Potato Salad with Bacon

June 2026. I am 67, retired, and the Memphis summer wraps around Orange Mound with its annual ferocity. The smoker calls louder in summer, and I answer, because answering the smoker is answering the part of myself that is most alive.

Tyrone came for dominoes, bringing his competitive spirit and his cheating heart, and the evening was loud with the brotherly combat that is our love language.

Baked beans on the smoker — navy beans, brown sugar, molasses, hickory smoke. The simplest side, elevated by fire into something that belongs at every table. I make them the way I make everything: with patience, with the understanding that the smoke does the real work and my job is just to not rush it.

I sat by the smoker in the evening and thought about the chain: Clyde to me, me to whoever's next. The fire doesn't stop. The tradition doesn't break. The smoke rises. And I am here, 67 years old, tending what was given to me, passing what I can. That is the work. That is the whole work.

The small retired-USPS-postal-worker life is in its small ninth year now. The small thirty-five-year-mail-carrier-career had ended at retirement in 2017. The small pension and the small Social Security and the small Beatrice’s small income from the substitute-teaching are the small fixed-income household-financial-shape.

Rosetta (the small wife, married 1984) has been the small life-partnership through the small forty-two-years. The small Memphis-house has been the small home since the small middle-1980s. The small Earl-and-Rosetta-kitchen continues to be the small daily-center.

The four children: Walter Jr. (the small oldest), Denise (passed in 2010 from sickle-cell-disease-complications; the small permanent-wound), Marcus (the small third-child), Charlie (the small youngest). The small grandchildren are the small ongoing-joy. The small Uncle Clyde mentorship had shaped Earl through the small early-life.

The small backyard BBQ-pit is the small Memphis-cooking-engine. The small Memphis-style dry-rub-ribs, the small pulled-pork, the small brisket. The small Big Bob Gibson’s white-sauce influence runs through the small Earl-recipes. The small annual Memphis-in-May contest had been the small Earl-attendance until the small Denise-loss in 2010 had changed the small May-rhythm.

The small Mason Temple Church of God in Christ congregation is the small Sunday-worship. The small forty-eight-year-membership has built the small church-family. The small Pastor-Williams has been the small spiritual-leader through the small DeShana-loss and the small retirement and the small fifty-and-sixty-year-life-stages.

The small Memphis-summer-heat-and-humidity is the small grilling-weather constant. The small outdoor-cooking-from-March-through-November dominates the small kitchen-rotation. The small indoor-cooking is the small December-February rotation when the small weather is too cold for the small outdoor pit.

The small Sunday-publishing-rhythm of the recipe blog continues to be the small organizing-spine of the small week. The small Sunday-cooking happens in the small late-morning-to-early-afternoon window. The small photographing of the finished dish happens at the small three-PM kitchen-light-window. The small writing-up of the recipe happens at the small four-PM workspace at the kitchen-counter. The small final-edit happens at the small five-PM. The small post publishes at seven PM. The small ritual has been running for years.

The small recipe-development-philosophy continues to be the small small-batch-test-then-publish approach. The small first cook of a small new recipe happens on the small Saturday afternoon. The small adjustments are noted in the small kitchen-notebook. The small second cook happens Sunday with the small adjustments incorporated. The small Sunday-cook is the small version that gets photographed and published. The small two-test process catches the small recipe-flaws before they reach the small reader.

The small kitchen-equipment-inventory has the small key-pieces that show up in nearly every recipe. The small heavy-bottomed Dutch oven for the small braises. The small twelve-inch cast-iron skillet for the small sears and the small pan-roasts. The small half-sheet baking-pans for the small roasted vegetables and the small cookies. The small wooden-spoon-collection in the small ceramic-pitcher on the counter. The small chef’s-knife and the small paring-knife and the small bread-knife that are the small daily-tools.

The small grocery-shopping rhythm runs through the small Tuesday-evening trip and the small Saturday-morning top-off. The small Tuesday-trip is the small weekly-stock-up for the small staples and the small produce and the small protein. The small Saturday-trip is the small quick-fill for whatever the small Sunday-recipe requires that is not already in the small pantry. The small two-trip-per-week pattern keeps the small grocery-bill manageable and the small food-waste low.

The small meal-planning happens on the small Sunday-evening for the small week-ahead. The small dinners are mapped out across the small Monday-through-Saturday. The small repeating-meals are slotted in (the small pasta-Monday, the small taco-Tuesday or similar pattern). The small new-recipes are slotted for the small Wednesday-or-Thursday for the small variety. The small planning ahead reduces the small daily what-are-we-making-for-dinner stress.

The small weekday-cooking is the small efficient-and-fast mode. The small Sunday-cooking is the small slow-and-careful mode. The small two-modes serve the small two-different-needs. The small weekday-cooking has to be on the small table within forty-five minutes of getting home from the small work-or-school-pickup. The small Sunday-cooking can take three hours and benefit from every minute of that time.

The small recipe-archive on the small blog has grown to many hundreds of recipes over the years. The small archive is the small searchable-resource for the small weekday-meal-planning. The small reader-feedback in the small comments-section helps refine the small recipes over time. The small note-from-a-reader who tried a small substitution that worked better than the small original gets incorporated into the small recipe-revision.

The small Sunday-cooking-and-writing rhythm is the small thing that has held across years of life-changes and family-events and small ordinary-weekday-disruptions. The small constant is the small Sunday. The small constant is the small recipe. The small constant is the small posting-at-seven-PM ritual. The small constant is the small reader on the other end of the small post who is going to read the small recipe and try the small recipe in the small reader’s own kitchen.

The baked beans were doing their slow work on the smoker that evening, and I realized I’d been so focused on the smoke and the dominoes that I’d nearly forgotten how the whole spread comes together — it’s never just one thing on a Memphis summer night, it’s the whole table. This Potato Salad with Bacon is the side I keep coming back to when the pit is running, because the bacon brings its own smoke to the party and the creaminess balances all that heat and char. Uncle Clyde used to say a good side dish does half the work of the main, and this one never lets me down.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes (plus 1 hour chilling) | Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
8 slices thick-cut bacon
3 large eggs, hard-boiled and roughly chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for boiling
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

Boil the potatoes. Place cubed potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold salted water by at least an inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer and cook 12–15 minutes, until just fork-tender but not falling apart. Drain well and spread on a sheet pan to cool and steam-dry for 10 minutes.
Cook the bacon. While potatoes cook, lay bacon strips in a cold skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, then crumble into roughly 1/2-inch pieces once cool.
Make the dressing. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar, and sugar until smooth. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
Combine. Add the cooled potatoes, chopped eggs, celery, red onion, and pickle relish to the bowl. Fold gently with a rubber spatula until the potatoes are evenly coated, taking care not to mash them. Fold in three-quarters of the crumbled bacon.
Chill and finish. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to come together. Before serving, taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Transfer to a serving dish, top with the remaining bacon, a dusting of smoked paprika, and the fresh parsley.

Nutrition (per serving)

Potato Salad with Bacon — The Side That Knows Its Place at the Table