Classic Macaroni Salad

Happy Independence Day, y'all!

(No, we're not Texans, but I still love saying it.)

We are celebrating today the "right" way.  Swimming, fireworks, hot dogs and hamburgers (with homemade hamburger buns), homemade ice cream and my favorite macaroni salad.  How could it get any better than that, y'all?  (Oops, sorry.  It just kind of slipped right in there.)

Ours is chilling in the fridge as I'm writing this and I can't wait to dig right into it.  I might have to take a nibble or two while Paco and the kids are in the pool.  I totally will, too.

I love macaroni salad.  I like it simple and traditional, thankyouverymuch.  I know alot of foodies out there like to jazz it up and change it all up, but to me that's just downright un-American.  Macaroni salad isn't supposed to be all fancy-schmancy where you can't even recognize it.  I know, that makes me way not cool, but I'm okay with that.

So without further ado, here's our family's favorite macaroni salad that I found last summer over at allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup grated carrot 
• 2 tablespoons chopped pimento peppers (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion, celery, green pepper, carrot, pimentos and macaroni. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving, but preferably overnight.                

*Um, yeah, we don't add the pimentos.  Sorry, but I just like to keep it as simple as possible.  Plus the thought of trying to sneak those past the kids makes me want to cry.  

I hope your day is filled to the brim and then overflowing with love for our country and the wonderful blessings it's given us... especially macaroni salad!

What are some of your favorite 4th of July recipes?