Family-Favorite Potato Salad {and Some Thoughts about My Mom}

This potato salad is a family favorite. It's the perfect dish for any occasion, from a backyard barbecue to a football tailgate.

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First-day-of-school photos flooding your Facebook feed. Pinterest boards filled with healthy lunchbox ideas for kids. PSL everything. Judging by my online world, fall is here.

In real life, though, we're heading into a short heatwave and I'm clinging to summer for as long as I can. Even though I love the fall, I'm refusing to get into an autumn state of mind. Instead, I'm writing about potato salad, a side dish most often associated with summer.

I originally shared my mother's recipe for potato salad back in 2010 and have been wanting to share an updated version for a long time. For years, if I'm being honest.

For whatever reason, I was okay with putting the updates off. Repeatedly. But then I had a panic attack one morning after coming to a terrifying realization -- I'm starting to forget my mother.

Memories of her in the final years of her battle with cancer are still fresh, even now. But the memories of her from when I was a child are fading. It's much harder for me to remember what she was like before her diagnosis... before I went off to college... before I learned how to drive...

As I let this sink in, I could feel my heart breaking. I immediately starting rummaging around for a pen and piece of paper. Once I found them, I began listing anything and everything about her that came to mind:

She preferred writing in pencil on yellow legal pads...
 

When she took me grocery shopping with her, she'd stop at the deli counter first to get me pepperoni to snack on while she shopped... 

She loved dancing to Billy Joel and Bonnie Raitt...

Most of you reading this right now probably don't think a post about potato salad is necessary. It's not what you're looking for. But for me, a post about her potato salad is essential. I need it. I need it to be a way to reconnect with her. I need it to help release some of the memories trapped within the deep recesses of my mind.

It's hard missing someone who's been gone from your life for so long. Especially when you allow yourself to reflect on just how much it hurts not having them here.

This potato salad has always been a family favorite, and I tend to make it when I'm missing my mom the most. Even if that means throwing convention out the window and making it in the middle of winter.

The next time I make it, I'm going to think of her and of the list of memories of her that I captured on paper. This way, when I teach Caroline how to make it, I'll have plenty to tell her about her grandmother.

One year ago: Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Two years ago: Menu Plan: September 7 - September 13
Three years ago: Cucumber Mint Margarita Mocktail
Four years ago: On the Side: Milestones
Five years ago: A Taste of Los Cabos: Tour of Grand Solmar and Dinner at La Roca
Six years ago: Sweet and Spicy Bacon
Seven years ago: Friends Reunite over Dinner at Apollo Grill
Eight years ago: White Chicken Chili

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