Grandmother Bucky’s Potato Salad {Tales from the Trenches}
This is the latest installment of my Tales from the Trenches Series. An ongoing series where friends and readers share their stories and recipes about the great food they fit into family life. We all have tips and tricks to share with each other: when we cook, what we cook and how we cook the delicious food we love to eat. If you are interested in contributing a story and recipe please feel free to contact me. Today my friend Barbara, the source of many amazing recipes on this site, is sharing her grandmother’s famous potato salad recipe. I’ve made it and it is fabulous! It is also very naptime chef-friendly, so feel free to make it ahead time as need be.
Kelsey asked me a while ago to submit a “Tale from the Trenches” but I don’t’ really feel comfortable doing it because I am at best an “Occasional Chef” – – a “Special Occasion Chef” might be an even better description! I don’t cook for my family every day. I love to cook but the truth is that these days I spend more time reading and thinking about cooking than I actually spend cooking.
I live vicariously through Kelsey’s posts and read them faithfully each week. There’s nothing I love more than having a party and planning the menu. Holidays present the perfect opportunity for me to try new recipes as well as make old favorites – I have a bulging file of recipes that continues to grow and lots of cookbooks (including a family cookbook my sister put together a few years ago as a way to preserve and pass on our family’s favorite recipes).
Over the July 4th weekend, I made my mother’s – actually it was my Grandmother’s – potato salad. I grew up eating this at picnics every summer throughout my childhood and it always reminds me of my family. This past weekend was spent with my brother and his family and we both agreed that this tasted just the way “mom” (and Grandma Bucky before her) used to make it.
Recipe
Grandmother Bucky’s Potato Salad
Ingredients
6 | large, peeled and boiled potatoes |
6 | hard boiled eggs |
2 | celery stalks (including the leafy parts) |
1 | bunch of scallions |
8 | thinly sliced radishes |
1 | scant dollop Hellman’s mayonnaise (amount can vary according to taste, we’re not big mayo fans in my family so we never used much – I think the word “scant” would apply here) |
Instructions
Basically all of this is chopped into small pieces, the mayo and Lawry’s salt are added and then it’s refrigerated. If you have the time, boil the eggs and potatoes the day before because they are easier to chop when they are cold. I actually chop the egg whites and crumble the yolks – the overall effect is a bit like egg salad. Small, neat pieces are key (along with the Hellman’s mayonnaise and the Lawry’s salt) and the note in our “Family Cookbook” reminds us to “visualize the potato salad from the past” when making this
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
Naptime Stopwatch
Naptime Reviews
The recipes that are passed down are a treasure aren’t they!
Love that you added the eggs to this classic potato salad.
I love potato salad. But I don’t know how to make it. When I see your blog, it lightens my day as I really want to make one right now. Thanks