Bacon Potato Salad

I love a good, homestyle potato salad. I do not like it to have pickles or onions, but there is something so homey about a fantastic potato salad. Occasionally I like to mix it up and do one that does not involve mayo or that has different flavors to it, but I also am a fan of classic recipes. I love me some classics. This is definitely a classic, but the surprise ingredient is…

Bacon grease. I know, half of you just died. It’s not the healthiest ingredient to add, but it really does something for the flavor and there’s just no other way to do it.

And in case you’ve been following along in our story…
Our unemployment story part 1 
Our Unemployment Story part 2:
I would love to tell you that being unemployed taught us so much that we are nothing but grateful for our trials, but while I feel that way right now, a year ago I didn’t always feel the same. Sometimes I would, other days would be hard. I hated worrying and stressing about how we were going to prepare for our 5 year old to start school, pay for birthdays, pay the bills and find a new job. Just to name a few things. I hated that some of our friends were clueless. Sometimes they would complain about their husband’s job, working late, or not having a lot of money and I would honestly have to stop listening and say a prayer in my head that I would be able to love them and support them instead of getting angry or annoyed with their lack of reality or compassion. Sometimes we would get invited out to dinner and I felt like a broken record saying, we can’t afford it, yet two weeks later we would get the same invite. It was exhausting, at times embarrassing and sort of annoying. I had my days of feeling sad and hopeless, but I always came back. I knew that I didn’t want to spend every day moping about things I couldn’t change. My husband and I made the decision that we would spend quality time as a family, try to reach out and serve those around us, and press forward. If there’s one thing I have learned from the pioneers it’s to press forward. Have faith and just move forward.

The church the we belong to, The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, urges it’s members to be prepared with finances, 72 hour kits, food storage and so on.  This was always a daunting task for me. How in the world were we ever going to have a food storage etc? It costs money and it seemed that there was never enough. Let me quickly back up, we are counseled to be prepared for many reasons. It teaches self-reliance, so that we can take care of ourselves, be responsible with money and removing the stress of debt from our lives. We are also counseled to be prepared, so that when natural disasters, unemployment, illness or whatever keep us from living a normal life with a regular, flowing income hit we can not only take care of ourselves, but help to take care of those around us. A few years ago we really started working hard on being prepared. We avoided debt at all costs, started build a food storage and working hard on our relationships and spirituality so that we could be at peace financially, spiritually, and temporally. It was a long process and we were no where near done, but it was coming together….

To be continued…

1/4 cup scant Dijon
2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 Cup LIght Mayo
8 Slices Bacon, cooked, chopped, reserving 2 Tablespoons Bacon Grease
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Eggs, hard boiled, chopped
5 Potatoes

Heat water in a large pot over medium heat, and add a couple pinches of salt. Peel the potatoes and chop them into chunks. Place the potatoes in the water and cook until tender. Remove from the heat, drain the potatoes and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl combine the dijon, sugar, apple cider vinegar, mayo and reserved bacon grease. Whisk together and season as needed.

Fold the potatoes, and eggs into the potato salad. I prefer to leave the bacon out until right before serving, but it’s up to you. Refrigerate for 1-4 hours before serving. Enjoy!

If you liked this recipe give these a try…
Apple, Bacon Potato Salad by Simply Recipes
Crab Boil Potato Salad by Bacon Concentrate
Lightened Fingerling Potato Salad with Carmelized Onions