I just made some homemade mayo which tastes pretty yummy, even though I accidentally put in a tsp of ground ginger instead of ground mustard (that's what I get for not labeling my bulk spices) - whoops!
Our friend Andy makes a killer potato salad which is basically an egg salad with potatoes - hardboiled eggs seem to make a potato salad go from "good" to "OMG THIS IS SO GOOD WHAT DID YOU PUT IN THIS, CRACK?!?!" I had a craving for this potato salad - perhaps it's the heat that comes along with summer....maybe it is because I love mayonnaise more than I like to admit and potato salad is the perfect vessel for mayo, I don't know...But anyhow, I also just vowed this weekend to see how long I can go without going to the grocery store. I'm allowing myself to go to the weekly farmer's market because it is just so dang delicious... what with the fresh peaches, beans, peaches, onions, peaches, and peaches (peaches are my favorite). But allowing myself to go to the market also means I get a few other things that will help me along - eggs (but you gotta get there RIGHT at 3pm when they start!), goat cheese, AND frozen beef. I like to keep a fully stocked cupboard, and sometimes that goes a little overboard. Now with Dan gone for the summer, I feel the need to eat what I have - it's also a fun experiment to try to be creative with the ingredients on hand - sort of like a self-imposed Iron Chef show, except it happens every night with just me and less exotic ingredients.
So how this ties into homemade mayo goes back to the tornado back in April. Since we were without power for a couple days, Dan preserved the food we had by not opening the fridge/freezer (I was away at Coweeta for monthly sampling). Still, a few things got thrown out - soy milk that was a little suspect, and the mayo. Ok, so I know someone who doesn't refrigerate their mayo - never has, never does, and they have not yet died. But then you hear about mayo-based salads going bad at summer BBQs when left out in the sun too long. So I just don't know what the deal is with mayo. The mayo MAY have been compromised, but really...Dan does not like mayo, and I'd like to think that he trashed it at the first chance he got. But it's ok - I would have done the same thing with french toast. Which is really the only thing that I totally REFUSE to eat..but that's another story for another time.
Anyhow, my potato salad craving was HINGING on the fact that we had mayo...because, even though I don't use it all the time, I like to have mayo in the house at all times, just in case a craving like the one I had today pops up. But what to do? Can't go to the grocery store on account of my desire to abstain...but wait!! Isn't mayo super easy to make? Why yes it is...and thank goodness I still have eggs from the farmer's market! The only problem is one egg needs about 1 cup of oil...and that makes quite a lot of mayo for a now single-person household, which needs to be consumed in 5 days. The smart thing would be to give up and accept that yes, most of this mayo is going to the trash...but I'll try to do something with it...look up some recipes online that are heavy on mayo. Then I'll get sick of mayo for a few months..then the cycle will begin again...with that craving for potato salad...
Sadly, Andy has now left T-Town for the boondocks in Georgia for the rest of his Master's work. So I shall carry on this wonderful recipe with a heavy heart.
Anyhow...did I mention Dan made it safely to Iceland? He did last week, all is well - cold, but well. Light until 10pm, but snowy and chilly up at Hengill where field work is...all in all he seems quite happy, perhaps he'll chime in once he gets settled in his new digs.
Here are a few pics from the garden this weekend...My last foray at 4pm today meant I got hit by mosquitoes...7 annoying bites in 5 minutes...man they act fast...at least my tomatoes are safe for now...see the pics for the skinny..
xo
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