My Moms' BEST Potato Salad ! Adaptable for Macaroni Salad too !

                                                                              
                                                                         

8 large all purpose potatoes ( For macaroni salad use 1 lb elbow macaronis cooked & cooled)
3 hard boiled eggs, cooled peeled & chopped in about 1/2 inch dice
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
3 ribs celery chopped
3 carrots peeled & chopped
2 tsp chopped parsley or parsley flakes
2 large dill pickle spears chopped ( FOR PICKLE LOVERS ONLY) above picture is pickleless!

 Cook potatoes in their skins in enough water to cover that you added about 1/2 tsp salt. Cook till fork tender. Remove from water & drain till cool. Peel skins & chop into 1 inch dice . ( to save time you may peel potatoes first & then cook but they just taste a little better when cooked with skins on). Stir in all of the above ingredients. Stir in the following dressing.

2 & 1/2 cup mayonnaise ( For macaroni salad use 3 cups mayo) ( this dressing is GREAT for slaw too)
2 TBS yellow mustard
3 TBS vinegar
3 TBS sugar
Milk to taste, I use about 1/4 cup.
( IF a pickle lover use pickle juice & NOT the vinegar)
Stir everything except milk together in a bowl , Whisk till blended. Then whisk in milk a little at a time until you get the dressing the desired texture you prefer. If you want a very thick mayo dressing use approx 2 TBS milk. I like my dressing about ranch dressing texture so I use about 1/3 cup of milk.YOU MIGHT NOT NEED ALL OF THE DRESSING but it does soak into your salad so keep the amount you decide not to use , you will probably end up adding it to the salad. But you DO NOT want soup ! This is all at your preference. Make this a day ahead so flavors blend. Best two days ahead ! Salt & pepper to taste but I usually do not add any.

My family loves when I add 1/4 cup chopped dill pickle to this recipe but not everyone loves pickles like we do ! To serve this potato salad I usually sprinkle the top with dried parsley flakes & paprika for color. This is one of the BEST potato salads I've ever eaten & I get lots of requests for picnics & reunions! This makes a large mixing bowl enough for 10 people but if you only have 4 or 6 people even better the LEFTOVERS are WONDERFUL !