Day 22: Oma's potato salad

Well, it's Mother-in-Law's Day today. In honor of the mothers-in-law in our lives (or recently departed), my sister-in-law and I got together yesterday and put together some cupcakes. I was going to post about it yesterday, but we didn't get done until midnight! Fortunately, we all enjoyed ourselves and had a good time. We even got our husbands in on the action!  The menfolk made some fantastic peas and radishes out of candies, while my sister-in-law and Bubs made some lettuce (most of these were out of Airheads and Gobstoppers! I can't wait to get pictures of them tonight! My sister-in-law took them with her to keep them safe from Baldy.) and I made squash out of jellybeans and a taffy. Yes, *A* taffy! There was only one orange one, so it was tricky. And my sister-in-law teased me that they looked like ovaries. We're hoping our mother-in-law is less, um, imaginative, than my sister-in-law! Hopefully she'll see the squash seed packet and know they're supposed to be squash and not ovaries!  But to celebrate my grandmother-in-law who passed away recently, I made potato salad. (It also happens to go GREAT with pulled pork sandwiches which is what my mother-in-law was planning for dinner tonight!) It's her recipe. I'm going to repost it here to put the picture and the recipe together so that people can find things easier. I LOVE this recipe!  I finished it off this morning after a very long night last night, so I added the hard-boiled eggs today and the paprika. (I was VERY tempted to put chili powder on it instead, in honor of Oma who was well-known for not being able to read her spice jar labels well and accidentally putting chili powder on her potato salad on a regular basis.  It probably didn't help that English was her second language and she couldn't see well in later years.) Anyway, here's the picture and recipe so you all can enjoy!  It's SO yummy! (I've already snitched two spoonfuls this morning! Oops!)

Cook about 6 medium potatoes.  (Potatoes should be tender, but still harder than mashing potatoes.) Peel potatoes after cooking.  Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut one half into thirds.  Cut it horizontally to cut in half again, then cut it in thin strips vertically widthwise.  Place in one medium bowl.  (Add about ½ tsp. salt between each potato as you add them to the bowl.)  Pour ½ - ¾ c. pickle juice over potatoes (enough to make them “juicy”) then let them sit while you prepare the sauce.

To make sauce, add ½ - ¾ c. (2 large spoonfuls-wooden spoon size) sour cream (Kroger’s All Natural is best).  Add approximately the same amount of Best Foods Real Mayonnaise (more if it doesn’t look like there’s enough sauce to cover your potatoes).  Add about ¼ c. pickle juice.  Stir well. Taste.  Add vinegar if it’s not “sour” enough.  Cut 2-3 small pickles in the same way you cut the potatoes.  Add to sauce and stir well.  Add 1 slivered slice of onion, cut into tiny pieces, and stir well.  Stir in potatoes a few scoops at a time until all the potatoes are well covered in sauce.  (If there’s not quite enough sauce, add a bit more pickle juice.)  You can also add a little more salt and pepper at this point.  Let the salad rest a day, then garnish with hard-boiled eggs and paprika.  (You can add diced hard-boiled eggs to the salad if you’d like, or ham or bacon.)  Chives and/or parsley can also be used to garnish.