what's cooking wednesdays: the team american edition

as promised, here are the recipes for the potato salad and the cherry pie i made for the beau's homecoming.

first up, the potato salad, adapted from southern living:

4 lbs peeled potatoes {i prefer yukon gold, but you can use red skin or plain ole baking}
7-8 hard-boiled eggs, grated {use the largest hole on your box grater}
1 cup mayo {use duke's...it's the best!}
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard {i also add in a squirt or two of regular yellow mustard for depth of flavor and a little color}
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
splash of lemon juice
optional: splash of tarragon vinegar
optional: dash or two of old bay {the beau is from baltimore, so i am morally obligated to put it in everything}

cook potatoes in boiling water to cover about 25-30 minutes or until just undercooked.  drain potatoes and immediately put back in pot.  cover pot completely with a towel and let the potatoes steam for 15-20 minutes. allow to cool and dice into 1-inch cubes.  stir together potato and egg.  stir together mayo and next 6 ingredients; gently stir into the potato mixture.  serve immediately or cover and chill {tastes better the next day!}

you can also add diced celery, diced onion, and/or sweet pickle relish, but i'm a purist.

as for the cherry pie, i'm not going to type out the entire recipe because i kind of combined two different ones.  for the crust, i broke away from my mom's instruction {she uses butter AND shortening} and used deb from smitten kitchen's all-butter crust.  amazing decision.  the crust was the best i have ever made, and maybe the best i have every eaten.  also very easy to make.

i used bon appetit's sour cherry pie recipe with just a few adjustments.  i used 6 cups of cherries.  fresh sour cherries aren't available here, so i used canned.  NOT cherry pie filling.  canned red tart cherries in water, found with your other canned fruits. i doubled the cornstarch.  and instead of milk, i did an egg + water wash on top.  i also don't do lattices; too much effort and i like more crust.  i let the pie sit over night so the filling could set up a bit.  the beau and i are not embellishment people, so we went sans ice cream or whipped cream.  so, so delicious.