BCR_Illinois Valley Living - Summer 2024

A farm-to-table experience at Wild Ginger Bistro magazine Living

POTATO SALAD RECIPES FOR SUMMER PARTIES Summer 2024

HALL’S BRYANT BOYS DISCUSS BEING FROM A SPORTS FAMILY

HISTORICAL HOTSPOTS TO VISIT IN BUREAU COUNTY

Illinois’ longest operating lumberyard continues to thrive along Peru’s historic riverfront. Maze Lumber has been providing top quality building materials to Illinois Valley contractors and homeowners for 176 years, still owned by the founding fathers (Maze).

Located in a 15,000-square foot showroom and office, we offer building materials for the modern home as well as a full line of the traditional lumber items used in home building, commercial construction, and industrial applications. Our experienced sales staff takes pride in their ability to provide knowledgeable assistance along with prompt delivery at reasonable prices.

Being Part of a Sports Family

Since my children were little, I’ve always encouraged them to participate in various sports – and they’ve been happy to do so. During his childhood, my son was on basketball, baseball, cross country, and track teams. My daughter has spent time on softball, volleyball, cross country, track, and basketball teams.

Yes, our schedule has been crazy at times, and sometimes, we’ve had to draw a line, like the time my daughter was on three softball teams in one year. After that hectic summer, it felt like too much with all her other activities, and she stopped playing travel softball.

Even before I came along, my family had always been involved with sports. My dad spent years as a basketball, cross country, and track coach in Henry, and his dad was a

Contents

longtime coach on Long Island, New York. Two of my brothers spent years coaching as well. On the other side of my family, my mom’s brother coached for decades in Amboy.

High school sports have changed a lot since I was a teenager – and not all the changes have been for the better. It used to be that anyone could sign up for a team and play if they had some natural talent and a desire to get better. These days, that’s no longer always the case. Sometimes now, the ones who get to play are the ones who start young – and have a family who can afford travel teams and hiring personal coaches.

But even with the downsides of sports, I still believe they’re a great thing for most students. They show that hard work can pay off, and they teach kids to handle losing and dis-

appointment. They can also encourage mental and physical toughness and what working as a team can accomplish.

This magazine issue features an article about the Bryant family, a multi-generation sports family at Hall High School. In any town you visit in Bureau County, there are sports families who find enough reasons to keep participating year after year. Like the Bryant family, they’re creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Historical Hotspots to Visit in Bureau County 5

History lovers will find a lot to explore and learn in Bureau County.

Wild Ginger Bistro & Wine Bar 9

A new farm-to-table restaurant has opened at 950 N. Main Street in Princeton’s Art District.

Creating Their Own Paths 13

The Bryant brothers embraced their family history instead of competing with it.

Crowd-pleasing Potato Salads 18

These summer superstars are easy to make.

On the cover: Dan Marquis (left) poses with his mother, Pat Marquis (center), and brother, Tim Marquis (right), behind the wine bar at Wild Ginger Bistro. Next to them, there is a space where customers will be able to purchase fresh produce and other local products. Dan said they used barnwood from their barn and gathered family and community memorabilia to create a special, inviting ambiance.

PHOTO BY KATLYN SANDEN

Do you have a story idea you’d love to read about in Illinois Valley Living magazine? Share your idea with the editor by emailing sserpette@shawmedia.com.

Best wishes,

Shannon Serpette Niche Editor

Living magazine

Bureau County Republican P.O. Box 340 Princeton, IL 61356-0340 815-220-6948

General Manager/ Advertising Director Jeanette Smith jmsmith@shawmedia.com

Niche Editor

Shannon Serpette sserpette@shawmedia.com

Writers

Katlyn Sanden

Shannon Serpette

Photographers

Katlyn Sanden

Shannon Serpette

Designer

Liz Klein

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Historical Hotspots to visit in Bureau County

By Shannon Serpette

istory lovers will find a lot to explore and learn in Bureau County. From its agricultural history to its role in the Underground Railroad, the residents of Bureau County are proud of their county’s past and show that pride with its many historical societies, landmarks, and museums.

Jessica Gray, curator at Bureau County History Center, loves learning fascinating information about the past wherever she goes.

“I am a lover and student of history – every place I visit, I pick up a new piece of information and tuck it away, like a historical magpie,” she said. “My family and I enjoy doing historic home tours and visiting museums on our vacations, but one doesn’t need to go far to experience history. It’s all around us in Bureau County. I particularly enjoy visiting any place where the history comes alive for me – where I feel as if I’m walking in someone else’s footsteps, as if they’re whispering in my ear, ‘I was here. I lived and loved in this place. Remember me.’”

For those who want to explore some historical hotspots in Bureau County, here are a few to check out. This isn’t an inclusive list, though, so keep in mind there are additional places you’ll stumble upon as you learn more about the county’s history.

BUREAU COUNTY MUSEUMS

One of the most well-known museums in Bureau County is the Owen Lovejoy Homestead in Princeton.

“The Lovejoy home is a National Historic Landmark and was a stop on the Underground Railroad,” Gray said.

The Lovejoy home is just one of

many fascinating Bureau County museums – Gray also recommends visiting the county museums in Cherry, Manlius, Mineral, Neponset, Spring Valley, Sheffield, Tiskilwa, and Wyanet. To find addresses for each museum, visit bureauhistory.org.

“All of these locations are chock-full of treasures and memories and stories unique to those communities. The staff at these facilities would love to talk to you and share what they know,” Gray said.

The Tiskilwa Historical Society has recently appointed a new director, Leah Metcalf, who is taking over the duties of Cecille Gerber, who has served as director since 2006.

During her years as director, Gerber learned a lot about Tiskilwa’s history and shared that one of the most interesting eras involves the Potawatomi,

See HOTSPOTS page 6

PHOTO/SCOTT ANDERSON

The Owen Lovejoy Homestead in Princeton was a stop on the Underground Railroad, making it a fascinating place for history lovers to check out in the Illinois Valley.

Hotspots

PAGE 5

the earliest recorded settlers in this small community.

“A large band of indigenous people traveled west from the Wabash River Valley in 1769 and chose this valley for their home. That part of our history is probably the one dearest to the hearts of many Tiskilwa residents as well as the Tiskilwannabes (as we affectionately call our society members who’ve moved to other homes from coast to coast.) Even today, current residents are surprised and delighted to discover arrowheads and other artifacts that work their way to the surface on their farms and in their backyards. Of course, many aboriginal artifacts in our collections date

back thousands of years before the Potawatomi made this region their home,” Gerber said.

“Nestled in a lush valley surrounded by wooded bluffs, Tiskilwa was once home to as many as 1,500 to 2,000 who lived in lodges (wigwams) along its two meandering creeks -- Bureau Creek and Rocky Run, originally called the Wapsipinicon. In the poetic language of the Potawatomi, Tiskilwa is said to mean ‘The Gem of the Valley.’ A half-dozen roads lead out of town, but only one can be followed that does not climb a hill,” she added.

Those who visit Tiskilwa Historical Society’s two museums should expect to spend some time there if they want to see everything.

“Tiskilwa Historical Society’s collection includes more than 17,000 artifacts, all donated since

its founding in 2006, and displayed to preserve and interpret local history at Museum on Main, 110 East Main Street, and Gallery on Galena, 550 North Galena Street. Assisted access is available in both venues,” Gerber said.

Both museums offer free admission.

“The Museum on Main, housed in an 1855 Illinois Historic Landmark building, is open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Displays include clearly marked areas such as ‘Children at Play,’ ‘Making Music in Tiskilwa,’ ‘Living in the Past,’ ‘Best Town by a Dam Site’ (with the history of the 1959 Watershed Project of four land dams), and ‘Tiskilwa Schools’ with more than 100 THS trophies dating from 1925 to 1995, when the high school closed. In all, the museum boasts 19 different display areas,” Gerber said.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

1. Gallery on Galena, one of the Tiskilwa Historical Society’s museums, features military memorabilia. 2. Tiskilwa Historical Society’s Museum on Main features 19 display areas. 3. Part of Gallery on Galena is set up to be a replica of a country school classroom. 4. This “Living in the Past” display is located at the Museum on Main in Tiskilwa.

“The Gallery on Galena is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every first Saturday of the month as well as during special town-wide events. The former American Legion Hall, renovated by the society in 2019, features military memorabilia from the Civil War to the present day, all connected with local veterans. The south half of the space is arranged as a replica of a country school classroom, chock-full of mementos from school days long gone by, including pull-down maps dated 1942,” she said.

For private or group tours, visitors may call Ed Waca at 815646-4016, she added.

BUREAU COUNTY CEMETERIES

Visiting cemeteries isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they are an essential local history source.

“Don’t disregard cemeteries; they’re quiet, beautiful, tuckedaway places where stories still linger,” Gray said.

Bureau County has several cemeteries that are worth the drive.

“I love Oakland Cemetery in Princeton with all of its stately trees and ornate monuments. Did you know it contains the remains of at least 225 of the 3,708 Civil War veterans who served from Bureau County? It’s a beautiful place for a walk and to while away an afternoon studying the variety of stones,” Gray said. “It is here where Owen Lovejoy, senator, abolitionist, and close friend to Abraham Lincoln, is buried, as well as two Titanic survivors, and over 15,000 others across its 80 acres.”

But Oakland isn’t the only cemetery that should be visited by local historians.

“My family and I have enjoyed visiting other cemeteries throughout the county as well. I love taking the time to drive past Searl’s Ridge, located between Princeton and DePue. Nearly 20 years ago, I helped descendants restore the earliest portions of the cemetery and occasionally, I like to stop by for a visit to see how the old stones are holding up,” she said.

“We also enjoy visiting Prairie

Repose, one of the oldest cemeteries in the county, located just outside Dover, where five of the six children of Sam and Ann Clark are buried. The Clarks built the Clark-Norris home, which the History Center has maintained since 1948,” Gray added.

THE RED COVERED BRIDGE

Whenever visitors come to Bureau County, the Red Covered Bridge, located approximately one and one-half miles north of Princeton, is one of the first spots that locals tell them to visit. It’s an immense source of pride for the county, and the 1863 structure is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of only five covered bridges remaining in the state of Illinois, according to Gray.

Until recently, Bureau County’s Red Covered Bridge was the sole covered bridge in Illinois that remained open to traffic.

“That last distinction was put on pause last November when a truck driver drove through it at a high rate of speed and nearly tore the roof off. If you listened very closely that November morning, you would have heard the sound of thousands of hearts breaking at once, mourning over the wreckage of this extraordinary landmark,” Gray said.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is planning its restoration.

“All indications are it will take years to bring it back to its former glory,” Gray said. “In the 161 years since it was built, it has been witness to thousands of big and little memories playing out in its shadow: wedding and homecoming photos, family reunions, and mischievous youths jumping from the gap in its wood boards into the cooling waters of Bureau Creek below. Its 149-foot span has borne the weight of the changing forms of transportation, from horse and buggy to car, as time marched ever onward. It is beloved county-wide, and even in its current state, still worth a visit. When one looks at it from a certain angle, out of view of any

modern technology, it’s like stepping back in time.”

THE BUREAU COUNTY HISTORY CENTER

“Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the History Center. Yes, I work there, but I also genuinely love the place. We maintain three historic buildings, the oldest turned 171 years old this spring,” Gray said.

“We are caretakers for the beautiful 11,000 square foot Clark-Norris Colonial Revival home built in 1899-1900 by Samuel and Ann Clark, whose parents were some of the earliest settlers to Dover. We also oversee the Newell-Bryant Home, built in the Greek Revival style in 1853 by Benjamin and Harriet Newell. The home now serves as a rotational exhibit space. Finally, we also oversee the former Matson Public Library, now known as the Sash Stalter Matson Building, originally constructed in 1913 by the Chicago firm Patton & Miller, who built dozens of Carnegie Libraries across the country,” she said.

While the historic buildings are fascinating in their own right, the contents stored in the buildings are treasures as well.

“We maintain the estimated 26,000 glass slide collection of Henry W. Immke, who operated in Princeton from the mid-1860s to 1924. I love any opportunity to look at these old photographs. They are vivid representations of our past,” Gray said.

“Sometimes, while driving down the historic streets of our communities, I envision these pictures in my mind, how things used to be, and the images come alive. It is as if the photograph is briefly in motion and, just for a second, I can hear the clop of hooves, the cacophony of wagon wheels, and the yells of street merchants. We have thousands of images and artifacts bequeathed to us and held in our care from members and donors across the county and country. It is Bureau County’s history we hold.”

FARRELL CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC

Picturedfromleft: Dr.LoriSchultz, Dr.Dennis Farrell,Dr.JarredFarrell

Wild Ginger Bistro & Wine Bar opens in Princeton

Story by Katlyn Sanden

Anew farm-to-table restaurant has opened at 950 N. Main Street in Princeton’s Art District. Sourcing most of their ingredients from their own farm while using local suppliers for others, the Wild Ginger Bistro & Wine Bar aims to tickle every taste bud.

“I went to culinary school in Chicago and worked in restaurants up there for over 20 years,” said Dan Marquis, founder of

Wild Ginger Bistro & Wine Bar. “It was hard to find produce that I wanted to work with. Things just weren’t available.”

In that moment, he knew there was something to this whole farm-to-table thing. His brother, Tim Marquis, was able to grow some of the produce he needed for his specialty menus in the city.

See GINGER page 11

Above: Before the produce makes its way to the plate, it’s first grown on the family’s own organic farm.

“More and more people are interested in eating healthy, plus eating well. That’s where our focus is. We want to be able to provide good, healthy produce for people that’s affordable.”

Pat Marquis

and

Tim, Pat, Dan,

the late Dick Marquis (Dan’s dad) take a break from working on their family farm, where the bulk of the ingredients for the restaurant are grown.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

The demand was great, and he knew, eventually, he’d like to move back to the Illinois Valley and open his own farm-to-table restaurant.

“I worked in all different cuisines,” Dan said. “Japanese, Peruvian, Brazilian, Asian, Italian, and French. You read all these cookbooks and see all these ingredients, but they’re not available. We can get seeds all over the place. If it works out to grow it, we’ll grow it. We grow microgreens yearround.”

Microgreens are young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs that are packed with nutrients and can add intense flavor to any dish.

While Dan is busy coming up with culinary masterpieces, Tim and his mom, Pat Marquis, are busy running their organic family farm – Mill Road Farms. This is where the bulk of their ingredients come from – making this restaurant a true farm-totable experience.

“We’ve tried a lot of things,” Pat Marquis said. “We always had a large garden growing up, so I had some knowledge, but gardening has changed over the years. Tim has done research, and we’ve learned how to do it better. The microgreens have been a really big part of expanding.”

Dan added nothing will go to waste. While the microgreens are available throughout the year, fresh produce will be seasonal. What

“People are finally understanding what microgreens are and how good they are for you,” Pat added. “More and more people are interested in eating healthy, plus eating well. That’s where our focus is. We want to be able to provide good, healthy produce for people that’s affordable.”

doesn’t get served right away will be turned into sauces, soups, or anything else the team dreams up. They plan to can a lot of the extra to sell along with some of the fresh produce right there in the Wild Ginger Bistro & Wine Bar, almost creating a mini farmers’ market feel, they said.

While sourcing only the highest-quality ingredients, the team hopes to offer the highest-quality dining experience as well.

“We’re taking it nice and slow,” said Dan. “When I went to Greece, I learned a lot of different types of cooking I wasn’t aware of. We’re trying to incorporate that. I want to make sure my team gets trained the right way. We’ve been working on this a long time – all of us together.”

Try McCafe!

PHOTO SUBMITTED

This is a sample of what’s to come when dining at Wild Ginger Bistro.

Now-graduated Max Bryant fields a ball at second base for the Hall baseball team while his younger brother, freshman Luke Bryant, looks toward first.

Creating Their Own Paths

The Bryant brothers embraced their family history instead of competing with it

Growing up in a small, rural Illinois town can be amazing. It can also have its struggles and challenges.

Throughout the years and decades, family history or legacy plays a part in upbringing and how students and student-athletes develop.

For those from Spring Valley or anywhere else where

Story by Brandon LaChance

“The Valley” or Hall High School has been discussed, the last name Bryant is familiar.

Thankfully for Max Bryant, a 2024 Hall graduate, and Luke Bryant, who will be a Hall sophomore in the fall, they have had a more positive than negative experience with their father being Eric Bryant

and their grandfather being Eric Bryant – two well-known local sports figures.

“I haven’t had any pressure. I don’t think about it because I’m around my family every day. They’re normal people to me,” said Max, who played basketball and baseball all

See BRYANT page 15

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Left: Hall freshman Luke Bryant throws a pitch during a Red Devils’ varsity game. The young athlete said he doesn’t feel any pressure playing for Hall after his older brother and dad, but he enjoys having them there to support him.

Bottom: When he wasn’t on the mound, now-graduated Max Bryant could be seen on the field wherever Hall Red Devils Coach Tom Keegan needed him. Bryant was a star baseball player for Hall, who carved out his own resume instead of worrying about filling the shoes of his family members.

PAGE 13

four years as a Red Devil and football his senior year. “I go out there, and after the game, they’ll talk to people. Someone will mention something about my dad or my grandpa and how great they were during their state runs. I just don’t really think about it in terms of it affecting me or me filling their shoes.

“I tried to build my own path. I obviously had some pretty big shoes to fill. I’m not the best basketball player like my dad was. I just kind of tried to stay on my own path and not let that stuff get to my head,” he added.

Eric Bryant, the boys’ father, was a member of the Red Devils’ IHSA Class 3A state football championship team in 1995, the runner-up gridiron team in 1996, and a senior guard on the second-place IHSA Class A basketball team in 1997.

He is currently the Hall athletic director (for the last 12 years), assistant principal, and the dean of students.

The elder Eric Bryant –they’re not senior and junior –is in multiple hall of fames for his time as a basketball coach with Hall and DePue.

Instead of using the resumes and reputations of his dad and grandfather as fuel or something to compete with, Max embraced it as family history.

He’s enjoyed playing sports for the same high school and growing up on the same streets as his family. Instead of thinking he had to recreate someone else’s story or memories, he’s made his own.

“Living in a small town has its ups and it has its downs.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

There isn’t a better time for a family photo than the IHSA Class 2A Baseball Postseason as, left to right, now-graduated Max Bryant, father and Hall Athletic Director Eric Bryant, grandfather and hall of fame coach Eric Bryant, and freshman Luke Bryant pose at the 2024 Hall Regional semifinal where the Red Devils were victorious, 3-0, over Kewanee.

It’s definitely nice to be around people who know you and who have your back,” Max said. “Everyone is willing to help someone. It’s nice to know it’s not like everyone is out to get you. Instead of that first impression like, ‘Oh, that kid is a weirdo,’ everyone is willing to help you if you need it. Everyone has open arms for everyone.

“Last year’s sectional championship baseball game is a blur to me, but a memory I’ll have forever just like this year’s playoff run. In the 2023 sectional championship, I kept asking myself, ‘Are we actually going to do this?’ I was the starting pitcher, and

I walked the first three guys and gave up a grand slam. I thought, ‘Oh great, here we go, this is how we’re going to end the season?’

“Then we kept chipping away. I thought, ‘Holy cow, we might do it.’ And then we finally got a big five- or six-run inning and it came to reality. We could win. We did win,” he said. “It’s been fun to build these memories with my friends and teammates. I’m going to have these memories forever. That team is family to me. I’d do anything for them, and I know they’d do anything for me.”

See BRYANT page 16

PAGE 15

On the surface, Luke has it a little tougher than Max because not only does he have his grandfather and father’s reputations looming over him, but also a brother three years older. But for Luke, there wasn’t any thought of what other people did – he concentrated on his own abilities.

“I really haven’t had anything to worry about. My first day of high school I was nervous because I didn’t know what I was doing. But I kind of got used to it as the first week went along,” said Luke, who played basketball and baseball his first year at Hall. “For sports, I wasn’t worried about anything. I didn’t think of any pressures or anything with my family at all.

“I’ve been playing sports my entire life and just worried about doing what I could do. We fell into sports – it wasn’t like anyone in our family forced us. People tell me when I was younger, I would sit in a diaper with a baseball bat in my hands watching TV. I always had a baseball bat in my hands,” he added.

From a diaper-wearing bat-toting baby to being a teenager in high school, Luke has kept the same thought process as Max

SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Bryant brothers not only have a grandfather, Eric Bryant, who is a hall of fame coach, and a dad, Eric Bryant, who is renowned as a great Hall athlete and the Hall athletic director for the last 12 years, but they have two aunts, Michelle Wawerski, second from left, and Bernadette Savitch, third from left, who are Hall graduates as well.

about his family and the Spring Valley community.

“I 100 percent agree with Max. If you ask anyone to do anything for you, they’ll help you out,” Luke Bryant said. “It’s the same thing for us. If anyone asks us for help, we’re there and will help them. It was easy for me to make friends here. I’ve had my group of friends since I was seven.

“I always played up a level in travel baseball, so I wasn’t always on the same teams. But this year, we’ve been all one big group again. I play on the varsity team and they’re up with me. It’s been fun having

everyone together and playing ball again,” he said.

Competition within the family arises from time to time because they’re all athletes and competitors, but instead of turning it into a negative, Luke has transformed it into an education.

Luke remembers watching the Chicago Cubs win the NLCS and the World Series in 2016 with his family.

He can vividly recall the 2018 Hall state baseball championship and sitting in the outfield with his father, watching Max’s teams. The younger brother was observing, figuring out what he needed to do to be good enough to play with them.

That’s what the father is excited about.

“It’s been a little difficult here and there with my administrator roles at Hall. Sometimes you’re not wellliked by the student body because you have to follow the rules, and you’re the person responsible for holding people accountable for those rules,” Eric Bryant said.

“The boys probably hear a lot of things from the student body that they don’t necessarily like me. I think they catch a little flack from that. With the sports stuff, me and my father, their grandfather, being in the Hall Hall of Fame, which is a great honor, it’s something I hope they don’t

have any pressure to live up to any expectations. I hope they’re enjoying their high school experience. Max just graduated. We have had our share of battles that come with it, but I think, for the most part, it has been positive.”

As a parent, Eric hopes they follow their own path – whatever that might be.

“I don’t think they have to fill anyone’s shoes. They fill their own shoes. When I played, I didn’t look at it like I was trying to fill anyone’s shoes. You just play. You do your best to help your teams win. I think that’s what Max and Luke do,” he said.

The Bryants used the same word when they described the Spring Valley community and Hall High School – pride.

The father is thrilled his sons feel the same way.

“I think the best word I can use is proud. I’m proud to be able to be a part of the Spring Valley community and to have a small hand in the greater scheme of things at Hall High School,” Eric Bryant said. “There are a lot of people who came before me and a lot of people who came after me. To just be a part of it, you get a proud feeling, and you feel lucky and appreciative that you get to be a part of it.”

Crowd-pleasing Potato Salads

These Summer Superstars Are Easy To Make

By Shannon Serpette

At every gathering and backyard cookout this summer, there is one classic dish that seems to be a party staple – potato salad. If you’re tired of bringing the same basic potato salad recipe to every get-together, here are some variations for you to try.

Creole Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds red potatoes

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 teaspoon Zatarain’s Creole seasoning

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup Zatarain’s Creole mustard

1 teaspoon sugar

1 stalk celery, chopped fine

3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

3 green onions, sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS

Cut potatoes in half or quarters, depending on their size. Put potatoes in a large pot and cover with water so the water is an inch above the potatoes. Add a few pinches of salt.

Bring water to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain water from potatoes.

Place potatoes in a large bowl and toss with vinegar and Zatarain’s seasoning. In another bowl, stir mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, and sugar together. Add mayo mixture to potatoes, stir, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in celery, eggs, green onions, and parsley. Sprinkle additional Zatarain’s seasoning on top and chill until serving.

Oregano Grilled Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1 and 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves

1 tablespoon chopped capers

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

1/2 cup pitted olives

1 and 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup parsley leaves

DIRECTIONS

Heat grill to medium, anywhere from 350 to 450 degrees, with a spot left for non-direct heat on the grill if possible. Coat potatoes in 1 tablespoon of oil. Grill flat until marks appear, which takes about 8 minutes. Turn over and move to the non-direct heat area of the grill.

Cook until soft, or about 10 minutes. Let the slices cool, and then cut them into chunks.

Whisk the remaining oil, mustard, vinegar, oregano, capers, and chili flakes in a large bowl. Gently mix in the remaining ingredients.

Loaded Baked

Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

One 5-pound bag of medium Russet potatoes

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 package of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 small onion, chopped Chives, to taste

1 and 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Wash the potatoes and poke holes in them with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until fork tender. Cool and cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Leave the skin on. Mix the mayo and sour cream together in a bowl. Add to the cool potatoes, and then gently fold in the onions, chives, bacon, and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt Pepper

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

Dressing Ingredients

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

1/4 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a large-rimmed baking sheet, toss sweet potatoes and red onion in oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake them in a single layer until tender, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before moving them to a bowl.

Make the dressing by whisking together the vinegar, mustard, honey, and spices in a small bowl. Gradually pour in the olive oil, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss sweet potatoes with the dressing, cranberries, feta, and parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Hawaiian Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

6 to 8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes

1/2 cup macaroni noodles

3 chopped hard-boiled eggs

1 large carrot

2 stalks celery

1/2 of an English cucumber

1/2 of a yellow onion

3 stalks green onion

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Cook the pasta by boiling in water for 6 to 7 minutes. Strain the noodles, keeping the water so you can use it for boiling your potatoes, peas, and eggs. Let the noodles cool.

Hard boil the eggs and place them in a bowl to cool to room temperature.

Wash the potatoes and dice them into chunks. Bring the water to a boil and let them cook until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the frozen peas to the potatoes for one or two minutes before the potatoes are done and then strain them both together. Make sure the peas and potatoes

are cool before adding other ingredients.

As the boiled ingredients cool, dice the celery, onion, and cucumber. Shred the carrot and slice the green onion. Put all these ingredients in a large bowl. Peel the eggs and dice them. Make the dressing by combining the mayonnaise, sugar, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooled potatoes, macaroni, eggs, and peas to the other ingredients in the bowl. Pour the dressing on and stir well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Mediterranean Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

1.5 pounds baby potatoes, cut in half or quartered

1/2 cup pitted green olives

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Juice of one lemon

1 garlic clove, finely minced

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS

Boil baby potatoes until tender and drain well. While still warm, toss the potatoes with green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Immediately before serving, stir in basil and feta.