Casinos & The Great Onion Debate
My mom was famous for a few things. Going to play bingo or slots at the casino, her green thumb (and her toe thumb) and cooking. Some of her specialties were the most delicious banana bread filled with walnuts, cinnamon and orange zest. Her frozen corn and green beans, and wild blackberry pie were always a hit. But the thing she was most famous for, because it was always a request (or demand) at family gatherings and potlucks, was her potato salad.
The frozen corn was one of my favorites, and while I loved the flavor it’s actually the whole ritual that brings me back to a strangely fond memory. No matter where we lived in Washington (we moved a few times around the state for my father’s logging jobs), she would always find a farmer and buy a big bushel of corn on the cob. In one town she fell in love with this old farmer, and we would traipse up to this broken down old shed where he housed a pet monkey. Mom would inspect the corn, and I stood there mesmerized by this monkey wrapped around the old farmer’s head. I was a little scared, but I always wanted to go back there!
Once the trip to see her farmer was complete, the real work began to husk the corn, blanch and cut all the corn from the cobs. It was giant mess all over the kitchen, and she was so proud of her little secret of adding some sugar to the corn before portioning it out to pint size freezer bags. It was so good.
Now about the casino. As my mom got a little older, she discovered that she loved to go out and play slot machines when they became legal in the state of Washington. She would get dressed up in her white jeans and matching white jean jacket, throw on some platform sandals or her high heeled sketchers to prop up her 4’11” frame. Then she would quietly slip out the door, or if busted, she’d get this guilty but defiant look on her face as she announced,” I’m going to the casino”. And off she went.
Mostly it was entertainment for her, and she got so excited when she hit a jackpot. There were more than a couple of occasions when she called late at night or early morning to say “Sharon, you’ll never guess how much money I won!” Or other times she would call and say, “I did a bad thing”, and I could only guess she blew her entire check. All I could do is shake my head and think “mom it’s not like I’m going to ground you or something!” And somehow, she would turn it all into a joke and laugh about it for months.
All was usually forgiven and eventually there would be a family gathering or camping trip, and there was always a request for mom’s potato salad. It was the perfect texture with tons of flavor, but this delicious dish triggered a big family debate of epic proportions because of the onions! Her recipe included a finely chopped onion which kind of disappeared into the mix, but some people, who shall not be named, hated raw onions.
I’ve been living on the east coast for the past 24 years, so we would talk on Saturday mornings to catch up. I can’t tell you the number of times I had to listen to her conspiratorial grumbling about making a double batch of potato salad so she could leave the onions out of one. “I can’t believe they don’t like onions; you can’t even taste them. It’s terrible. It’s so plain without them!” Then after complaining, loud sighing and probably pouting, she’d proceed to make enough potato salad to feed an army and it NEVER went to waste.
In honor of my mom Linda, (gramma La La to some) whose soul is dancing in the Universe, I’m sharing her recipe purely from memory. She only wrote down a few of her recipes, so I may be using some creative license, but I’m keeping the onions in. She would like that.
P.S. she really had a thumb that was shaped like a toe 😊
Gramma La La’s Potato Salad
5 Lbs. russet or Yukon gold potatoes, washed and quartered
1 yellow sweet onion, finely diced
4 celery stalks, finely diced
6 eggs, boiled 10 minutes, peeled
1 Cup diced dill pickles
2 Cups “Best Foods or Hellman’s” mayonnaise
¼ C yellow mustard
1 can black olives, sliced
Salt & Pepper to taste
Boil the potatoes until just tender enough to run a knife through.
Cool completely. Meanwhile prep the onion, celery, pickles & olives.
Boil and dice the eggs.
Mix the mayonnaise and mustard together.
Dice the cooled potatoes and add all ingredients (reserve ½ C olives) to a very large bowl or two.
Gently mix the salad to combine with the mayo mixture.
Sprinkle sliced olives over the top for garnish.
Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
TIP! For perfect boiled eggs, poke one end with a thumb tack before boiling for 10 minutes. Immediately drain, gently shake the pot to crack the shells and add to a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes. The shells will peel away easily!