“I just need one more potato now that Cousin Johnny has come to share our Thanksgiving table,” said Ruth as she bustled about her kitchen, trying to fill in for the extra mouth to feed.
She had assembled an assortment of colorful fresh fruits and vegetables on the countertop, ready to drench with water and remove any unwanted residues and turn them into something delicious. She had potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, apples, apricots, cherries, and rhubarb.
What a pretty sight it was.
But all I saw was an assortment of potentially poisonous plants that could ruin the Thanksgiving table festivities.
“Don’t eat that green potato,” I warned Ruth as she nabbed a large one from the back of her old-fashioned larder to prepare a big fat bowl of mashed potatoes.
“What are you talking about?” she said. “This potato is perfectly fine. A little green, but it will do.”
“You shouldn’t mix it with the other potatoes,” I insisted. “It could be toxic. How old is it anyway? Looks pretty shriveled to me.”
“Oh yes, but I’ll just peel that green skin off and it will be fine,” Ruth said as she deftly stripped the surface with her easy-grip potato peeler. “See, the potato flesh itself is not green, so there’s no poison present. I’ll make sure all the green parts are gone.””
To be safe, Ruth should have sent someone to the store for another potato and tossed the offending one. Why would anyone risk making others sick for the sake of a few pennies is beyond me, especially at the Thanksgiving table? That being said, Ruth was correct in thinking that removing the green before cooking would remove the toxins. I’ve done it myself a few times, but my potatoes were never that, well, GREEN. Better to be safe than sorry, I say. Ruth also made a point of cutting out any sprouts and eyes because they might be poisonous, too. Who’d want to eat those ugly, nubbly things anyway?
Ruth’s other potentially toxic assortment on the counter top destined for the Thanksgiving table included these seemingly innocent fruits and vegetables:
Carrot Tops
Although your pet rabbit may love to munch on the lacy green foliage from your bunch of carrots, it is not advisable for you to eat them either in salads or as a cooked vegetable. The unpleasant alkaloids contained in the greens include caffeine, cocaine and strychnine, which can cause ill effects.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms collected from the lawn or woods are generally not smart to eat unless you are an expert (yet, even experts have been fooled and have suffered the fatal consequences). Stick with store-bought fungus, which I’m sure Ruth had done.
Cherry Pits & Stems
The leaves, twigs and seeds of the cherry, both wild and cultivated, are generally poisonous, so it is best to avoid those parts of the plant. They apparently have toxins that combine in the human body to form cyanide. Chewing on that occasional Maraschino cherry stem that comes in your Southern Comfort Manhattan probably won’t hurt you, but I wouldn’t make a habit of it.
Apple Seeds
The seeds and pips are said to be toxic and contain cyanide.
Apricot Kernels
The kernel of apricots, which resemble unshelled almonds, also contain cyanide. Ingesting several of them (which seems unlikely considering their bitter taste) could be fatal, especially for small children.
Rhubarb Leaves
You can buy rhubarb stems in supermarkets, but rarely do they come with the leaves since these are highly toxic and are generally removed prior to shelving. That’s why most rhubarb looks like packaged pinkish-red celery. If you do happen to get some leaves, just trim them off carefully and discard. The stems make great pies, jams, and even wine (Ruth’s favorite).
Aside from Ruth’s lack of caution when preparing her mashed potatoes for her Thanksgiving table, there are three good rules of food safety that I always remember:
– Wash thoroughly
– Store properly
– When in doubt, throw it out
Happy Cookbooking,
Erin
P.S. I didn’t eat any of Ruth’s mashed potatoes that Thanksgiving!
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