The Connelly family reunion is over for another year. We had a great time at Lost River State Park. There is little access to electronics or the internet at the park and only a few cabins have televisions. Most cabins are log, built by the CCC in the 1930's and are heated by wood-burning fireplaces.
It's rustic, remote and beautiful, with walking trails everywhere, a pretty creek, picnic shelters, and even Hidden Trails Stables, run by my sister Judy. It's a good place for a family reunion, and a good place for kids to get outside and explore. Which they did, in spades. I'm pretty sure all of the kids under 15 were in the creek at one time or another, and lots of people rode the horses or hiked the trails. Some even went geo-caching to a really remote mountain (yes, they found it!). Brother-in-law David is always on hand to help at the stables during the reunion.
One highlight of the reunion is the Saturday afternoon gathering. Everyone brings something for a big potluck dinner. Sisters Judy and Mary coordinate everything and brothers-in-law Jackie and Jay command the grills. In past years I've brought a pasta salad that has been a big hit, but this year I decided to make potato salad since pasta salad was already spoken for. The potato salad disappeared and a lot of people asked how I made it. Now if you make potato salad you know it can be as easy or as complicated as you want it to be. I kept mine simple. This is the recipe I used, as well as I can tell you. It makes a very large bowl full, perfect for a reunion or other gathering.
Family Reunion Potato Salad
About 4 pounds of red potatoes, boiled in their skins, cooled and cut up into bite-sized chunks.
Add:
4 stalks of celery, chopped
6 kosher dill pickles, chopped
Mix the vegetables together, then add:
About 1-2 cups of mayonnaise or salad dressing
About 1 cup of yellow mustard
About 1/2 cup of spicy brown mustard
About 1/4-1/2 cup kosher dill pickle juice
Mix well. You may want to start with the smaller amounts of the above ingredients and adjust them to your taste as you work.
Chop the potatoes into finer pieces with a knife until the potato salad is the consistency you like.
Add about 1 teaspoon paprika, or to taste.
Chill until ready to serve.
That's it. I do not add salt because the pickles and pickle juice seem to have enough, but again it's a matter of personal taste. Some people like to add olives, fresh dill (I do when I have it), hard-boiled eggs (I don't because it makes the salad not keep as well, in my opinion), and other things. The beauty of potato salad is its flexibility.
Another family reunion tradition is the Friday evening meet-and-greet. Jackie usually makes a huge pot of vegetable soup for this, but next year we're going to make Trash Can Soup, as Jackie calls it, or Stone Soup as storyteller me calls it. Everyone is supposed to bring something to add to the pot. In the story of Stone Soup, a man takes a rock and a pot of water and manages to make other people so curious that they add a few things to the pot--carrots, onions, a meat bone, etc--and in the end they have delicious soup, all from a stone! Imagine that.
Nice potato salad recipe. I like the mustard additions. My husband's church always made hobo stew during the fall. Everyone comes and brings a can of soup...without the lable on it. All cans get mixed into the huge cast iron kettle and cooked on the open fire. Usually not too bad!
ReplyDeleteI like it, Farmchick! Sounds like a fun idea. I will have to give that a try :)
ReplyDeleteMy mother always made potato salad with mustard, so that's what I do. I like other kinds too, though. She added capers too, but I've never done that.
Lost Rive State Park is lovely. Only place I have ever seen white (and some part-white) deer. It's been at least ten years since I was there. My kids loved the huge tennis court roller, I wonder if it is still there.--Jane
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about the roller, Jane. But Lost River is still beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe've seen white deer occasionally here at home, and a piebald or two. It's a rare thing, though, and pretty special.
What a wonderful time you had with all your family! That potato salad is making me hungry; going out to the garden to dig some potatoes this morning.
ReplyDeleteLucky you to have new potatoes already! We're hoping to have them in 2 weeks. My potatoes from last year held well in the cellar so we haven't had to buy any, and now I'm trying to hold out for new ones :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great time with family and a yummy tater salad.
ReplyDeleteI have summer squash about ready to pick, and loads of little tomatoes on the vines. Haven't raised potatoes in sometime, may give them another go.
Your potato salad recipe sounds super.
ReplyDeleteI always use sweet pickles in mine but now I'm gonna have to try dills in it. I never would have thought to try them!
It's a tangy recipe, Jessica, so be warned :) But we really like it this way.
ReplyDeleteBrighid, I am so jealous! Summer squash already! I don't even have any planted except for some volunteers we transplanted to the garden. My little garden that usually does so well is a swamp in its upper half and everything planted there has rotted. Very depressing.