a note to my yesterday self

[mazzie]

dear self:

you do not, in fact, have a single bowl big enough to make five pounds of potato salad. oh, you can fit five pounds of sliced potatoes into the silver bowl, but nothing else. and stirring them is out of the question. you'll only end up with hot sliced potatoes on the floor.

speaking of hot potatoes, peel them over the garbage disposal. with a knife and not the peeler. and let them cool down first. a lot.

also, "to taste" is mom recipe trickery, meaning she'll never tell you exactly how she does it. and, as much as you want to treat your friends to the best potato salad they have ever had, and as hard as you tried to beat the trickery with intuition, your potato salad will never be as good as mom's. oh, it'll be good, but mom is magic and that is that.

oh, and drink more beer and worry less.

love,
tomorrow

Comments

[jccohen.livejournal.com]

My mom's recipe card for deviled eggs says "add salt to taste" which is then scratched out and a hand-written note "even a pinch is too much... YUCK!"

re: potato salad

[schizospider.livejournal.com]

This is completely true regarding all recipes, but my family has a potato salad recipe and a sticky bun recipe that gets worse with every generation because of it. I predict that my children won't be able to make decent potato salad. Won't somebody think of the children

[queenmabwords.livejournal.com]

I think the magic is "food you cook yourself never tastes as good as food that someone else cooks for you." Thus, the potato salad will taste as good to your friends as your Mom's potato salad tastes to you.

[verymelm.livejournal.com]

I think there's a lot to that. When I make something (either something someone has made for me in the past or a recipe that I found on my own), I find that I'm much more critical in eating it than I would be in eating the same thing made by someone else. I'm looking for what's missing, for what's too much, for a particular texture or consistency instead of just enjoying the blend of tastes and textures.

And there are always things that are quite simply not reproducible because of regional differences in, say, water, or microbes in the air (which is why San Francisco sourdough never tastes exactly right when it's not made in San Francisco; or why most Belgian beers aren't reproducible outside Belgium (or even the specific brewery they were first made in)), or in the variation in chemical preservatives used to make one brand of mayo or mustard and another.

Jack complains because I never write down a recipe for barbecue sauce; when we need some, I just throw things in the pan and mix them up until it tastes right. And sometimes it's fabulous and other times it's just so-so, but it's always passable barbecue sauce. He thinks I should write down the recipe and just stick to one version, but some days I'm in the mood for more molasses and others I want more brown sugar (or garlic, or smoke, or, or, or). I *like* that it never comes out the same and sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't take that approach to more things that I cook or bake (or brew or bottle or whatever).

[beeeej.livejournal.com]

At the risk of bragging, I think my pecan pie is the exception that proves the rule. I love that shit. ;-)

[sskipstress.livejournal.com]

I hope my tale of potatoe salad woe will make you feel better about your potato salad.

I was having a sushi craving and nowhere I know of that has good sushi is open for lunch on Sundays so I cheated and let Whole Foods make some for me. While I was there I picked up some tilapia for tomorrow and the celery I need for my potato salad. I also picked up mayonnaise because it was the only ingredient I still needed. Well, Whole Food brand mayo is not even close to the super fatty eggy goodness that is Hellman's (or Weggies store brand) mayo and my potato salad now tastes funny.

[chiba.livejournal.com]

The mental picture of hot, sliced potato chunks flying all over your kitchen is ... well, hysterical. Thanks!