Mom's Macaroni Salad

This is my Mom's 'go to' Macaroni Salad we've had at countless BBQ's, birthday parties, Thanksgivings, Christmases and get-togethers. It's super delicious and despite having it throughout the year, it reminds me of Summer. It's the perfect Summer BBQ Salad. It's cool and crunchy and goes great with burgers and dogs. I love to have it the next day for breakfast, if there's ever any leftovers. 

It's a simple recipe with nothing too surprising as far as macaroni salads go but there are a few secrets to what makes this one so good. 

Number 1. Use Best Foods or Hellman's Mayonnaise. Do not use Miracle Whip or even the low fat Mayo...I wouldn't use any other brand of mayo for that matter. It just won't do. I've had macaroni salads that have used both substitutes and other brands of Mayo and they are not good...in my opinion. :) So use Best Foods mayonnaise. 

Number 2. Use Clausen Kosher Dill Pickles. Or in this case, since I found a recipe for crunchy homemade pickles that are just like Clausen Dill Pickles, I used my own. Crunchy, garlicky pickles makes this macaroni salad great. 

Number 3. And lastly, use hard boiled eggs that are perfectly hard boiled. Over cooked eggs will have a greenish hue haloing the yolk. Yuck!
These eggs are perfectly cooked. (They were so beautiful I had to take pictures.) One might think, how hard is it to boil an egg? Well it's not hard to boil an egg, it is easy to overcook them. So here is how to boil a beautiful egg. 

Hard Cooked Eggs

Place eggs in a single layer in a pot and cover with enough cold water so that the water is about an inch above the eggs. Heat pot and bring to a boil. You must watch these eggs to know when the boiling begins. Once water begins to boil, boil the eggs for no longer than 2 minutes. (set a timer) Turn off heat and let eggs sit in the hot water for 15 minutes. (Again, set a timer, because you will forget) 
Pour off hot water and replace with cold water, letting it overflow in the sink to cool down the pot and the eggs. Let sit in the cool water for a few minutes then drain water and refrigerate the eggs until completely cold. Tap to crack shell and peel.

Almost forgot, I've seen all over Pinterest to add some baking soda to the water before boiling to help with peeling of the shells and it worked well. 

Mom's Macaroni Salad
Serves 8

2 cups Ditalini pasta, cooked
8-10 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped 
2-3 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
5-6 Clausen Kosher dill pickle halves, chopped  (I used my homemade pickles here...see picture)
1-1 1/2 cups Best Foods Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper (to taste)



Cook pasta, rinse with cold water, drain and cool in refrigerator while you chop all the veggies and peel and chop the hard boiled eggs. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. (Note: my Mom usually chops her ingredients a little smaller than I do, I keep mine bigger so my kids can pick out the stuff they don't like, so feel free to do a small dice on your ingredients if you'd like a more uniform appearance.)

Stir in mayonnaise. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and return to refrigerator to let the flavors meld, minimum 1 hour. When you pull it out to serve, the pasta will have absorbed some the mayonnaise so you may have to add additional mayonnaise to get a more creamy consistency.