Grandma's Potato Salad

When I was eleven, my Grandparents bought me a ticket to come and visit them in California for one week, all by myself! I was thrilled! We had so much fun; shopping, visiting candy factories, and sleeping in late. One thing I remember was us making Grandma's wonderful potato salad together. This is my absolute favorite potato salad, and I've never found another one that matches it in taste. I don't remember whose idea it was to make the salad on this visit, but let me tell you, it was quite a shock.

You see, at eleven, I had no idea what actually went into the salad. Just a few weeks ago, I was talking about this memory with my Grandma, and we discovered that we remember different things about that time. She remembers that we made way too many potatoes, so we ended up with a TON of salad! I remember being totally grossed out by the ingredients, but forcing myself to remember that it was truly the best. But, I had to grimace when she started adding the toppings. At eleven, I hated mustard. I hated sweet pickles. Actually, I still do! And ketchup?? In potato salad? The thought crossed my mind that my Grandma had gone insane. But, when it was done, and I forced myself to try it, thinking that there was no way that this was her wonderful salad, I discovered that the mix of all of those ingredients can sometimes create heaven.

So, here is my Grandma's recipe. I've tried different substitutions; such as using dill pickle juice instead of sweet, but really, there are no substitutions for greatness.

Grandma's Perfect Potato Salad

12 potatoes
Salt and pepper
Sweet Pickle Juice

9 eggs, boiled and chopped (See how to make perfect boiled eggs)

1 cup red onion, diced

1 cup celery, chopped

1 TB (roughly- you can use more if needed) each of:

Mustard

Ketchup

Dried Parsley

Sweet Pickle Relish

Mayonnaise

Wash potatoes. Boil potatoes, whole with skins on, in salted water until tender. Cooking them with the skins on keeps them intact, and insures that you don't end up with potato mush instead of potato chunks. (believe me- been there, done that!)

While still hot, peel and cube potatoes into a large mixing bowl. Salt and pepper each layer of potatoes as you cut them.

Add Sweet Pickle Juice to taste.

Add in chopped eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients and mix into potatoes and egg mixture. Mix until coated. Feel free to add more ketchup or mayo if needed!

When everything is mixed, pick up that fork and take a huge bite. Sigh in pleasure... and fill up a bowl!