Traditional Potato Salad Recipe

Potatoes love me and the feeling is mutual.

I can eat potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner and of course, in between.

My favorite junk food is potato chips or fries, but I haven’t had many of those lately.

I’ve often felt that if I had too, I could live on potatoes, just potatoes, but I hope it doesn’t come to that.

It is hard to mess up the potato, though I suppose it’s been done.

Greasy, limp fries aren’t too good nor are burnt hash browns.

And I don’t really like soggy potato pancakes.

But I guess the worst mess is store bought potato salad. The sweet kind.

The kind filled with more mayo and tiny red pieces (which I think are pimento), than potatoes.

Stores try to throw in  mustard but somehow, at least to me, that just makes it seem sweeter.

 

No, I’m not a big fan of store bought potato salad.

As a child I remember my dad running across town to buy fried chicken from a grocery named Lloyd’s.

 Dad would drive over every Sunday afternoon and buy fried chicken, potato salad and DAD’s root beer with a blue and yellow label.

We were only allowed milk on most days so Sundays were a special treat.

I think they even sold tapioca pudding which he loved, but could never get me to eat.

He also brought home fried chicken livers and gizzards.  I remember fighting over the livers but he ate the gizzards all by himself.

It was a meal to look forward to.

I might have even been allowed to sit in front of the TV and watch The World of Disney on NBC which always had some movie about animals, that inevitably made me cry.

It is weird what we remember. And food is a good trigger for my memories.

Sometimes I think I don’t remember much, but when it relates to food I think I remember a lot.

In this case, I remember the potato salad. It was good. It had crunchy pieces of celery and onion and a hint of mustard, too.

Lloyd’s disappeared early in my childhood and then I remember Kentucky Fried and Popeye’s.

They just weren’t the same. And they didn’t sell Dad’s.

But back to potatoes. I believe my first bite of potato salad came from Lloyd’s.

Though I honestly can tell you I don’t really remember it well, but believe it was a traditional potato salad.

It didn’t have funny herbs or spices. I don’t know if it had sugar.

But this recipe is what I think it tasted like. And this traditionalpotato salad is perfect for dads.

Real dads. Real dads that drink Dad’s root beer and go get fried chicken and stuff, because their wife doesn’t want to cook.

The thing is (now that I’m thinking about it), I think my dad preferred macaroni salad and I don’t like macaroni salad.

Sorry dad! Love you and Happy Father’s Day!

A Few More:

Potato Salad with Dill

Roasted Potato Salad

Old Bay Potato Salad

 

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