It seems the potato salad was doomed from the start.

A faux pas led to over-boiled, mushy potatoes. But we thought they might be salvageable after an overnight stay in the refrigerator.

The next morning, they were still mushier than they should have been, but usable. There was hope for a still-successful potato salad.

But there seemed to be too few potatoes for the 30-something people we were going to feed. So we prepped and boiled the rest of the tubers we had in the house. Needing them to cool quickly, I put them in the chest freezer.

While waiting for them to cool, I cooked up the other ingredients. I mixed the "sauce" that would finish it all off. And then I went to sit in on a camp session.

Coming back, I checked the freezer. Potatoes were nice and cool. Ready to combine all the ingredients, I strolled into my kitchen.

One of the housekeeping ladies had come in while I was out. Rebecca wonderfully washed dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and mopped the floor. In doing so, she must've moved my bowls of tater salad goodness, because I couldn't find any of them. No potatoes. No sauce. No bacon. I looked everywhere, including inside the microwave and stove. Nothing.

No Rebecca either.

When we finally tracked her down, she sheepishly held up a grocery bag...full of all my potato salad ingredients.

Oh well. It wasn't meant to be.