Potato Salad

This is the very best recipe for potato salad anywhere!  The secret is in the pickles, well really, the pickle juice!  It makes the salad stay so creamy, even the next day after being refrigerated! I make and bottle these Hydrated Lime Pickles every few years with cucumbers from my garden and I use them in this salad as well as mixed with tuna for sandwiches.  You could make this potato salad and just use your favorite pickles and juice, but I'm telling you that these pickles are worth the effort!

Potato Salad
7-8 russet potatoes
7-8 eggs
1 cup, hydrated lime pickles, diced (recipe below)
2 cups mayo
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
1/2 - 2/3 cup hydrated lime pickle juice
salt and pepper to taste
        In a large pot add your washed potatoes and whole eggs (still in the shell) and cover with cold water.  Put the pot on the stove with high heat to bring water to a boil.  When the water is boiling set a timer for 10 minutes for the eggs.  When the 10 minutes is up, remove the eggs and place them in a bowl in the sink with cold water.  Continue cooking the potatoes until they are just barely cooked.  (To check this, insert a knife into one of the potatoes.  It should slide in and out of the potato fairly easily with just a little resistance.  Don't overcook your potatoes!  You don't want them too soft!)  When they are cooked, remove them pan and drain the hot water.  Set the pan in the sink and run cold water over the potatoes to stop the cooking and cool them down.  In a medium mixing bowl combine your mayo and mustard and then add the pickle juice and salt and pepper.  Dice the potatoes, you can choose either skin on or peel the skin (I leave it on.)  Peel and dice the hard boiled eggs.  Combine everything in a large bowl and stir carefully.

Hydrated Lime Pickles
24 large cucumbers (this recipe helps use the bigger cukes!)
3 Tbsp. pickling spice
13 cups sugar
1 cup hydrated lime powder
3 quarts white vinegar
4 tsp. kosher salt (the iodine in regular salt affects the color)
         Slice the cucumbers and put them into a crock with the lime sprinkled on top.  Cover with cold water and mix the lime into the water and cukes, then let sit for 24 hours.  Next wash the cucmbers with cold water until the lime is all gone.  Cover them with cold water and let stand 3 hours, then drain.  Boil pickling spice, vinegar, sugar and salt into a syrup.  Pour over the cucumbers.  Let stand overnight.  Put it all into a kettle and boil until transparent, about 45 minutes.  Pack the cucumbers into mason jars, fill with the liquid and seal.