POTATO SALAD AND HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

Last night I made homemade potato salad and remembered that my mother used to make mayonnaise. Usually this was done when my parents had a big party and Mama made potato salad. in the 1950s in the Philippines, jarred mayonnaise wasn't easily available. As I write this I find this hard to believe since we are so used to just unscrewing a jar of Best Foods or Kraft mayonnaise. It's possible that jarred mayonnaise was available but that my mother just wanted to do it homemade. In any case, I remember that egg yolks were used, and Wesson Oil. My mother always used Wesson oil. She added some vinegar to the eggs yolks and Wesson Oil and lemoncito, and the mixture had to be whisked until it solidified.

I found some recipes for homemade Mayonnaise on the net and it includes adding dry mustard. We didn't have dry mustard in the Philippines so my mother used egg yolks, Wesson Oil, vinegar and lemoncito. Her potato salad was always good.

For a long while I wasn't making homemade potato salad because of the hassle of boiling the potatoes and eggs, peeling, cutting, and mixing in relish, onions, mayonnaise, horse radish, etc. I was buying potato salad that was already made from markets. I always had leftovers.

A few months ago, I had some potatoes that had to be used and I made potato salad. The homemade potato salad was so much better than the store-bought version. My family ate the whole thing. Ever since, I've decided that this dish can be a nice addition to a buffet meal.

I don't have a written recipe for potato salad, but basically I boil potatoes (I've just been using baking potatoes). I also boil eggs. I peel the potatoes and cut them up - big chunks are fine. I do the same with the eggs. I chop up onions. I add relish; I add a bit of horse radish for zing. I add dollops of mayonnaise and mix. If I have plain yogurt, I'll use it, and minimize the mayonnaise - this to minimize the calories. If I have the liquid of sweet pickles (vinegar and sugar), I'll add that. I find that if I leave this in the refrigerator overnight, it'll dry up, so I'll give it another small dollop of mayonnaise before serving.

You can see, dear Readers, that my mind is still filled with food as I prepare for Easter.