the best potato salad

There are approximately a bajillion of recipes out there for potato salad. This recipe cuts back on a handful of mayo, discards most of the egg yolks, and adds a twist with the green onions to amp up the flavors. For hard-boiled egg haters-- just give it a chance! T HATES hard-boiled eggs with a passion and the first time he had this salad I kept that little ingredient a secret until after he expressed his love of this version of potato salad...and when I broke the news to him he wasn't even angry, he still loves this potato salad and reports that even the biggest hard-boiled-egg-hater won't notice them!

Ingredients (makes 6 side-servings):
10 small potatoes
6 cornichons
6 green onions
1/3 cup of mayonnaise
2 tbs dijon
1 tsp paprika
sprinkle of salt & pepper

Directions:
1. Cut potatoes into eight equal pieces. Boil, covered, in a pot of water for 20 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork. Add eggs to the boiling water for the final 12 minutes.   

2. Strain and let potatoes cool in a large bowl for about 15 minutes. Place the hard-boiled eggs in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes before peeling.

 3. Chop green onions and cornichons and add to the bowl of potatoes.
  

 

4. Peel the hard-boiled eggs, discard 3 of the egg yolks (this is Erin's favorite part), chop and add to the bowl.

 

 

 

5. Add mayonnaise, dijon, paprika, and a sprinkling of salt & pepper. Mix gently to fully coat all ingredients.
 

 

6. Cover and let chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving!

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june recap

I've been bad at keeping in touch, I know, but I promise I'll make it up to you. For now I'll do a speedy catch up of the past month. Earlier in the month, T & I went home to New York to celebrate my father's retirement! Erin enjoyed the lake...

 

 

...and attempted the hammock...

 

...before calling it a day and napping in the grass.

 

While the pup napped I made sugar cookies...

 

...and looked through old photos (most of which are far too embarrassing to share).

We enjoyed some celebratory champagne before heading out to our life-long favorite restaurant.

 

That Sunday we headed home, driving through more sunsets, before restarting our driving the following weekend, when we headed to Philly to celebrate T's cousin's bat mitzvah.

 

the professional dog-walker

 

When we got home later that weekend we picked up some beautiful pink peonies (I really am convinced that Trader Joe's has some of the best long-lasting reasonable day-to-day flowers)....

 

...before making some lavender-vanilla sugar cookies to bring to my final week at my job.

 

This week T & I went to a Brasstacks dinner, knowing it would be recorded for Canada's Travel+Escape channel's new series "Illegal Eater", premiering this fall. According to the IMDB page, the series follows Barenaked Ladies' front man, Steven Page "as he embarks on a journey to uncover some of the tastiest, creative, illegal food in a city's unlicensed - secret - underground venues. It's in these places where the food is always fresh, local, and the experience is completely authentic." We arrived to the dinner, which was set at Bondir, and were shocked to see we were two of only twelve seats set. It was truly a delicious & personal dinner, per usual for Brasstacks, and we were lucky enough to be seated at a table of six with Bondir's chef/owner Jason Bond. 

  

The next day was July 4th (woohoo!), so I made some delicious potato salad, which I will share the recipe for on Tuesday...

 

 

...along with a red, white & blue sangria made with white wine, club soda, a splash of cranberry juice, a splash of vodka and grand marnier, lime juice, strawberries and blueberries.

 

 

After a feast of grilled chicken, cheeseburgers, and the potato salad, we played some croquet with the antique set we picked up at Brimfield last summer.

 

 

As the sun began to set, but the heat was just as intense, we had to find some alternative cooling strategies...

 

 

...before celebrating with sparklers!

 

My last day of my job was yesterday, so now I'll have the whole summer off before heading back to school for my MSW this fall, so I promise I'll be better about checking in with you, okay? Tomorrow I'll finally post the recipe for the tortilla espanola I tempted you with a few weeks ago, and Tuesday you'll be able to see the best potato salad recipe, to use for the rest of the summer.

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roasted potatoes with leeks

A perfectly elegant side dish for an entertaining dinner, or a healthy mayo-free version of a BBQ potato salad dish, these roasted potatoes get an extra lift from the light onion-y flavor of the leeks.
 

Ingredients (for 2 large sides or 4 smaller portions):
4 small potatoes, cubed into 1/8ths
1 leek stalk, diced into small rings
1 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425F. Place potatoes and leek bits into a pan and drizzle with olive oil before sprinkling with a dusting of salt & pepper. Mix to coat thoroughly.
 

 

2. Bake for 45 minutes, until softened, crisped, and browned.
 

 

That's it! Two easy steps! Tons of flavor, I promise, just give it a shot and you'll never make home fries again, soon you'll be addicted to these little bundles of joy just like I am!

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early fourth of july bbq

Growing up in the middle of nowhere, my town used to put on a fireworks show a week or so before July 4th (due to fearing the residents would go to a larger fireworks show in neighboring towns instead of ours). In honor of this ritual, we celebrated with a BBQ.

The evening began with some Pimms and cheeses. We continued with hot dogs, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, potato salad, cole slaw, and garlic basil corn... the usual June 23nd pseudo-July-4th-BBQ spread. We wrapped up the evening with strawberry shortcake and called it a night after relaxing under the lanterns. Looking forward to the real July 4th filled with sparklers and a quiet night in.

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