Mom’s Macaroni Salad
I’ve been in a nostalgic mood this week. Remembering, fondly, the picnics and cookouts from my childhood. For summer cookouts, we always had this salad. Long enough ago that it was called macaroni salad, not pasta salad. I loved it then, and I love it now.
I won’t say I don’t make other pasta salads. I do. I make all sorts of combinations, but this is the salad that brings me home.
Mom used mostly mayo, with a little salad dressing like Spin Blend. She felt it gave the salad just a little more zing. I use straight mayo, but that part of the recipe is flexible.
She added quite a few hard cooked eggs and I think they add a richness to the dish. My dad would cut up the celery and green onions for her. Mom liked the veggies cut into a fairly small dice in this dish, and Dad had great knife skills. I love the image of them cooking together.
So here it is- a family recipe wrapped up nicely with some memories, too.
Mom’s Macaroni Salad
1 lb. uncooked pasta, shells are preferred
Salt and pepper
Mayonnaise, about 11/2 cups
3-4 ribs celery, sliced thin
4-5 green onions, trimmed and sliced thin
8-12 hard-cooked eggs, cooled and peeled
Cook pasta according to package directions, but do not overcook. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Place drained pasta in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add mayo and vegetables and stir until well mixed. You may want to add more dressing to suit your taste. Chop eggs and stir into salad. Adjust seasonings if needed and chill before serving. Serves 8-10.
Amy’s Baked Beans
This is a wonderful recipe for baked beans. I got the recipe from my friend Amy. She used to make them for almost every summer barbecue. Unlike traditional “baked” beans, this recipe starts with canned beans.
I love traditional baked beans. The ones baked all day, until the beans get tender and the flavors are perfectly blended. But I don’t always have time to make them. By starting with canned beans, it saves a whole lot of time, without compromising flavor. When I serve these beans, everyone comes back for seconds.
It’s a simple recipe, with relatively few ingredients. It can be baked in the oven, or done in a crock pot.
Super easy and very tasty.
Amy’s Baked Beans*
6 c. chopped onion
1 lb. ground meat
1 lb. bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 cans tomato soup
3 can butter beans, rinsed and drained
Mix onion, meat and bacon in skillet and cook until onions are translucent. Drain off excess fat. Place in Dutch oven with remaining ingredients and cook, covered, in a 350 degree oven for 90 minutes.
Note: You can also cook in a crock pot on high for 4 hours or longer. Uncover, for awhile, if you like, for thicker sauce.
*This recipe has been in the McWilliam family for several generations. They are also called Grandma McWilliam’s Beans and before that Aunt Elizabeth’s Beans.
