Grandma Hedrick's Macaroni Salad

 

Picture if you will, a petite woman with a crown of gray white curls, rosy round cheeks, a quick smile and sparkling eyes. She is dressed from head to toe in polyester, red and white plaid pants and a collared shirt of anything that does NOT match the pants.  She is bustling around the kitchen, chattering away, cooking, canning, preserving and most of all feeding.  A table FULL of every kind of sweet and dilled pickled vegetable you can imagine, a few salads (always a jello salad in the mix), bread and butter, cooked veggies and at the very least, two kinds of meat/fish.  Dessert?  dessert is pie, cake, cookies....not either or...ALL of the above! Sometimes you could not get your plate on the table for the amount of offerings put before you.

This is how I remember my Grandma Hedrick and ask anyone who knew her, this is NO exaggeration, OK, when she went to church or a social event she did usually have on a matching polyester pant suit.  My Grandma Hedrick was a honorary grandma, a good friend of our family, loved and cherished, her and Grandpa Hedrick were a main stay in my life and in the town of Colville, WA where I spent six years of my childhood.  There is a even a Mountain named for them, HOW COOL IS THAT?!  

With summer in full swing, comes barbecues and picnics, I start to crave one of grandma's staple fixes, the simple scrumptious macaroni salad she made.  I don't think we ever had a picnic in the park where there was not a GINORMOUS yellow Tupperware bowl of grandma's macaroni salad.  Easy peasy to make and will hold up in the fridge for as long as your family allows it to last, which trust me, won't be long. 

The salad is well rounded in flavor, fresh, sweet, tang, bite and richness, each component coming together to create a simple bowl of small town Americana and for me, memories of one of the most amazing cooks I have ever known, one of the many amazing women who taught me how to cook.  I hope you enjoy this recipe!

What goes in it:

1 - 16 oz. Box Ditalini pasta *
1/2 - C. Miracle Whip
1/2 - C. Mayonnaise
4 - T. Sweet pickle relish
2 - Celery stalks w/leaves, diced
1/2 - Red onion, diced and soaked *
1 - C. Cheddar Cheese, cut into small cubes (1/4 inch)
Salt and Pepper to taste.

How you do it:

1. Boil pasta per directions, don't forget to salt the water.
2. Drain pasta and let cool.  DO NOT RINSE!  Don't worry, when you add your mayo and miracle whip, the pasta will loosen up.  
3. Add in all your prepped ingredients.
4. Chow down! (You can chill it if you want, but it is not necessary)

* I used Ditalini pasta because I think it works well with all the other components, grandma used to use elbow macaroni.
* After you dice your onion, soak it in cold water for at least 10 minutes.  This will cut some of the onion BITE. 
* If you want to amp things up, toss in some bay shrimp or crab, you won't be sorry.

Serves: 12
I have no idea on the calories, sorry folks 

Recipe and photo's property of Cobwebs To Cookies.  It makes me happy when people share, I only ask that you source me when you do!  Thanks so much ~ Stacey!