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Dear Reader,
Joy, a reader at the book club, needs your advice. Can you help?
"Hi Suzanne, thanks for your daily emails that come to my box. I really enjoy reading them. I feel I have a good old friend down there in Florida, even if we've never met each other.
Your email about the potato salad and the other readers' responses urged me to write. I do have my type of potato salad, the problem is that it seems nobody likes it.
I came from Taiwan 30 years ago. We have potato salad there which is quite different than the potato salad here. Just like yours, my mom made hers with a little bit of this, a little bit of that, so I don't have her recipe either.
When I moved to the States, I made my potato salad and took it to various potlucks. To my surprise, it didn't seem to appeal to most people's taste buds, except for Asians. My dish always had the most leftovers in it. So, I totally gave up making potato salad for potlucks.
Anyway, here are the ingredients. My recipe is very similar to yours, except I don't put any mustard, onion, vinegar, sugar, celery or paprika in it.
Potatoes
Hard boiled eggs
Cooked, cubed carrots
Cooked, cut string beans or cooked peas or fresh cubed cucumber (the cucumber will make the salad taste fresh and crunchy)
Cubed ham, or cooked chicken breast, or cocktail shrimp
Options: raisins, cubed apples, can of fruit cocktail--drained
Mix all ingredients together with mayonnaise, and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Tell me, does this recipe sound weird to you?"
--Joy T
(Suzanne replies:) Joy, you're right. Your recipe doesn't sound all that different from mine. I'm not a fan of raisins in salads, but I like all the other ingredients you listed. Memorial Weekend is coming up, so perhaps there are some readers at the book club who will give your recipe a try.
In the meantime, Joy, I can tell you that homemade chocolate chip cookies are always a winner at a potluck.
If you make Joy's recipe, or are familiar with Asian potato salad, please send me an email and I'll forward it on to her.
*Congratulations to Gail G., the winner of the microwave egg boiler.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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(Fiction)
THE WORD by Hubert Crouch
(Fiction)
AS WATERS GONE BY by Cynthia Ruchti
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* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAD END OF POLICARPO QUARESMA, by Lima Barreto. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin tote bag, just in time for your summer reading! Goto: http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqR1AFEF3957A1&c=CLASSICS
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