My grandmother made the best potato salad on Earth! When I was a kid, she would let me help peel the potatoes. As my grandmother carefully put each ingredient into her huge mixing bowl I would ask, “Nana is that what makes your potato salad so good?” Her reply was always the same, “Now Tracy Lynn, you know I can’t tell you until you are grown. It’s a family secret and when you have a family, you can know the secret.” Eventually, my mother took over the job of making the potato salad at family gatherings. I continued to help. In time, I knew the recipe just from watching the process.
A few years ago, my brother had a party at his home and asked for my grandmother’s famous potato salad so mom and I went to work! At the party, one of my sister-in-law’s friends asked my mother for the recipe. I told her that it was my Nana’s recipe and couldn’t be shared outside the family. My mother gave me the craziest look. She took me aside and said, “Nana got the recipe from the Hellmann’s Mayonnaise jar.” I was shocked! My mother could not help herself and continued, “Her oatmeal cookies came off the Quaker Oats lid!”
The moral of this is that I don’t think recipes should be authored (or in this case trademarked?). Maybe they can’t be authored. It was very easy for a wide eyed little girl to name them her grandmother’s.
COUNTRY POTATO SALAD
2 lbs. all-purpose potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish or chopped dill pickles (optional)
1. In 4-quart saucepot, cover potatoes with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender; drain and cool slightly.
2. In large bowl, combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, vinegar and pepper.
3. Add remaining ingredients; toss well.
http://www.hellmanns.com/recipes.aspx
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2 comments:
Thanks for Sharing :-) I recently realized that my grandma stopped making her own spaghetti sauce in favor of mom's recipe: which comes from Weight Watchers!
I assume that the lawyers from Hellmans(R) did not knock on your door demanding you cease and desist spreading their recipe!
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