Hot Country Potato Salad

April 8, 2012 by Jackie Garvin 29 Comments

When an opportunity comes along to tie past generations to the present, I consider it a blessing. Such an opportunity came my way this Easter morning. Our church placed a cross in the courtyard that we were to fill with fresh flowers. I had contemplated my newly planted daisies which are beautiful and bursting with color. My husband’s thoughtful suggestion to place one of my Granny’s Amaryllis lilies on the cross touched my heart. My grandmother was a woman of very simple means who would rake and scrap to save up $7.00 in order to purchase one lily bulb. That was an exorbitant expenditure by her lifestyle standards. She proudly showed off her lilies every chance she got. Regretfully, I never thought to ask her for one of the bulbs while she was living. By a stroke of good luck, my sister was able to get a pot of Granny’s lilies from one of her former neighbors. I cherish those flowers and anxiously await spring so I can see my grandmother’s face in each one of the blooms. As you might imagine, I feel a close connection to those lilies.

Placing one of Granny’s lilies on the cross Easter morning carries both spiritual and emotional significance. She was a woman with an unshakable love of God and certainly shaped my faith today. I could feel her tears of joy raining down from heaven as I chose the perfect spot on the cross for this very special bloom.

Granny’s Amaryllis lily on the flower cross

Another view of the flower cross. The lily is on the right.

My daughter, Amy, wanted to host Easter at her house this year. In the sixteen years that I’ve lived in this house, this is the first year that Easter dinner wasn’t cooked in my kitchen. She came over yesterday and wanted to gather bunches of daisies and borrow several canning jars. I couldn’t wait to see what see what she was up to.

Her table was beautiful! She didn’t miss a detail. The colors were yellow, white and mint green. She had scattered several canning jars filled with brightly colored daisies all along the table. The napkins were ridiculously cute folded into bunny rabbit ears. Her wine glasses, with a black strip for writing names, served as placeholders.

Spring colors of yellow, white and mint green. A perfect theme for Easter.

Gorgeous daisies in canning jars.

I want to fold my napkins like this all the time. Maybe I can learn to make Basset Hound ears!

My wine glass/placeholder.

Place setting

The dessert table. My son-in-law’s mother and I both made the same Easter Bunny cake with our children when they were small.

The table decorations were beautiful and creative and the food was fantastic. Our entire family, and my son-in-law’s family, enjoyed the meal together. It’s always a blessing to have your family around for a special celebration. In the midst of the day, the most special blessing to me was seeing my beautiful daughter as a gracious and confident hostess. She attended to her hostess duties with the ease of a seasoned veteran. Even though the ham’s cooking time was a longer than anticipated, she maintained complete composure. She has the gift of entertaining.

A beautiful Easter morning, Granny’s lilies, a family gathering and a confident, gracious daughter. I’m blessed.

Y’all come see us.

Hot Country Potato Salad

A standard on our Easter Dinner menu is Hot Country Potato Salad. This heritage dish is my family’s answer to German Potato Salad in that it’s eaten while still warm for the first go-round. The leftovers are good cold. It made its way to the table at every special occasion and was a standard for Sunday Dinner. It’s rustic and simple: no onions or celery.

A dressing is made of mayonnaise, pickle relish, salt and pepper and poured over the hot potatoes which absorbs the dressing and flavors the potatoes.

7 or 8 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed in 1 inch cubes

5 eggs

3/4 cup mayonnaise (I prefer Duke’s)

1/4 cup sweet pickle relish

1 teaspoon ground pepper, divided

2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Add 1/2 the salt and 1/2 the pepper and place the eggs on top of the potatoes. There’s no need in messing up another pot to boil the eggs when they can cook right along with the potatoes.

Boil potatoes and eggs together.

Cover, bring to a medium boil. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are done but not mushy. Drain. Remove eggs and place them in cold water to cool. Peel eggs when cool enough to handle. Chop four eggs and leave one whole for garnish.

4 eggs diced, one left whole for garnish

Place potatoes and eggs in large bowl. Mix together mayonnaise, pickle relish and remaining salt and pepper. Pour over potatoes and eggs and gently toss to coat the potatoes well.

Taste for seasoning and adjust. Slice whole eggs and garnish. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.