on the outermost edge with no hint of golden brown. Hash burns. Not enough oil I suspect. What am I doing wrong? Determined to get it right. Can't afford to eat at Bob's every time.

Baking is definitely my strength. Muffins, cookies, brownies...When I daydream about quitting it all and starting off on my own, it's usually a bakery I have in mind.