Shortcut Tater Salad & Weird Mamas

Don’t go telling Mama I said this but she has kind of a weird life. You see, Mama has a lot of drop ins. Now that isn’t weird in and of itself but when I tell you a little more about what those drop-ins demand here in a minute you’ll see more what I mean.

To let you in on how my Mama works a little more, I want to tell you about a little family dinner we had at Mama’s house last night. For this little family dinner my mother served:
Fresh fried corn, homemade mac and cheese, cornbread, mashed potatoes, pintos, slaw, meatloaf, kraut and weenies, garden tomatoes, pickles, banana pudding, and fresh cantaloupe.

This was just for family so you can imagine what she’d make if she knew company was coming. But the reason I say she’s weird (other than the fact that a sane and normal person couldn’t have possibly produced me) is because of a conversation we had a few years back “Christy, I need you to come up with a quicker way for me to make potato salad. I’m always having overnight guests show up at the last minute needing potato salad with dinner”

~scratches head and thinks on this~

I have people show up a lot at my house too, but most of my friends know that I’m not real big on the SURPRISE visits (I need at least ten minutes to do a mad dash and hide the laundry pile), but I can’t say I’ve ever had a hoard of folks just show up at my door demanding a bed for the night and potato salad.

I’m not about to question Mama though. I just watch, learn, and know that someday she’ll pass the torch of hosting the we-need-potato-salad-now folks to me. With that in mind, I came up with a much quicker way to pull it together that I’m gonna bring you today. The time you save will surely help you move the laundry pile and load the dishwasher!

The great thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to use this recipe. ~grins~ I just love it when I can use those looped around sentences with y’all. What I mean is that you can use the shortcut and then just make your potato salad how you normally do. Now if you’d like to make it the way I do, I’m gonna show you how. This recipe has been known to win over non-potato salad people as well.

You’ll need: Southern Style Hash Browns*, Crisp cooked bacon, chopped boiled eggs, cheese, sweet pickle relish, mayo, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.

Now if you REALLY wanna make it in a hurry, leave out the bacon and boiled eggs or make them the day ahead of time. But this whole recipe is assuming you’re pressed for time so that kinda defeats the point. Bacon and boiled eggs are really good in it though!

I am of the firm opinion that there is no human condition, situation, or recipe which is not immediately improved with the addition of bacon.

Place cubed hash browns in large pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

Once potatoes reach a boil, boil them for two to three minutes.

Drain in a colander.

I always wanna spell colander wrong. Colander, Necessary, and Embarrassment are words that taunt me daily in my zeal to misspell them!

My mother in law gave me this colander a few years ago and I just love this thing.

Kitchen equipment makes me happy

Place cooked potatoes in a large mixing bowl.

These bowls are Pyrex (of course) and the pattern is called “New Dot”. I think they’re from the seventies but have not had enough coffee to motivate myself to go look it up to be sure so sixties, seventies…one of those is surely the answer!

Dump in your cheese over your warm potatoes

and give that a little stir.

Now add relish, mustard, and mayo

and give another little stir.

Add in bacon and eggs

and salt and pepper to taste

Give another little stir.

Cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight before serving.

Shortcut Tater Salad

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Ingredients

• 32 ounce package frozen Southern style hash browns the little cubed ones
• 3 eggs hard-boiled and chopped
• 5 strips bacon cooked crispy and crumpled
• 1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1/3 cup sweet relish or diced sweet pickles
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

• Place cubed hash browns in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
• Once potatoes reach a boil, boil them for two to three minutes and then drain in a collander. Place in large mixing bowl and stir in cheese. Add mayo, mustard, and relish and stir again. Add in bacon, eggs, and salt and pepper. Stir. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.

Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection.

Submitted by Kolene. Submit your quote here.