Creamy Ranch Potatoes
The Ranch Connection
So here’s a fun fact I didn’t know until recently—ranch dressing was invented by a plumber in Alaska. Guy named Steve Henson, working on oil rigs in the late 1940s, had to cook for his crew. Apparently they were picky eaters and he needed something to get them to actually eat their vegetables. He mixed up buttermilk, mayo, and whatever herbs he had lying around, and boom—ranch was born.
Later he and his wife Gayle moved to California, bought a dude ranch in Santa Barbara, renamed it Hidden Valley Ranch. Guests at the ranch went crazy for the dressing. Started asking to take jars home. Eventually the Hensons were filling every room of their house with packets of dried seasoning mix, selling them by mail order for 75 cents each.
