The Home Front
It’s been said that newlyweds and young married couples are “living on love” due to their abundance of love and lack of resources. My David and I have been married for 43 years, and we have truly done that, as I’m sure many of you have. It goes back to our young married days when we had two children and an unexpected change of careers for David. 
Being high-school sweethearts, David and I married young. He had a wonderful job, and life was good. He operated a D-9 bulldozer at the coal mines, and I was taking a few classes at the local college while expecting our first child. Then, coal mining went bust, and the company shut down. That event started a winding path to a career change and a relocation for our small family. We now had a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son and found ourselves in Montgomery, Ala., with David attending the Montgomery Police Academy. And I must say, we were living on love and a very limited income. I was home with the children, taking care of the household and preparing meals, while David was in training for a new career. I am proud to say that this led to his successful and honorable twenty-one years in law enforcement. But there was a situation that arose where that almost didn’t happen. 
I have been told by many that I could “pinch a penny until Lincoln screamed.” This is what trained me to do that: One day, David came home from the Academy and said they had checked his vision, and he could not continue unless he got glasses. We were in a bind. I knew exactly how much I had to spend on groceries for the month to make our meager budget work. And buying his glasses meant that I had very little money for groceries- almost nothing. And we had two little ones to feed. We were too independent to let our family know about this. We were determined to see this through ourselves. I did some praying and figuring on our budget. And I told him, “Let’s go get the glasses. I know what to do.”
So, we went and spent all that grocery money on his glasses. Then, I went to the grocery store and bought the largest bag of potatoes I could find, along with a few other budget stretching necessities. David got paid once a month. So, our little family of four survived for a month on potatoes. Potatoes at every meal. Fried, baked, mashed- every meal. I can still remember the joy of going to the grocery store when that next paycheck came in. And I fixed us a feast that evening. My sweet three-year-old daughter looked at the table and said, “Momma, where are the potatoes?” And with a big smile, I said, “We don’t have to have them today, sweetie. We don’t have to have them.” It was a celebration as we tucked into that meal for sure. We had made it on love and a bag of potatoes. And I still thank the Good Lord for potatoes, perseverance…and love! Please enjoy our favorite potato recipe.
-Danna Standridge
Author of Happiness is Homemade Y’all!
Read her faith story at www.birminghamchristian.com/issues.
For speaking engagements and cooking demonstrations, email [email protected] Join her in the kitchen on @DannaSwannStandridge and @dannastandridge8749
Our Favorite Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
5 lbs potatoes, Yukons or russets
2 to 3 sticks of butter per your taste
1 cup heavy cream
Milk, as needed to thin out if they are too thick
1 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Wash, peel, and chop potatoes into similar size pieces. Place in a large pan on top of stove. Put enough water into the pan to cover potatoes by 1 inch. Add ½ Tablespoon salt to water. Bring to a boil, then simmer till potatoes are done and fork tender. Drain. Mash potatoes with a potato masher. Add 1 stick butter, heavy cream, sour cream, and salt and pepper. Continue mashing with a potato masher. Add milk in small increments and stir until correct consistency. Taste often and add butter, salt and pepper to taste.
