Craving Summer

As winter begins to drag on, I begin craving at least a taste of summer. I served hot dogs and potato salad the other night for dinner and we all loved it!

This potato salad is a bit unique - I always get requests for the recipe whenever I bring it to BBQs or potlucks. The secret is the sweet pickles and the tomatoes! I originally got this recipe from my sister years ago. It came from her mother-in-law. I started making it for my husband when we were first married and it fast became his favorite! He will eat it any time of year and loves the leftovers for lunch the next day. It is also a favorite of my kids - although my daughter, Sarah, has to pick out the tomatoes.

The recipe that follows does not share any amounts. There aren't many cooks that actually measure when they are making a salad anyway. You just learn how to mix things until they look about right. I always include potatoes, onions, tomatoes and sweet pickles - lots of sweet pickles. The other ingredients are optional. If I didn't have tomatoes, it would also be pretty good. My garden tomatoes last pretty long in the garage. This year we ate our last ones the week of Christmas which is when I had to start buying them at the grocery store. They never taste as good as garden tomatoes, but they help us pull through until we can plant a garden again. Potatoes also store a long time. I'm using ones we purchased in October and have just stored in a box in our garage.

The other ingredient that adds a lot of flavor to this salad is bacon bits. I love the precooked bacon bits you can purchase. They don't need to be refrigerated and have a long shelf life.

Put everything in your bowl and add some mayonnaise and mustard. Stir to combine. Add a little more mayo if it appears too dry. Then salt and pepper to taste.

I mixed it up in this cute new bowl my husband and kids gave me for Christmas.

Doesn't it look tasty? It filled our heads with memories of summer which is what I needed for sure! I also love that I can make it ahead of time before all the kids get home and life gets a little crazy around here. You could make it even the night before if you needed to.

Potato Salad
Potatoes, cooked and diced	Hard-boiled eggs, chopped
Sweet pickles, chopped	Bacon, cooked and crumbled
Onions, chopped	mayonnaise
Celery, chopped	mustard
Tomatoes, chopped	Salt & pepper
Olives, sliced
Directions:
Cook potatoes just until done.  You do not want them too mushy.  Allow potatoes to cool.  Add vegetables and bacon.  Stir in mayonnaise and mustard.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Make as much as you like.