Eggcellent Potato Salad

This recipe is not exact, but I wanted to include at least a general idea about how I make my potato salad.

This last time I made it, I did a 3 egg to potato ratio, they were medium/small sized potatoes. I'll write the recipe like the last time I made it, even though I wished I made more because the bowl was empty too fast.
 I am writing amounts, but I usually just guesstimate, so they are more of a general idea than exact measures.
8 medium potatoes (this time I used red, but any will do)
24 eggs
Onion powder 2-3 tbsp(I sometimes chop an onion tiny and put it in  (approx 1/4 cup for this amount)
Miracle whip (about 2 cups for this amount, it isn't too hard to estimate, just make sure it looks moist enough)
Mustard, about 3 tablespoons (I usually add mustard a little at a time.  It is a necessary flavor, but it can be overpowering if you pu too much)
Pepper and salt, just sprinkle into to salad while you stir, to taste
Paprika (sprinkled over the top of the salad

Okay first, the key in my opinion to good potato salad is high egg to potato ratio. I always do AT LEAST two eggs per potato, and that is for small potatoes.  I don't think you can have too much egg, I like to do 3 to one.


So first things first...You need to cook your eggs and potatoes.  Potato salad improves over time.  If you want to make it the day before, that is great.  I of course am never organized enough to do that, but you want at least an hour for the flavors to mix; and to rehydrate the onion powder so it loses its weird flavor.  And of course you need to have time to cool your potatoes and eggs. I assume this is general knowledge, but just in case, it improves over time in the fridge...It has to be in the fridge as much as possible and stay cold because of the miracle whip and eggs :). So whenever you are not directly working with it, put it back in the fridge! :)
I boil my potatoes with the skin on.  So scrub them and throw them in a pan making sure they completely covered in water. *one important step*  Make sure you thoroughly salt the water.  Your potato salad will be bland if you do not cook your potatoes with salt, no matter how much you salt it after.  I usually pour enough over them that you can see a thin layer on the potatoes.  Then I cook them till they are thoroughly done.  In fact, I have left potatoes till they are VERY done before.  Actually, I aim for that, they are a great texture in the salad, and there is nothing worse than under done potatoes.  Then, before you do anything else, you have to get them completely cold.  This step makes your potatoes more solid and easier to work with.  I drain off the hot water, run them under cold water to cool them off, then put them in the fridge.  If you try to cut them up when they are warm, especially if they are cooked a lot they will become mashed potatoes.  But I have never had a batch turn to mashed potatoes when cold.  And I have tested this theory a lot, being the huge scatter brain that I am.  I forgot about some once and they boiled for well over an hour! By the way, if you are a beginner cook, here is a quick potato tute: get your potatoes to a boil, then turn them down so they can just simmer.  If left too high, they spatter water all over the stove.  Either put a lid on, or add water if it lowers and uncovers your potatoes.  The parts outside the water will not cook.   You have to keep the heat high enough so it is still bubbling a little.  It usually takes about 40 minutes, but you can tell if they are done by sticking a fork in them.  If  you can easily stick a fork clear to the center of the largest potato, they are done.
While you are cooking your potatoes, you can cook your eggs on another unit.  You fill a large pan leaving at least an inch of space over your eggs.  Then you fill pan with water to at least an inch over your eggs.  Get it to a good rolling boil, then put on a lid and turn off the heat.  Leave them for 15 minutes or so.  Then cool them with tap water and put them in the fridge.
When  your eggs are cold, peel them and cut them into your salad bowl.  I usually cut each egg into eight pieces.  After your eggs are all in your salad, put in miracle whip, mustard, and onion powder.  Make sure you don't add too much, you can always add more, but it's more difficult to fix with too much.  Then I stir my eggs really thoroughly into the sauce.  It is important that you break up your yolks and mix them into the sauce.  It makes it so much better!  Like egg salad, or deviled eggs.  I stir it till I can't see any more yolks.  (Admittedly, there are times that I skip this step and stir eggs and potatoes together all at once.  You have to stir a little more gently when you have the potatoes in there, but I still try and incorporate as much yolk as possible into the sauce.)
Cut the potatoes to the size you like them and add them to the salad, then sprinkle salt and pepper over them and stir them all in.  If the salad looks to dry, add a little miracle whip, and mustard.  Finally you have to fine tune the flavor.  The main flavor players that you can add at the end are salt, pepper, onion, and mustard.  If it tastes wrong, you have to just analyze the flavor to decide which ones it needs.  I make sure I can taste the onion, even though it will taste weird until you leave it for a while to blend and rehydrate.  If it is bland, I add some salt or pepper.  If it tastes too miracle whippy (is that a word?), I add a little mustard.  Then I leave it for a while and try it again to make sure it tastes good all blended together.  When it is all done, I smooth out the top, and use a paper towel to wipe away any sauce around the top above the salad.  Then I sprinkle paprika over the top, and it's ready to serve.  I'm usually to lazy to put the pretty slices of egg over the top, but that is definitely an option. :)
I usually make this for big gatherings, and I rarely go home with any :).

Layered "rainbow/stripes" jello

My roommate gave me this recipe.  You can use as many colors, or layers as you want...  She got it after a young women activity where they made it to match all of the value colors.
5 small boxes flavored Jello (lemon, lime, orange, strawberry, blackberry)

Dissolve each separately in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1/3 cup sour cream to dissolved Jello. Set up ½ an hour in the fridge, one layer at a time.

Pretzel Fluff Fruit Salad

This is an amazing salad.  The one time I made it, it was a HIT!  I like it as well as my other pretzel salad, it is just a little more high maintanance in my opinion.

¾ cup sugar
1 ½ squares butter
Approx. 3 cups broken pretzels (any shape just break to bite size)
¾ cup sugar
12 oz (1 ½ pkgs cream cheese)
16 oz Cool Whip
1 qt strawberries
2 (6 oz) pkgs raspberries
4 peaches
1 large (15 oz) can mandarin oranges

Preheat oven to 350. Place pretzels on a cookie sheet. Melt butter and ¾ cup sugar in saucepan. It says to completely dissolve the sugar. I just got it to a rolling boil and timed it for a minute. Pour over pretzels and stir to coat. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool. While it is cooling, stir it a couple of times to break up the pretzels.
Beat together cream cheese and sugar till smooth. Then fold in cool whip and other ingredients. I only chilled for a couple of hours after mixing in the pretzels so they wouldn’t get too soft. You can use any kind of fruit. I only used the ones above because they are my favorites. My sister made it with strawberries, grapes, oranges, and pineapple. The original recipe only had pineapple. We like a lot more fruit than that.

Strawberry/Raspberry Pretzel Salad

This is my FAVORITE jello salad.  I first had it at a work party years ago (thanks Dawn :)  I had to hunt it down, it was so good.  Also a good dessert.  My favorite is the raspberry version, but Jay's family begs for the Strawberry.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
4 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry or raspberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries or raspberries

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix together the pretzels, 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or lightly toasted. Set aside to cool completely.
In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
In a medium bowl, stir together the gelatin mix and boiling water. Mix in frozen strawberries, and stir until thawed. Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 1 hour.