Moms Magnificent Macaroni Salad

With exception to Thanksgiving and Christmas, if there was a event requiring my mother to bring a food dish she was bringing macaroni salad. It was always requested by those hold the food event and if they were concerned she would bring anything but the salad they would sheepishly request it. Like that was ever an option. The salad was easy enough to make for one person, ten persons, or a hundred persons. And yes, there was once a summer family reunion with over a hundred people and my mom made bowls and bowls of her salad. It was actually one of the few times she could play with variations and get feedback.

Ingredients:

16 oz Ditali noodles, cooked in heavily salted water to al dente

10 hard boiled eggs, diced

1 cup hamburger pickles, diced

1 Tablespoon finely yellow diced onion

1 tablespoon Nature Seasoning

1 teaspoon ground yellow mustard

1.5 cup Miracle Whip

Instructions:

To a large bowl, mix whisk pickles, onion, seasoning, mustard, and mayo. To sauce mix in well drained noodles. Allow noodle mixture to chill over night.

Scaled for Likability: Great

Because I am an adult, I no longer eat Mom's Magnificent Macaroni Salad by itself straight from the bowl in the fridge. I tell myself I need to be more healthy and serve macaroni salad with a side of greens. One cup (no, I lie its more like two cups) of salad served over a bed of arugula is absolutely wonderful. The bitter of the greens balances the sweet from the mayo, pickles offer a lovely crunch, the greens the color, and macaroni the happiness.

Lasting two or three days in the fridge, Mom's salad can be served with all things summer: hot dogs, burgers, sausage either cooked on the pit or boiled, any and all BBQ meats (is especially tasty when paired with sweet sauce BBQ instead of spicy), and of course fried fish. Nothing says summer better than Mom's Magnificent Macaroni Salad!

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Cold Corn Bean Salsa

Nothing says junk food like chips and salsa, chips and cheese dip, chips and guacamole. Over the years I have perfected my salsa. It's good on tacos, on nachos, on enchiladas, and of course on chips. Just because I have the best salsa doesn't mean I don't like to try new salsa's like this Best Black Bean and Corn Salsa. Modifications Made: Shoepeg corn was replaced with one can of standard yellow corn with no salt added. Petite diced tomatoes were reduced by half. Italian dressing was swapped for half teaspoon comino, half teaspoon of chili powder, and two tablespoon of fresh lime juice. Salsa was made and let rest for two hours before eating. Scaled for Likability: Good Salsa this was not. Good it was however. It was too much for chips by themselves but was great served over a soft beef taco.

Eating Waffles

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