Not all potato salads need a creamy dressing. Sometimes, a simple vinaigrette is best. There is a French potato salad that we love using fresh tarragon and a tarragon wine vinegar. It’s light and fresh and particularly good with the early tarragon in May. Balsamic vinegar gives a slightly more assertive flavor to the potatoes. My mother would be appalled. She didn’t even approve of the ‘cooked’ potato salad dressings … Continue reading →
This is a very simple salad using small squashes. You do know you should pick them when they are small, right? I was running out of ideas, it was hot, I had an abundance of herbs and a forgotten lemon in the firdge. Thus a recipe is born. We liked it as a salad. Mon mari liked it even better the next day when he added it to his sandwich … Continue reading →
As children we are influenced by what our parents like and dislike. I remember my mother carefully peeling a perfectly ripe tomato that a neighbor had given her. She sliced it, put a slice on her plate and added salt, pepper, sugar, and bottled French Dressing. She looked at me, watching her, and explained that as a child she had not liked tomatoes but she had ‘learned’ to like them. … Continue reading →
I seem to be breaking all of my self-imposed, arbitrary rules lately. In this case I’m posting multiple recipes at the same time. I could drag it out, do six separate posts with photos, but that would be excruciatingly boring for everyone. Besides, photos of salad dressings are bland at best. And I wanted to do this before salad season is over and we’re on to soup. I did take … Continue reading →
Another recipe that I have been making since the beginning of time, this is based on one from the Time Life “Foods of the World” series. The first time I had a similar salad was in Germany. We were having a simple lunch of wurst und salat. I had expected the typical Midwestern version of Hot German Potato Salad and was wonderfully surprised by this light salad. It’s perfect for … Continue reading →
I always plant too much. I plant too much because, sometimes, it’s not enough. Any gardener knows that all a family of two needs is one courgette / zucchini plant. Maybe two. But I like to have enough to make soup for the freezer for winter. So I plant four. Everyone knows that If I only planted two or three, two of them would die. If I plant four all four … Continue reading →
This is my mother’s other cucumber salad. Yes, she had two, which was rare for her as she normally had one recipe per food, This one, I think, is probably more traditional from her German parents, with just the sugar and vinegar. It’s also quicker to make. Like most old-fashioned recipes, the ingredient quantities are more suggestion than absolute…. Adjust to taste. Old-Fashioned Cucumber Salad Total time: 10 minutes plus … Continue reading →
