Since I fancy myself a potato salad connoisseur of sorts, I am always trying different salads at delis, restaurants, and buffet tables. But there are two types of potato salad that I totally shy away from. Any potato salad with red things in it. I am not sure if it is pimento or red pepper and I really don't care to find out. And I never, ever, eat potato salad that comes out of a cardboard carton. I tried some once and it tasted a lot like a cardboard carton with mayonnaise.
My two favorite salads are made by people I know and love. My Mom (Millie C) and Mom-in-law (Ruby B). Perhaps I am a bit biased, but they are both perfect. Millie uses Miracle Whip and Ruby uses mayonnaise. Millie's salad is a variation of the classic German Potato Salad. Ruby's is her own American Classic creation. I asked the Moms for their recipes and told them that I would be featuring them in an upcoming article. They were both happy to share the recipes with other potato salad lovers and started rattling off ingredients faster than I could write them down.
I had been thinking that this would be an easy article to write. I was wrong. When I asked both Moms about the exact ingredient measurements, there was silence on the other end of their collective phone lines. Hello? Millie? Ruby?
Mom C. and Mom B. both kindly informed me that they hadn't measured the ingredients in years.
I asked, "How many potatoes do I need ?" I heard things like, "How many people are you serving?" How many eggs? "Oh, a lot of eggs!" They both responded instantly to that query. But how many are "a lot?" Four, seven, three-dozen? I asked Moms B and C how I was supposed to feature the two best potato salad recipes ever created, by anyone anywhere, if I didn't have the measurements? They both told me, "Hey, you're the Dad in the Kitchen!" Oh.
I momentarily considered switching the article and writing about the joys of chips and salsa, but that wouldn't be fair to all of our wonderful readers at Suite101. So let's give this our best shot, shall we? I will "adjust" the measurements based on how I make my own salad and we shall hope for the best.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Steve Compton's Quick & Easy Recipes topic, please visit the Discussions page.