Rosie's German potato salad~

Few recipes get the reaction that Rosie's German potatoes salad got in my household. I am going to have to put some family members in rehab.  The second batch is now gone and they have this wild look in their eyes.  Too much bacon, too much bacon....

Rosie was here for the Otterbein ladies yearly get together and she brought her famous potato salad.  Andy asked that I get the recipe, something he rarely does.  So, while I was sitting with Glenda in Cincinnati last week end who should come over but Rosie.  As we were gabbing I asked about the potato salad and she said it wasn't a recipe.  She had been making it as a child and it isn't written down but she explained what was in it. (My arteries started weeping.)  As soon as I got home Sunday afternoon I made a batch which disappeared by late evening.  The family could not stay away from it.  Now Stalin's pepper bacon had a lot to do with mine I can tell you that.  While Rosie used a pound of bacon per batch, I used the Cincinnati pepper bacon because I had stocked up on the Cincinnati trip.  Naturally that was not the only addition I added because I take culinary license with just about everything that is savory.  You cannot go wrong and you can add what ever you like.  I will give you her vague recipe along with notes of what I added. I am in the process of making another bowl of this delightful potato dish right now; as you know I never met a potato I didn't like.

Here is your dose of Kryptonite:

5 pounds of potatoes (Rosie uses red potatoes, boils them then peels and slices them.) I had Yukon Gold which worked perfectly.

Pound of bacon fried crisply. Save the grease. Yes, that's what I typed.  I used a pound of Stehlin's peppered bacon.  I think Sam's has pepper bacon too, but not like this.  The warm potatoes love this bacon and the pepper spreads like the plague through out the batch.  Lovely!

Boil five eggs--I put them in with the potatoes when the water starts to boil and then take them out in five minutes, splash them in cold water and peel.

one sweet onion diced finely

Here is where I added a lot of fresh cauliflower because I like the crunch and the combination of potatoes and cauliflower.  Rosie does not add this.  You can also add celery or what ever you like.

Cut and slice and crumble the above as you naturally would.  Salt to taste but don't add pepper if you are using pepper bacon.

In a pan: (Hold on!)  Pour in all of the bacon grease, add a cup of apple cider vinegar (I did not have this so I used rice vinegar), 1 1/4 cups sugar (I used 3/4 cup only),
Heat and stir
Then to thicken this dressing Rosie uses a little flour/water slurry and whisks it into the hot mixture. (I did not like that idea so I simply used a little ranch dressing over the potatoes, stirred and then poured over the hot mixture from the stove. The potatoes said' thank you' and slurped it all up in a jiffy.
You could use poppy seed dressing in place of the Ranch, but Ranch is what I had.
I added fresh herbs as well and I bet she did but forgot to mention it.