Classic Potato Salad

You can boil and peel the eggs the day before if you like, but I boil mine at the same time the potatoes are boiling so that the eggs are still slightly warm when I add the dressing. Just as the potatoes do, the eggs absorb so much more flavor when they are warm.

Wash potatoes very well and trim them if necessary. I scrape all the skin off mine with a teaspoon, but you can leave the skin on if you want to, providing the potatoes are really small and the skin isn't going to be tough. I would still trim out the eyes and any spots on the potatoes.

Add potatoes to a large pot and cover with cold water. Add 1 Tbsp. salt, cover them, and bring them to a brisk boil. You need to watch them as they will boil over if you don't.

When they start to boil, lower the temperature, replace the lid on the pot, and simmer until potatoes are tender. Remove from burner and drain the potatoes, saving the cooking water to make yeast breads or to cook another vegetable like green beans or broccoli, peas, or carrots.

Put potatoes back into the cooking pot and let them sit on the stove top while you peel the boiled eggs if you haven't already done them.

Chop the eggs up until the white pieces are very small. Chop the potatoes into small bite-sized pieces and add potatoes and chopped eggs to a large mixing bowl.

In a smaller bowl, mix sweet pickle juice, mayonnaise, sour cream, yellow mustard, salt, pepper, and celery seeds together and pour over the potatoes and eggs while they are still warm. I repeat, the eggs and potatoes will absorb the flavors so much better when they're still a bit warm.

Stir to mix the dressing in very well, Cover and let them sit while you chop and measure out everything else. Mix it all in a bowl large enough to hold everything before adding the mixture to the potatoes and eggs.

Gently stir everything together, then cover and refrigerate until time to serve. If you have the means to do so at the serving site, keep it as cold as possible, because your salad has eggs and mayonnaise in it, and either can go bad almost before you know it.

Cover and refrigerate all leftovers. It's even better the next day, and because it is, I will often make it the day before anyway. It's nice and cold then and full of the best flavor.