Note to self:
Never start a
blog days before your daughter graduates college. Your intention to post two to three times a
week will sound simple, but not so much so if you have a very busy 10 days in
front of you.
That having
been said, it was a beautiful, but bittersweet, graduation weekend.
Beautiful,
because my daughter, the joy of my life, was getting her degree. But bittersweet, because the two people who
love her as much as I do could not be there.
Her grandpa
would have been amazingly proud of his only grandchild, and the sorrow that he
passed before he could see his grandchild graduate college at times seemed more
than my heart could bear.
And after a
long talk, we decided that trying to deal with my mother and her dementia
during graduation was more than we were willing to try and cope with. Mom gets confused when she is in new
surroundings. So as much as we wanted
her there, we decided not to have her join us.
We started
the week-end with a small party at the kid’s house (the “kids” are my daughter
and her two roommates). Potluck with
BBQ. Because of all the news about “pink
slime” in hamburgers, the kids are eating a lot of ground turkey (accept for T,
who became a vegetarian last year). So
we grilled turkey burgers , turkey dogs, and vegi burgers. (I have to say, I am a fan of the mushroom
based vegetarian burgers, especially when they are grilled.)
Thunder chased us out of the yard and into the living room, but we had a great time talking, catching up with some friends, and seeing A's fellow grads.
One of the
things everyone enjoyed (accept the resident vegetarian) was the Hot German
Potato Salad I made. I only made this
once before—last summer, using my mother’s recipe while visiting her over the 4th
of July weekend. It is a bit more time
consuming to make than standard cold potato salad, so mom didn’t make it
often. But I always loved it. Making it made me feel like my mom was there
with us . . .
[note: I have NO idea where my mother got the recipe--my Aunt Ann says that mom shared it with her years ago, saying it came from "the paper". Mom's copy was handwritten on a 3x5 card]
Hot German Potato Salad
6 medium potatoes (about 3 pounds--I used yukon golds, which mom would not have)
1 medium onion - finely chopped
1 1/2 tlb sugar
Pepper to taste
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp celery seed - optional
6 slices bacon
1 tlb flour
1 tsp salt
1 beef bouillon
1/2 cup cider vinegar
Boil potatoes in their skins until tender (my note: DO NOT OVERCOOK OR YOU WILL HAVE MUSHY POTATOES). Peel and slice into a large bowl. In a skillet fry the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon leaving the fat in the pan. Drain bacon and break into pieces. In the bacon fat cook the onions until transparent, stir in flour, sugar, salt, pepper and celery seed. Remove from heat. Dissolve bouillon cube in boiling water and add vinegar. Gradually add into flour mixture keeping smooth. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Add bacon pieces. Pour dressing over potatoes and toss gently. Serve hot makes 8 servings
1 medium onion - finely chopped
1 1/2 tlb sugar
Pepper to taste
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp celery seed - optional
6 slices bacon
1 tlb flour
1 tsp salt
1 beef bouillon
1/2 cup cider vinegar
Boil potatoes in their skins until tender (my note: DO NOT OVERCOOK OR YOU WILL HAVE MUSHY POTATOES). Peel and slice into a large bowl. In a skillet fry the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon leaving the fat in the pan. Drain bacon and break into pieces. In the bacon fat cook the onions until transparent, stir in flour, sugar, salt, pepper and celery seed. Remove from heat. Dissolve bouillon cube in boiling water and add vinegar. Gradually add into flour mixture keeping smooth. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Add bacon pieces. Pour dressing over potatoes and toss gently. Serve hot makes 8 servings
