Macaroni Salad

Yes, this is THE macaroni salad...

Macaroni Salad

1 lb (16oz dry) salad roni or small shells, cooked
12 hard boiled eggs (I grate them into the salad, or you can chop fine)
¾ to 1 cup finely chopped celery
2 bunches (about 12) green onion, chopped fine
2 tsp salt

Combine in large bowl. Add dressing and serve. Keep refrigerated. This makes a large batch and is easily halved. (The secret is to mix it while it’s still hot so the flavors blend.)

Dressing:

2 cups Best Foods Mayo (Seriously, Best foods makes all the difference in taste.)
8 Tbsp Sweet pickle juice (yes, just the juice)
4 Tbsp sugar

Mix well and add to salad.

It may seem soupy at first but the pasta will soak up the excess soon enough. If it needs to sit for a day then you might want to make a little extra dressing to mix in later.

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

1 cup mayo (Best Foods)
¼ cup sugar
2 T vinegar (I like white)
8 cups broccoli florets
1 cup chopped orange segments (you can use 11oz can mandarin oranges, drained)
½ cup diced red onion
6 to 8 bacon strips, cooked & crumbled (I think it’s about a half a pound)
½ cup raisins (I’ve used craisins too and they’re good, but the raisins are better)

In a small bowl, whisk mayo, sugar, and vinegar. Can make ahead and cover and refrigerate.
In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients and add dressing. Cover and refrigerate for an hour if you have the time. It helps the flavors blend.

This is easily doubled.

Side Dishes - December 2009

I suppose late is better than not at all. I suppose. It’s December. Wow. I am trying to remember all the lovely things I was going to cook in December. Where did the time go that I was going to do it in? My heart was in the right place, but my body was elsewhere.

Our club theme for December is Side Dishes. They really make a meal a meal for me. My husband never used to be much of a meat eater (we had been married 20 years before I ever saw him order a steak in a restaurant), but the “fixin’s” that came with the meat were favorites for him. The vegetables, beans, fruits, the salads, the breads...oh my! Without all that stuff it’s just a hunk of meat on your plate, right?

We have specific months for fruits and salads in our recipe club, but still, they could be added to our side dish month. I think Thanksgiving and Christmas are fantastic times for side dishes since so many are hot and you can have an excess of them without it looking strange. We have 4 different veggie side dishes at Thanksgiving dinner, and the meal just wouldn’t be the same without them. Those are not including the fruit salad and the jello (yes, both). That makes 6 plus rolls, stuffing and gravy!

I was in Costco the other day and they were passing out samples of mashed butternut squash. I was shocked by all the people walking by and asking how you cooked and seasoned it. I kind of had to reassess how much I’ve learned from my mom and sisters and didn’t realize it. So here are a few of my favorite (and easy) ways to cook some basics.

· Winter squash
· Sweet potatoes
· Dilled Carrots
· Spiced Corn
· Jello Salad


Once again, some of these old winter favorites are the “no recipe” types:

· Green beans
For traditional meals at my house, the green beans are always cooked with bacon for seasoning. (Can you even say "bacon fat" without gaining weight?)

· Mashed potatoes
As for mashed potatoes, I've read a lot of variations on this but my favorite way to season them is with butter, milk, salt and onion salt.


If you would like to email (or comment) back with some of your favorite ways to cook or season simple homey dishes, maybe I can post them. Merry Christmas!!

Winter Squash

Winter Squash

(I have used a couple of different kinds of winter squash, but I prefer butternut.)

Butternut squash, *peeled, seeded and cooked until fork tender.
Butter (I’m guessing here, but maybe ¼ cup to about 2 lbs squash?)
Brown sugar (1/2 cup to 2 lbs? Start light, you can always add more but you can’t take it back out)
Salt to taste (not much, maybe a ¼ to ½ tsp to 2 lbs? It shouldn’t taste salty. The salt should enliven the flavor of the squash.)

Drain squash well if boiling it in water. Mash just as you would with potatoes using a masher or an electric mixer. Add soft (or melted) butter, mix in well. Add brown sugar and salt. Mix in well and taste to correct seasonings. That’s it! So easy.

*Big hint #1: I ALWAYS use rubber gloves to peel and cut butternut squash. Aside from keeping your hands from turning orange, the squash leaves a film on your hands that you literally need to peel off skin to remove. Yikes. I buy the medical ones at Costco or Sam’s. They come in boxes of 500 and I go through at least 1000 a year. They are great for working with raw meat too. I peel the squash with a knife since you need to peel quite a bit off to have just the tender orange squash.)

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes
I know there are lots of yummy recipes and methods out there for cooking sweet potatoes. Here are a couple of our simple family favorites.

Sweet Potato Mash:
Peel, wash and cut potatoes. Boil in salted water until fork-tender. Drain well. Mash. Add butter, brown sugar, dash of salt, and cinnamon (nutmeg too if you like) to taste. Yum. You can also use pumpkin pie spice or maple syrup.

Candied Yams:
Boil the sweet potatoes (yes, they are the same thing) and peel, or peel first then boil, until fork-tender. Slice cooked potatoes. Fry in butter/brown sugar mix with a little salt until well glazed—turning as needed. You can do these ahead of time and keep them warm in a casserole dish in the oven.

Baked Sweet Potatoes:
Bake and eat them just like regular potatoes, but season with butter, sugar or brown sugar, and a little cinnamon.

Dilled Carrots

Dilled Carrots
(Family favorite)

Peeled and sliced carrots (or you can use baby carrots. If you have the time though, the whole carrots are worth the effort for the flavor. It doesn’t matter what size the slices are as long as they are fairly even so they cook the same.)
Butter
Brown Sugar
Salt
Dried Dill Weed

Cook carrots in salted water (just to the carrot line, they don’t need to be covered in water like potatoes). Drain very well. Melt butter in a large frying pan and mix in brown sugar and salt (start light with the salt and add more later). Let come to a boil. Add cooked carrots and cook, stirring and turning until glazed. Add dill weed (I like quite a bit) and continue cooking until carrots are very well glazed. Taste to balance the salt and sugar. Easy and soooo good.

Spiced Corn

Spiced Corn

¼ c butter, softened or melted--depending on use
½ tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp salt

Either mix together and spread over cooked corn on the cob, or mix into drained, cooked corn. This is probably enough for about 4 servings.

Jello Salad

Jello Salad
(This jello salad is like those “choose your own ending” books. Use your imagination on the flavor combinations.)

1 (8oz) Cool Whip
2 cups sour cream
1 large (6oz) Jell-o, any flavor
*Fruit (a cup or two, it’s up to you)

Combine Cool Whip and sour cream. Add dry jello and drained fruit. Put in serving dish. Let it set for a couple of hours in the fridge (although I’ve made it and served it within 30 min. and it still worked).

*Some acidic fruits don’t work well in jello unless they are canned. Pineapple, oranges, etc… But apples and bananas are great fresh. You might want to add chopped nuts to some combinations too.

**When January rolls around and we are all dieting again you could also try this with:
lite cool whip
fat-free sour cream
sugar-free jello
fruit

Oranges and Cream

Oranges and Cream

Oranges, peeled and cut in chunks (I use seedless)
Whipped Cream (Prepared or *homemade)

Simple and delish!
(*My homemade whipped cream: 1 cup whipping cream, 2 to 3 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla ext., ½ tsp lemon ext. (opt.). Whip cream to half desired thickness and then add sugar and vanilla (and lemon if using). Continue whipping until done. This is easily doubled.

Cooked Apples

Cooked Apples

Fresh apples
butter
brown sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg (optional)
flour
dash of salt

Peel and slice apples. Put about equal amounts of brown sugar and butter in a non-stick frying pan. Melt butter and blend sugar down to a think and bubbly liquid. Add apples, sprinkle with cinnamon, a little nutmeg, and a touch of salt. With a spatula, saute’ apples in brown sugar mix and spices until they start to soften and get translucent. Add some flour (a tablespoon or two depending on how many apples you have) and mix it in with spatula. The flour should thicken the sauce until it’s like apple pie filling. When it’s cooked down to your taste, serve. Fantastic alongside fall and holiday meals.