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?

Breakfast Quiche

Paco loves Jamie, especially when I make him things like Breakfast Quiche.  He is a quiche-loving manly-man.

Last Father's Day, I made him this particular quiche for breakfast and he cried tears of joy.  Tears of joy, I promise.

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
• 12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

• Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 5 minutes; remove foil. Bake 5 minutes longer; remove from the oven and let cool.
• Sprinkle bacon, cheeses and onion over the crust. In a bowl, beat eggs, cream, salt, sugar and cayenne; pour into the crust. Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

*Of course, for ease and convenience, you could use a prepared pie crust.  But where's the fun in that?  So if you have the time, try it with a homemade pie crust.  

Notice the lack of veggies.  Perfect for Father's Day around here. 

Yup, I'm married to a quiche-lovin' manly-man. 

P-Dub's Cinnamon Bread

Remember last week when I was aghast that I hadn't shared the famous Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond's Cinnamon Swirl Bread with you?

I'm still aghast, I tell you.  Simply aghast.

I made five of these loaves last week.  Five.  I made them to sell at a local homeschool sale and even though I had made it five times and should be absolutely sick at the sight of them, they stilled smelled wonderful and made my tummy growl.  Thank goodness I sold all of them!

This is definitely a staple around our home, especially since breads like these are so stinkin' expensive at the grocery store.

P-Dub's recipe is the hand-kneadin' way, which I love doing.  I love the rhythm of it, the feeling of solidarity with our pioneer mothers.  Truly, I do.  When I have time.

When I don't, however, I cheat and use the bread machine.  I would have made a lousy pioneer woman.

(this is her picture, of course.  I'm not a pioneer, nor am I a photographer.)

I will give you her recipe and then note the bread machine modifications afterwards.

Get ready for your life to be changed.  Oh, yes.  Your life will be changed.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk
• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• 2-1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 3-1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
• Egg And Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
• Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don't boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it's warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you're going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool. Slice and serve, or make cinnamon toast or French toast with it.

**Bread Machine Modifications**

*I usually have softened butter on hand, so I don't worry about melting it.  I do however warm up the milk.

*Make sure when using a bread machine that you add the wet ingredients in the machine before all the dry ingredients.  The order of the ingredients will have to be moved around.

*Add the yeast to the bread machine last, as recommended by all bread machine manufacturers.  I'm not sure if that's the case for just dough, though.  At any rate, I add the yeast last and that works out just fine.

Other than that, I do everything else after the dough making just the same.  And oh.my.goodness., my life is so much better because of it.

The End.

Morning Mix-Up

We love the grand American tradition called "breakfast for dinner".  Really, who doesn't?    I've started putting it on our menu every couple of weeks or so because:

a)  It's so completely, utterly, and beautifully easy.
b) My kids call it opposite day when we do that and sometimes it's all about making those little things into big things, ya know?
c) You can't get too much cheaper than a dozen eggs.

Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner folks.

This time when I made it, I also served fruit salad (oh, be still my heart. how I love thee, the wonderful concoction dubbed the summer fruit salad.) and The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

Wait.

You say I haven't shared that recipe here yet?  Ack!  I much remedy that within the next few days!  It's an absolute staple around here.  That will be shared here soon, you can depend upon it.

Back to our Morning Mix-Up recipe.  This was another one of those recipes I found from The Taste of Home when we were first married and I was more of a fledgling cook.  (Not that I'm super great now, but I do know a wee bit more now than then, thank goodness.)

recipe courtesy of Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
• 1 cup chopped fully cooked ham
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil  (I used EVOO)
• 6 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• Minced chives

Directions

• In a large skillet, saute potatoes, ham and onion in oil for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, beat eggs, salt and pepper. Add to the skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set. Remove from the heat and gently stir in cheese.
• Spoon onto a serving platter; sprinkle with chives. 

Yield: 4 servings.

*Of course, for our family, we had to double it.  We don't eat like a family of four anymore.  What  did that even look like anyway?  I can't remember.  This would also be awesome with bacon or sausage - breakfast or Italian, or Mexican chorizo.  Oh, man.  My mouth is watering.  

Peachy White Sangria

Even though we're not really big drinkers, Paco saw this recipe in his Food Network and knew we had to try it, for Mother's Day, no less.  Should I be concerned that he wanted alcohol on Mother's Day?  Hmmm, I must think this through.

Isn't it so pretty?  Really, it's just a pretty as it tastes.

Peachy White Sangrias

Ingredients:

1 part Peach Schnapps
3 parts white wine
1 part carbonated water
Chopped peaches (and/or other seasonal fruit)

Directions:

Mix schnapps and wine in a glass or pitcher.  Add ice and stir gently.  Top with chopped fruit and carbonated water.  Kiss your hubby sweetly for making you such a treat on a holiday and contemplate now what you have to make for him for Father's Day...

Easy, huh?

(Paco's mom~Rosie, Jamie's mom~Robin,

Jamie's~G-ma Shirley, Jamie, Jamie's sister~Jackie)

The result?  Five happy mamas!

Happy Mother's Day to us!!

Tomato-Stuffed Avocados

We both think that this might be our most favorite summer salad.  Oh my goodness, it is so good!!

It's perfect as a salad or a side dish for just about any meal.  This was another of the dishes that we made for Mother's Day and, as usual, there were no leftovers.

Tomato-Stuffed Avocados

Ingredients:

2 plum/Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4 thinly sliced red onion

1 t. fresh basil leaves, chopped

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

2 medium, ripe avocados, halved and pitted

2 t. lime juice

Directions:

In a large bowl, gently toss tomatoes, onion, basil, salt and pepper.  Spoon into avocado halves; drizzle with lime juice.  Serve immediately.

*Actually, the tomato, onion, basil mixture is good enough to eat on it's own.  That is if you don't mind onion breath.  If you do, well, pretend you don't and enjoy anyway!

Let us know what you think, onion breath and all!

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Several months ago, I talked sweet Paco into buying me yet another cookbook. Okay, there may have been some fluttering of my eyelashes and a pretty puh-lease in there somewhere, but if there was, I'll never admit to it. End of story.

The reason I wanted this particular cookbook was because of the very first recipe I came across as I was flipping through. I knew that it had to get in my belly and the sooner the better. Mother's Day presented the perfect opportunity. It's light, it's fruity, it's summer-y.

Yup, pretty perfect.

Are you ready?  Okay....  Go!

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

2 kiwi, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples, cored, peeled and diced
1/2 lb. of raspberries (or if you want to have mercy on your hubby by not sending him to the store and using the blackberries you already have in the fridge)



16 oz. package of strawberries, hulled and diced
1 c. plus 2 T. sugar, divided
1 T. brown sugar, packed
3 T. strawberry preserves
1 to 2 T. cinnamon
flour tortillas cut into wedges
butter-flavored non-stick vegetable spray

Directions:

Combine all fruit in large bowl; mix in 2 T. sugar, brown sugar and strawberry preserves.  Cover and chill for at least 15 minutes.

Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon.  Arrange tortilla wedges in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet; coat chips with vegetable spray.  Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.  Repeat with remaining tortilla wedges; let cool.  Serve chips with chilled fruit mixture.  Makes 10-15 servings.

(before the horde of children attacked it)

*We had things in the oven already, so I just fryed the tortilla wedges in hot oil.  I would have preferred the baking method, but a girl has gotta do what a girl has gotta do.

Just be sure to grab some before your five children go at it.  Oh, you don't have five children?  Hmmm.  I guess that means more for you?