 Selecting potatoes. Use low-starch red potatoes that remain firm when cooked. Starchy potatoes absorb too much water and make mushy salads. Newer potatoes are best—you should be able to rub off some skin of an uncooked potato with your thumb (this isn't easy with some supermarket potatoes that have been waxed to look better). So that potatoes cook evenly, select potatoes of roughly the same size.
Cooking potatoes—boiling. Wash, but don't cut or peel; this is a general rule—there are exceptions. Then cover with cold water, bring to low boil, and cook the potatoes about 12-15 minutes. Test for "doneness" by piercing a potato with a paring knife; it should slide to the center with only very slight resistance. Then drain and cool. If they are to be peeled, peel and slice while still warm.
Cooking potatoes—pressure cooker. If you have a pressure cooker, this is the time to use it. Pressure-cooked potatoes don't absorb any water so the cooked potatoes are ideally firm and tender. Rinse potatoes, then cook whole with their peels for about 10 minutes (medium size). Adjust cooking time for smaller or larger sizes.
Adding dressings. If the recipe calls for a non-mayonnaise dressing such as vinegar or lemon juice, drizzle or mix the dressing into the potatoes while they are still warm so that the dressing is absorbed by the potatoes. The same is true for mayonnaise-based dressings, but you may want to let the potatoes cool a bit more.
Eggs. If a recipe calls for 'boiled' eggs, cook them the easy way. Put eggs in a heavy saucepan and cover with water. Cover pan and bring to boil, then immediately turn off heat. Leave eggs in pan for 13-15 minutes. Remove eggs, place them briefly in cold water, then peel and slice or chop. In reality, the eggs aren't boiled—just cooked. Perfectly.
Garlic. The bite of raw garlic can be easily modified by either toasting whole cloves in a skillet or by boiling the garlic cloves in water. To toast garlic: Put unpeeled cloves in a dry skillet and heat on medium for several minutes. Remove cloves, let cool, then peel and mince or chop. To boil garlic: Put unpeeled cloves in boiling water for several minutes. Remove cloves, let cool, then peel and mince or chop. If you're cooking eggs for potato salad, simply put the garlic in with the eggs for a few minutes. Toasting and boiling soften the garlic cloves and 'sweeten' them.
Parsley. For best flavor, use flat-leaf (Italian) parsley. For decoration, use curly parsley. I suspect that folks who claim they don't like parsley have never tried flat-leaf parsley. The difference is night and day.
'Resting' time. Potato salads improve with time. Allow at least an hour for the flavors to blend. Overnight is even better, especially if dried herbs are used.
Make your own mayonnaise. There are some very good commercial mayonnaise versions such as Cains and Hellmann's. To whip up a batch of your own, do this:
Put 2 eggs, 4 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard, dash of paprika and pinch of salt into blender. (For a garlicky mayonnaise, add a couple of toasted garlic cloves). Process on High until all ingredients are well blended. Slowly add 1-1/2 cups olive oil to the mixture while blending. If the mayonnaise gets too thick, add a little more lemon juice.
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