Preparing all of the ingredients takes a lot of time, particularly with cooking the potatoes and boiling the eggs, so I often like to do those a day or at least several hours before and stick them in the fridge to cool before adding them. I make a large potato salad, because the leftovers are awesome.
- Pick out at least as many potatoes as people who you think will eat the salad, but for leftovers add more (I like to make a lot, so I cook around 10). You will need at least 2-3 more, but you can add as many as you'd like in addition to that if you want a lot of leftovers. Peel and dice the potatoes and boil until they are soft enough to split with a fork. Drain and put cooked potatoes in the fridge to cool. It will take time, so plan on at least 3-4 hours prior to putting the salad together.
- Take out 8-10 eggs and boil them. Drain and put in the fridge to cool. Also plan on at least 3-4 hours for them to cool.
- You will need a large bottle of Mayonnaise (if preferred, Miracle Whip can also be used). This takes a lot of Mayonnaise. I usually just spoon it out into the mixing bowl until it looks like enough to coat the potatoes, but for anyone needing measurements, I'd recommend 1 1/2 to 2 cups in general. Depending on how many potatoes there are, more may be needed.
- Take a bottle of mustard (the kind that you might use as a hot dog or hamburger condiment) and squeeze the mustard out several times, no more that five large squirts (how much is according to preference). Mix it in.
- Add some dried onions approximately 2 T (or 1/2 chopped fresh onion if available) and mix them in. The amount of onions is adjustable if you want more or less of them.
- Dice or chop up dill pickles approximately 1 cup and add them to the mix. I have home made pickles, so the taste might be a little stronger than the store bought ones.
- Dice or chop up sweet pickles with the same amount as the dill pickles and add them to the mix. They're also home made, so the flavor might be stronger.
- Peel and dice the boiled eggs and add them to the mix. Slicing works, too, but the dicing looks better in appearance (personal opinion).
- Last of all mix the cooked potatoes to make the salad ready for eating, but it's often better sitting in the fridge for several hours to let the flavors mix together a little better.
- I normally don't put any spices in there since the family has varying preferences. I leave that to them to spice it however they want as the salad is dished out. Usually salt and pepper are good enough, but other flavors are welcome for people with other preferences.
I hope this is good enough of an explanation. Some times I depend on recipes to make sure I get things right, so I understand if this isn't clear. I think I got all of the steps in there.
