Hot German Potato Salad

I. Love. German. Food.

There is nothing better than a big pot full of hot potato salad with a side of german red cabbage & spätzle with buttered bread crumbs. SWOON.

When I was little, my Grandma would make this for me whenever we visited. It's perfectly sweet with a tang. Bunches of starchy potatoes and a kiss of the bacon. I make this whenever I have potatoes on hand. It's so simple!

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What You'll Need:

- 5 cups diced potatoes (I used about 6-7 red potatoes,   
  depending on size. If you have smaller red potatoes, use 
  about 10)

- 4 slices of bacon, diced (or more if you want. because bacon.)

- 1 half onion, diced

- 1/2 cup vinegar (white or apple cider)

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1 cup water

So simple!! 

Dice the potatoes and put them in a pot with salted water to soften. You don't want them TOO soft, or they will make the potato salad more like mashed potatoes. But you also don't want them too hard or your salad won't get creamy. Cook them until a fork can easily slide through, but not break them apart. I would say about 10-15 minutes. My Grandma would cook the potatoes whole and dice up after, which you could do. I find that it takes longer to cook them whole than when you dice before. Also, she peeled her potatoes and I like the taste of the red potato skin so I keep mine on. You can peel if you want! (If I use russet, I will peel)

In a large pot, brown your bacon.

Once your bacon has browned, caramelize your onion in the bacon fat. Once caramelized to your likeness, remove excess fat from pot (or keep it in, no judgements here!)

When the excess fat has been removed, add the bacon back in. Add in the water, sugar, and vinegar and mix together. Bring to a boil.

Once your liquid has come to a boil, add in your cooked potatoes. 

Lower the heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes. (In my Grandma's recipe she said "let simmer awhile" I love that back in the day they just knew when something was done. They weren't confined to strict cook times!)

Stir occasionally, and eventually the starches from the potatoes will help thicken the liquid and it will get creamy. Once it starts to thicken and get creamy, it is done.

Y'ALL. This is the good stuff. I could eat this whole bowl. PLUS, this tastes just as good the next day. You'll love it!

Butternut Squash "Pizza" Sauce

It's been about 5 years since I've had a slice of authentic, red sauce pizza. 

Turns out, My body can't handle the red sauce. I found out the hard way :-|

I don't miss it too much, because I know I definitely don't want to feel how I felt ever again. It was terrible! So, I swore off ALL PIZZA. People, I didn't eat one single slice of pizza for a LONG TIME.

However, after about 4 years of being off the sauce, I missed being able to put a cold piece of pizza in my mouth for breakfast (anyone else like cold pizza more than warm pizza??). The PNO's will do that to you with their Pizza Friday traditions.

I had a brilliant idea. What if I used a different kind of sauce? (duh.) The olive oil pizzas were too oily for me, and I'm not a fan of pesto (wow - I swear I'm really not that picky!) 

One day I came across a recipe for butternut squash sauce. I was intrigued. Squash for pizza sauce?? Now, I have an interesting palate (peanut butter and pickle sandwiches

 anyone??) So I was willing to give it a try - and I am so glad I did! 

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What You'll Need:

- 1 medium butternut squash (a 2 pounder will yield about 3 cups)

- 2 garlic cloves (or one if it's large)

- olive oil

- salt and pepper 

- about 1/2 cup chicken broth or water (for blending)

This was a large clove of garlic so I only used one

Peel Butternut squash with potato peeler (or knife if you are feeling adventurous) 

Cut the squash in half lengthwise & scoop out the seeds

Chop up butternut squash and put in a bowl. Sprinkle about a Tablespoon of olive oil over them. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Once the chunks are coated, lay on a single layer on your baking sheet. Peel garlic and place on baking sheet too. 

Cook in a 400* oven for about 20 minutes or until they are browned and a fork can easily go through them. 

Once they are cooled slightly, add them to your blender. Pulse. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth slowly and keep pulsing until desired consistency (you may need to add more, depending on your blender and the texture you are wanting)

The blender makes it look chunkier than it is. This has no chunks, but is a thicker consistency. YUM!

Out of the blender, I mixed it a little more to smooth out the consistency from the blades. This goes great on pizza! I'll have a pizza post soon. I've also used this for baked pasta which is also tasty! 

To store leftovers, I use this great baby food storage container. They portion, AND they pop out so easy so you can just pop as many as you want in a small kettle to warm up! It's perfect! I also freeze this to last longer, especially if I know I won't use this sauce for a bit! Definitely recommend this!