Patio Potato Salad

I do not like potato salad. I love potatoes, but alas, I do not love eggs. Not even a little bit. Every summer at some random potluck barbecue I'll see potato salad and think about how good it looks. I'll take a little scoop, taste it, and remember that I don't like potato salad. It really shouldn't matter that I don't like potato salad, but the problem is that my husband loves it. We've been married for almost eight years and I've never made potato salad for him, but he asked if I would this week.

I started browsing the internet for recipes. I asked him if he likes pickles in his potato salad. He doesn't. I asked him if he likes celery in his potato salad. He doesn't. I already knew he didn't want onions so I didn't even have to ask. He just wanted a simple potato salad. Do you know how hard it is to find a recipe for that? All the recipes with the best ratings are potato salad with a twist: bacon, ranch dressing, even sweet potatoes. Finally, I found a highly rated recipe on Taste of Home's website that didn't have any weird ingredients, but it did include cooking a sauce. I didn't think that was commonplace, but it only called for 1/4 c. mayo, which was a plus for me since the hubby doesn't like mayo. The egg to potato ratio also seemed very reasonable to me, and gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe I could eat this potato salad!

So I hard boiled three eggs and chopped up the ginormous potatoes from last week's Bountiful Basket. I followed the recipe, subbed a little onion powder for the diced onions, and stuck it in the fridge to chill. When it was time to eat, I put a little scoop of potato salad on my plate. I stabbed a potato with my fork and took a bite. Drum roll please...I liked it!! It's not overly eggy, but still has eggs in it so the hubby feels like it's classic potato salad. It was sweet, which I didn't mind, but I think it was a little too sweet for my husband, so next time (yes, I liked it so much I'll make it again!) I'm going to reduce the sugar. If you are a potato salad connoisseur and know you don't care for a sweet sauce, I suggest you also reduce the sugar. And since you're probably normal and like onions in your potato salad, you should definitely add the onions.

I know the recipe looks like a lot of work. It does require a few steps, but none of them are hard so don't be scared. You need to refrigerate it for at least an hour before you serve it, which is nice because you could make it in the morning and let it chill out in the fridge while you cook dinner. To cook the potatoes, peel and cube them. Put them in a pan and cover them with cold water. Turn your burner on to medium-high heat and set your timer for 25 minutes. Check them for doneness after 20 minutes. Drain them when they're done and let them cool while you're working on the sauce. To hard boil eggs, place them in a pan, cover them with cold water, bring to a boil, boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, cover, and set timer for 12 minutes. Transfer to ice water bath until cooled, then peel and chop.

Patio Potato Salad

from Taste of Home

1/3 c. sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. vinegar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. butter, cubed
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. mayo
7 medium potatoes, cubed and cooked
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Combine sugar, cornstarch, ground mustard, salt, and celery seed in saucepan. Add milk, vinegar, and egg and stir until smooth. Add butter. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for two minutes or until thick and bubbly. Cool. Stir in onion and mayo. In large bowl, combine potatoes and hard boiled eggs. Add dressing and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.