Author Archives: Nancy

PERFECT POTATO SALAD

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Have you been losing sleep over what to bring to a 4th of July party?  (I hope you’re not losing sleep over not being invited to a 4th of July party.)  Let me start by saying that not everything has to be red, white, and blue for a 4th of July meal.  Let someone else bring the RW&B dipped strawberries, cookies, cakes, salads (these never really work), etc.  Show up with a cool, creamy, potato salad and do a little indepen-dance as you watch others mound it on their plates.

This recipe is one my sister-in-law introduced me to, and is adapted from a quirky cookbook called Leaving Home by Louise (Lulu) P. Grace — “For people who love good food . . . but don’t know how to cook . . . are too tired to cook . . . or don’t want to cook.”  Yep, Lulu covered all the bases.  I gather from the book’s Dedication that she was also a dreamer — “Kids, here’s hoping that you can prepare and serve these delicious and nutritious dishes to your friends, husbands, wives, and Dad and me.”   The book, published in 1984, is out of print, but you can still find it on eBay.

The majority of the recipes in the book, including this potato salad, call for “Knorr Swiss Aromat Seasoning for Meat.”  The main ingredients of this seasoning are salt (ok) and msg (which I do not use), and thus, I omitted it from the recipe.

Potato salad doesn’t necessarily need a recipe — it’s pretty easy to wing it (taters gonna tate).  But for those who prefer a consistently good one, this is a contender.

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PERFECT POTATO SALAD
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Ingredients
  • 3 cups peeled, diced, cooked russet potatoes
  • ¾ cup mayonnaise
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • ¼ cup diced sweet yellow onion
  • ¼ cup dill relish
  • 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring 6 cups of water to boil in a large pot, and add the potatoes. Boil until potatoes are tender, approximately 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and let cool completely.
  2. Put the cooled potatoes in a large bowl and mash a few of the chunks to give the salad a creamy, not smooth, texture. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

See you tater, alligator

TOMATO, CUCUMBER, AND ONION SALAD

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This month Tag Sale Tastes is 12 years old.  12 years is also how many years ago my mother died.  I was sitting in a Leisure Learning class called “Blogging for Dollars” (don’t need to tell you how that turned out, do I?), and had turned off my phone.  When the class ended I saw I had 5 or 6 messages from my sister — she’d been trying to call to tell me our mother was in the hospital.  She stayed there about a week with an undetermined stomach ailment, until she died after her colon perforated in the hospital and she became septic.  Two weeks later I lost my job at the law firm I did not like, where I’d stuck it out for almost a dozen years.  Good people.  With time on my hands, I was able to get Tag Sale Tastes up and running.  The blog still serves the same two purposes I originally intended it to serve — (1) it motivates me to cook, and (2) it provides a creative outlet, in contrast to the more formal legal writing I do at my day job.  I do not earn any money from the blog, which is partly why you will never see the words “jump to recipe” or “Comment “RECIPE” for the recipe” on my blog (admit it — you hate those too).

I appreciate all of my readers — those that subscribe to the blog via email, those that leave a kind comment, those that tell me they made a recipe from the blog, those that follow me on Facebook, and those that are quiet lurkers.

To celebrate 12 years of Tag Sale Tastes, I am challenging myself to post a salad recipe every day in July.  My summer cooking goal is to get in and out of the kitchen as quickly as possible, using as few heat-generating appliances as possible, and salads are often the key to achieving that goal.  I hope you’ll be inspired to try one or two.  UPDATE:  Salad month came to an abrupt halt on July 8 due to circumstances beyond my control including:  (1) Hurricane Beryl on July 8, (2) taking in my mother-in-law with advanced dementia and her caretakers after she lost power for 7 days after the hurricane, (3) my dad died on July 12, (4) travel to and from Florida for his funeral July 14-15, (5) loss of internet, and (6) Covid.  In short, July kicked our butts.

I’m starting off with an easy recipe, one we tend to make at least once a week in the summer.  No cooking required, just cool, fresh produce and a simple oil and vinegar dressing.  This colorful and flavorful side salad takes just a few minutes to prepare, making it a summer salad superstar in my book, perfect for those living under a heat dome and the “hottest summer on record.”

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TOMATO, CUCUMBER, AND ONION SALAD
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Ingredients
  • NOTE: All vegetable amounts are approximate (you do you)
  • ½ pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise (mixed colors are especially nice)
  • ½ English cucumber, sliced lengthwise and then cut crosswise into ¼" slices
  • ½ of a small sweet onion, thinly sliced (Vidalia, Persian Sweets, 1014, etc.)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Place tomatoes, cucumber, and onion in a medium bowl, and toss to combine. Pour olive oil and vinegars over oil, stirring to distribute dressing. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

 

Eat the rainbow