Birthday Dinner Wishes
My mom was an amazing cook. She made so many things that were my favorites. I got my love of cooking and food from not only her but also from my dad. He loved food and even though he ate and ate, he never gained a pound. A trait I did not inherit from him. But my mom kept us well fed with old time, hearty recipes. She made my dad’s RN salary stretch by using cheaper cuts of meat and supplementing it with fresh and frozen vegetables. She wasn’t a gourmet but she knew how to cook and I’ve taken many of her recipes and made them my own.
Potato Salad
My mom made the best potato salad. She made it for family gatherings, 5 pounds of potatoes at a time. She would ask me every year what I wanted for my birthday which is in August and every year I would tell her potato salad and cheesecake. My mom passed away a little over 2 years ago, so she wasn’t able to ask and I wasn’t able to tell her how much I love her potato salad. My family and I moved to Saratoga Springs NY from St. Louis a little over 4 years ago, so I’ve spent all that time, holidays, birthdays and other special occasions 1600 miles from the rest of my family. So I’ve learned to use food (family recipes) to bring back some of the memories of past holidays and celebrations. My birthday was just this past Tuesday and my husband wanted to know what I wanted. My answer: potato salad and cheesecake. Now I wasn’t expecting to be “just like Mom’s”. It’s not like you can go to the internet and look up the recipe, but I was lucky enough that before we moved she told me how to make both.
So for my birthday dinner we had fried chicken (homemade), Mom’s potato salad and of course for dessert, Mom’s cheesecake.
 |
| Start with 5 pounds of potatoes |
Mom’s potato salad goes something like this….
5 pounds of potatoes, we used red but you can use whatever you like. Mom used plain old white potatoes, boiled in what she called “their jackets”, which just means skins on.
Once the potatoes are cooled you can peel and dice them.
To the potatoes add:
5 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
3 chopped hard boiled eggs
3 green onions chopped
Mix thoroughly.
To make the dressing:
Add 1 cup of Hellman’s mayo (and she only used Hellman’s) with about 3 tablespoons of white vinegar. Mix it well.
Before dressing the potato salad be sure to season it with salt. Pour on the dressing and combine thoroughly.
Mom always made a couple extra hard boiled eggs and sliced them and laid them on the top, then sprinkled it with paprika.
Sounds simple and it is, but it is also deceptively delicious.
It’s hard to say how many servings it makes because we always had it at family gatherings. But I would think at least 12 normal size or about 3 “my” size.
The potatoes give it a lot of body while the bacon gives needed saltiness, and the green onions give a nice crunch. The dressing is a little tangy with the lemon of the mayo and the bite of the vinegar. To me it’s the perfect potato salad.
 |
| Don’t let the photo deter you, it’s delicious! |
Mom’s Cheesecake
When I was younger I thought the cheesecake my mom made was something she invented. It wasn’t like other cheesecake. It was light and lemony, almost like a mousse. It spoiled me for any other cheesecake. So when I asked her the recipe I was surprised to find out that she got it from a neighbor who got it from the cream cheese package. But still even though it’s not original I always call it Mom’s Cheesecake.
There are a lot of steps (I don’t think my mom ever did anything the easy way when it came to cooking) but believe me it’s worth it.
 |
| Lemon jell-o gives the cheesecake it’s lemon flavor |
This makes a huge 13×9 pan that should feed a crowd but in my house it feeds 3, that is if I share.
Take 2 packages of lemon jello and dissolve in 2 cups of hot water. Don’t use sugar free, get the real thing for this. Makes it so much better. Once the jello is dissolved then add 2 cups of cold water. Set aside.
Take 2 packages of lemon jello and dissolve in 2 cups of hot water. Don’t use sugar free, get the real thing for this. Makes it so much better. Once the jello is dissolved then add 2 cups of cold water. Set aside.
Take one can of evaporated milk (that has been chilling in the fridge) and beat until light and fluffy. Will look like whipped cream. Don’t whip too much or it will have a buttery taste.
 |
| Whip the evaporated milk. Who knew when chilled it gets like whipped cream? |
Take a small spoonful of whipped milk and fold it into the jello/cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then slowly fold in the rest.
 |
| Mark recreating Mom’s cheesecake. She would have been proud! |
To make the crust:
Take graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Mix together (will look like sand) and lightly pat into a 13×9 oblong pan. Don’t pat the crumbs in too tightly, and it doesn’t matter if they go up the sides of the pan. Pour the filling into the pan and chill.
 |
| The finished cheesecake. Light and Yummy! |
No bake, lemony, creamy cheesecake. I know there are lots of variations on this cheesecake. You can use whipped cream or Cool Whip instead of whipping the evaporated milk. You can add more lemon to it, but this is the way my mom made it and this is the way I make it. And now this is the way my husband makes it.
Once it’s chilled it’s light and will be to the top of the pan. We always sprinkle the top with a few handfuls of graham cracker crumbs left over from the crust.
So we sat down to my birthday dinner of all homemade memories, my son, my daughter and my husband and me. It took me back to all those birthdays shared with my brother and his family and my sister and her family, along with my parents, now both deceased. My sister’s kids have kids and so does my brother’s. My kids are both grown with lives of their own – school and jobs. It was nice for at least a little while to remember what those family gatherings were like and relive the memories through the food we ate. I guess it’s true, you can’t go home again….but at least you can recreate memories on your plate.
How do you use food in your celebrations? Is there a recipe from your childhood you just can’t live without?
