For many families, Easter is a day to make memories as children traipse through yards in search of prize eggs and everyone gathers for the holiday meal.
For years, my family would meet at my Aunt Charlotte and Uncle John Berg’s house or at my parents’, where a table would be laden with food – deviled eggs, potato salad, ham, lamb, turkey, corn pudding, green beans and homemade sourdough bread.
Many of these mouthwatering recipes remain family heirlooms, passed down from mother to daughter. My mother’s been gone for 15 months, but every time I make potato salad, I think of her.
I can’t make it nearly as good as she did. She had a certain technique that made the potatoes tender while keeping their shape. And she knew just how much mayonnaise, sour cream and Durkee’s to blend together to make the best dressing I’ve ever tasted.
Potato salad is one of those foods that is very personal. I think it has something to do with how your mother made it. You know, sort of like fried chicken, biscuits, coleslaw – those foods that have a life all their own when your mother put her hand to them.