Donna's Famous Secret Recipe Potato Salad

Potato salad.  There are probably as many recipes for it as there are people in the world.  I rarely meet one I like.  Is that un-American?  I am not a fan of mayo infested foods.  Not a fan of mayo in general.  I love this potato salad.  As per usual, there is a story here.

My husband has lost both of his parents.  His mother's joy was her children.  (as was his father's) My husband jokes that she wasn't always the greatest cook, but she worked harder than any chef ever could!  There were many things as you can tell if you read my blog regularly that I have attempted to recreate.  Some things were a success and some things like that darn Blueberry Duff, weren't so easy!  When I recreate food that George's mom made for him, it makes his heart and soul happy.  He misses his parents immensely and fishing and drawing are what reminds him and fills his heart with his dads memory, food and polyester pants with the seams already sewn in the front makes his heart chuckle with his moms memory.   He just cracks me up. 

Donna, Millville NJ, 1964

This potato salad was his absolute favorite.  His mom never left the recipe with anyone.  He has been asking me to try and recreate it for years, but I needed him to help me since he is the only one who remembers what it tasted like.  We got to work on his day off and started with the ingredients he was sure of, which was all of them, but we had no measurements.  Well friends, we nailed it, I am told.  I think he had a tear in his eye when he took the first bite!  This is a fairly creamy potato salad, AND, it has a sweet background.  This may or may not be your kind of thing, but it is Donna's recipe and that, my friends, isn't to be messed with!  This make a large batch, which is the only way she ever made it.  So when you see the amount of sugar it calls for, don't pass out, remember it for 5lbs of potatoes! 



Geo's little brother Steven on the left, Donna in the middle and my handsome hubby on the right!
South Dakota, Ellsworth AFB where my husband was stationed about 1988.

The biggest "secret" with this potato salad is that you MUST add the potatoes to the sauce while they are warm.  Also, only Hellmann's will do!  You MUST!

George, his baby brother Steven and mom, Donna.
Brackley, England 1978 (ish)

You can literally see my husband's memories on his face as he smiles with every bite.  That, my friends, is success!

1 30oz jar of Hellmann's
3 tbsp. yellow mustard
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
5 lbs. potatoes (she always used reds, peel and cut into chunks)
1 dozen hard boiled eggs

First things first.  In a LARGE bowl, combine all ingredients, except potatoes.  Use a whisk and whisk until everything is incorporated and creamy.  Next, peel and cut up your hard boiled eggs.  Put those in a separate bowl.  Set aside. 

Peel (or don't) your potatoes and cut them in med-large chunks.  Place into a pot of COLD water.  When you are done, put it on the stove and cover until boiling.  Uncover and let boil until potatoes are fork tender but don't fall apart.  Drain WELL and then immediately put into your bowl of sauce, toss in the egg and mix until the salad is well combined.  Cover and refrigerate at LEAST 8 hours.  Yes, I said 8.  Overnight, or 24 hours,  is even better.  It may seem like to much sauce in the beginning but the potatoes will soak it up, and remember it IS a creamy potato salad anyway!

I hope you enjoy the now, not so secret recipe.  I know Donna would love that we were sharing her potato salad with the world!  It was her "thing" and she was always asked to bring it places. 

Thanks for reading, as always and my gratitude and love to you all!

The Duff and Nothing but the Duff! I did it Donna!

Happy Friday Everyone!  

Donna Sooy-Simmerman
1943-1999

This blog is a special tribute blog.  It contains the recipe for a very special dish.  The dish is called "Blueberry Duff".   The story goes that it was my husbands favorite dessert that his mother made for him as a child and adult.  He never knew the recipe.  Sadly she passed away 12 years ago,  Her birthday would have been today, October 15th.  This is always a hard time for my husband so I thought, what better way to cheer him up then finally after 11 years together, I am going to nail this duff thing.  As you saw in a previous blog I tried what I thought was definitely going to be "IT" a few days ago.  Wrong!  All along my husband has been saying..."I think its just as simple as blueberries in a white cake and blueberries in cornstarch pudding".  Well, my husband always seems to have the answers and I thought it had to be wrong, because this HUGELY amazing dessert had to be some labor of love his mother went through each time she made it.  I have tried several ways, several recipes, several made up dishes, all with no luck.  Well as luck would have it my father in law was going to visit Aunt Doris, my late mother in law's sister.   The good news came, "She HAD the recipe".  My husband called his dad, I had a paper and pen in hand, and was ready to take it down word for word so I could surprise my husband ON what would have been in mother's birthday.  Imagine my shock, when my husband said, "I was right, its blueberries in a white cake and blueberries in cornstarch pudding".  Oh no, he was right again.  How am I ever going to even this score.  I thought to myself, self....after 11 years of brushing him off like a black dog hair on a white suit, he was right all along?!?!  

1965 Donna and Hoss
Okinawa, Japan

I am so happy to share this simple recipe with you.  I find sometimes food is like love and relationships, things don't need to be complicated.  Simple is less work and more fun.   I love listening to stories about my husbands mom.  I hear stories of love, and devotion as a mother.  A kind heart, and her calling my husband who is nicknamed Hoss, "Hossybug" as a child.  Waking him on Christmas morning, even as an adult telling him "Santa's been here".  A woman who loved holidays and the spirit of of giving ran deep within her.  I know how proud she was to be a mother.  I am told by family that it was her greatest joy in life.  She didn't seem to need fancy things, even though, like all of us, she loved them!  My husband jokes that she may not have been the best cook, but it doesn't matter, he says.."She put so much love in everything it made up for it".  She cooked simple food, and did her best to take care of her sons.  Making my husband food the way HE liked it, and spoiling him rotten!  Thanks for that Donna!   Now lets get to the SIMPLE pleasure that is...

Blueberry Duff

White cake mix

1 cup blueberries (I used frozen, and let them macerate in about 2 tbsp sugar for an hour)

Prepare cake per package directions.  Fold in blueberries just before baking. You can bake in a 9x13 pan or prepare as cupcakes which is what I did.  When cake is done, let sit and cool completely.  Cover until you are ready to serve

Topping (Cornstarch Pudding, recipe from Argo website on a few changes)

3 1/2 cups of milk, divided

6 tbsp corn starch

2 egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix 1/2 cup cold milk with corn starch. Set aside. Heat remaining 3 cups milk in a large, heavy sauce pan over medium heat until milk just begins to simmer (small bubbles around the edge of the pan).

While milk is heating, beat the egg yolks with a whisk or fork in a small bowl. Add salt and sugar to the eggs, then add egg mixture to the corn starch mixture.

When milk is simmering, stir in the corn starch mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

To Serve:

Plate a piece of cake.  Take 1/2 cup of cornstarch pudding, and put in a small bowl and microwave for approx 1min, until slightly loosened and hot.  Pour directly over the cake or cupcake and serve.  

Donna and Hoss 1965

Now, go call your mother if you can, tell her you love her.  If there are problems in your relationship with her, FIX them.  Kiss her, hug her, and thank her for being your mom.  You only get one mother, love her, cherish her, and respect her with everything you have.  Do not hold grudges, do not keep score, and learn to forgive often.  People do not last forever, memories do.  Make so many you think your head will explode and never miss a chance to make more!  

Hoss, and his BlueBerry Duff!

Make this recipe!  Make it for your mom!  Mom's make it for your kids!  Find a special dish, that your children will remember so fondly when THEY are 46 years old!  When I put the plate in front of my husband he said, "It smells like mom has been here".   I can't bring her back, but I can bring him a piece of the past, that embodies so much love, he almost can't eat because he is smiling so big!

To the mother-in-law I never knew........

We never met in this life

But I feel like I know you,

I am your son's wife.

He says there is so much about me 

that is just like you.  He says you are his

angel and you made his dream come true.

How could this woman who's son I love

fade so quickly to up above

I never got to thank you, I never got to say

Thank you for the son you raised, I see you

in him everyday.  

The things I hear about you, your kind and loving

heart. I see it everyday in Hoss, I have right from the start.

His heart remains sad, he will never get over, the

loss of you, his most beloved mother.