fingerlings vinaigrette with sieved eggs and pickled celery pg. 59

Before I begin with the recipe, I have multiple confessions to make: 1. This recipe was prepared on 8/27. I was having difficulty transferring photos from my phone to PC, but I got it now and 2. I didn't have fingerlings so we substituted new brown potatoes that I picked up from the farmer's market.

You might have noticed that I used "we" in the preceding sentence. When I picked Jonah (10) up from school, I told him that he could help with a project. He was interested when I told him it was a cooking project for a blog...and when I showed him the blog, he was very excited! So, for the recipe -

First, Jonah pickled the celery. He was willing to do this and taste it along the way even though he admitted that he doesn't like celery.

With the celery pickling in the fridge, we scrubbed the potatoes, taking a bit of the skin off as we went and put them in a pot to boil.

Jonah carefully measured the vinaigrette ingredients.

We drained the potatoes, mashed them a little & drizzled the vinaigrette over the top while they were still warm. I think this is essential because the warm spuds absorb the flavors ever so much better than if they were chilly. Jonah sieved the eggs (he learned a few new words and how to spell them and use them in a sentence...I love learning as a by-product of doing.) Each potato got a careful topping of egg. He finished by sprinkling on the pickled celery. Neither of us was crazy about the pickled celery so we agreed to only put it on half. 

Then I spied a leek in daughter Mary Beth's kitchen. Jonah and I concluded that a little leek browned in a little butter would enhance the looks and the taste. Jonah served the dish to his family (Mary Beth, Steven & Paige (12) for dinner. 

OK, folks, 'fess up, how did you like it?