Potato Salad Problems

I offered to make potato salad for a cookout at a friend's house. Big mistake.... I followed the recipe for potato salad that I posted on my blog. I increased the amounts by 4 because I didn't want to make enough for just 4 people. I also followed the instructions on how to easily peel the potatoes in the video I posted with Dawn Wells of the Idaho Potato Council.



I had no problem at all mixing the ingredients for the potato salad. It was a combination of mayo, mustard, relish, and garlic. The recipe calls for celery and eggs chopped up along with the potatoes. None of that was a problem for me. I read someone who posted that her potato salad became "watery" on the second day. That is not my problem.



My problem is in the boiling of the potatoes. I followed the instructions to boil the potatoes for 15 minutes. Of course, the potatoes were under cooked. In fact, when I asked my husband to taste-test the potato salad for me he asked if the potatoes in potato salad were supposed to be cooked! "Houston, we have a problem." That was when I knew I was going to have to send him out to the store to buy some potato salad. I was so frustrated. I had spent the entire morning boiling, chopping, mixing and washing pots and pans to no avail! I feel like Julie in the Julie & Julia book not the Julie in the movie, she is way too nice. I didn't drop the "F" bomb quite as many times as Julie in the book but I was upset. I have made potato salad before. I have often overcooked and/or undercooked those "darn" potatoes. I have made Dijon potato salad and had someone make fun of it. He said it tasted "spoiled" so I never made that potato salad again. Even though I really liked it quite a bit myself. I should probably just give up on the potato salad but I really want to be able to make a good potato salad. It really shouldn't be that hard. Why is it that if I boil the potatoes 15 minutes they are too raw and if I cook them 20 minutes they are too over cooked?



Can you help me? Any ideas? Maybe I'm using the wrong type of potatoes. I just bought cheap white potatoes. Could that be the cause of my failure? Maybe I'm just going crazy or it is because, as my son suggested, I'm approaching 50 this year?!



The Frustrated Creative Cook