Donna's potato salad (a recipe)

My friend Donna sent me her recipe for potato salad, and it is fabulous. I have a mixed relationship with potato salad, having grown up in a place where potato salad was a staple, and every picnic and church supper included at least two varieties. Mostly I didn't like any of them. I didn't like my mother's version either.

So I usually say I don't like the stuff at all, but once in a while I'll taste something that appeals. This recipe is one of those "once in a while" deals. I love this potato salad, and have already made it twice. And eaten most of it. . .well, Wayne had some too. Here's the recipe:

• 4 medium red potatoes, cut in pieces and boiled until soft
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• Mayonnaise to taste (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1/2 tablespoon brown or Dijon mustard
• Celery salt and black pepper

Let potatoes and eggs cool. Leave skin on potatoes and cut them up in bit size pieces.
Sprinkle the potatoes with vinegar, then sugar. Toss carefully with spoons.
Add chopped eggs.
Add mayonnaise and mustard. Toss carefully to combine.
Sprinkle generously with celery salt and a little pepper.

Mix together, taste for salt, then put in the refrigerator to cool and blend the flavors. Yum!!

Cooking up a storm

Cooking is another of my passions. How many passions is one allowed? Ten? Maybe twenty? I hope so. I am a woman of many interests ... ahem, passions.

You may not know I write a cooking column for the online newpaper Examiner.com. If you've ever scrambled for a new idea for dinner, or wondered what in the world to do with an excess of bell peppers that are going to go bad soon, you might want to take a look. I write about food I make for dinner. Usually I take a photo of the food as I cook it or as I put it on the table, and then I put the recipe up if it's a keeper.

Here are a couple of recent recipes, one for sauteed peppers with brussel sprouts and potatoes and another for Mabel's Calico Beans.  Well, Mabel's beans at least should resonate with readers from my old home place in Minnesota - it's exactly the kind of thing we used to hope would appear at the church suppers our moms dragged us to. Not to mention Mabel was a South Dakota girl, so kind of in the "neighborhood".

Tonight I made pizza for the first time in years. The crust was fabulous. The toppings could be improved. What are the best toppings for homemade pizza, my friends? When I get it down, I'll share.

BTW, I finished the giraffe skirt. I'll show you a photo tomorrow.