Grandma's Potato Salad

In honor of my grandmother who would've been 81 today (her first birthday to be missed), I'm sharing her delicious potato salad. I made it on Mother's Day as a remembrance and today I want to share it with you. Grandma was a wonderful cook! She could put together a great meal quickly and she loved trying new recipes. I'm thankful to have gotten to enjoy her amazing food throughout my life. Love you, Grandma!

Grandma's Potato Salad

Ingredients:

6-7 potatoes, peeled & cut into bite size
4 eggs, hard-boiled
1 stalk celery, cut fine
½ medium onion, cut fine
@ 2 heaping T. pickle relish
@ 2 t. yellow mustard
@ 3 heaping spoonfuls of mayonnaise
Little salt, if needed

Boil potatoes in salt water until just fork tender. Drain and rinse with cold water or put cold water over potatoes, cool and drain. Add hard boiled eggs and rest of the ingredients. Stir gently and refrigerate.

Serving: 1 batch
Recipe Given By: Grandma Dye

Chicken Salad

This is my favorite Chicken Salad recipe. It is so refreshing and delicious! I looked up other recipes on the web and you might want to try a 1/4 C of yogurt with 1/4 C of low fat mayonnaise to further reduce the fat. I haven't given it a try, but saw other recipes that did. Sounds like an interesting variation.

Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1 can (10 oz) HORMEL Chunk Breast of Chicken, drained, shredded
½ C mayonnaise
¼ C each chopped celery and onion
¼ C each dried cranberries and chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients and serve with small dinner rolls or sliced bread.

Hint: I usually double recipe and use pecans.
Serving: 4
Recipe Given By: newspaper

Fabulous Caramel Clusters

I used to make this delicious crispy snack only at Christmas time to share with friends and family, but I recently added it to the care packages shared with Ashley and her friends at college. It's great any time of year!

Fabulous Caramel Clusters

Ingredients:

1 pkg (14 oz or 48) caramels
¼ C water
6 C bite-size rice cereal squares (Chex)
2 C pecan halves (or favorite nut)

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Melt caramels with water in a stock pot over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Add cereal and pecans; mix lightly until well coated. Spread into greased cookie sheet (large.) Bake 25 min., stirring after 15 min. Turn out onto greased waxed paper. Cool thoroughly; break apart.

Serving: about 10 cups
Recipe Given By: I don't know where I got it, but you can see a web copy here.

Sauteed Green Beans

Last March I posted about these green beans here. We make them regularly and I love how the recent photograph turned out. I thought I'd "debut" them once again. They are the most divine green beans on the planet. really. :)

Sautéed Green Beans

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil
6 strips of bacon or pancetta
Freshly ground black pepper
5-6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 T. basil pesto
Green beans (@ 4 C)

Heat large pan of water to blanche the green beans for 3 minutes. When they are done, dry with paper towels. In a large frying pan add olive oil and bacon. Heavily pepper bacon while it cooks to mimic pancetta. When done cooking crisply, drain off all but 1 T. fat. Add the garlic and cook until just turning golden. Then add 2 squirts of basil pesto and the green beans. Combine all ingredients and cook down until beans start to wilt.

Serving: 6
Recipe Given By: Chef Daniel Roberts, personal friend

Death by Caramel Bars

Tempted?

This dessert is divine!

TJ and I are BIG Snickers fans so I only make them when I know I can share. Otherwise, I might need a bigger dress size.

Death-by-Caramel Bars

Ingredients:
3 C firmly packed light brown sugar
2 C unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 T. vanilla extract
4 C all-purpose flour
1 C uncooked regular oats
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
6 (2.07 oz.) chocolate-coated caramel-peanut nougat bars, chopped (Snickers)
1 (14 oz.) can dulce de leche (found in the ethnic or baking aisle.)

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients. Add to butter mixture, stirring just until blended. Fold in chopped candy bars.

2. Spoon batter into a greased aluminum foil-lined 13 x 9 inch pan coated with cooking spray, allowing foil to extend over edges of pan. Pan will be very full. Spoon dollops of dulce de leche over batter; swirl slightly into batter with a knife.

3. Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Cool in a pan on a wire rack. This may take several hours. Use foil to lift uncut brownies out of pan. Peel foil away, and cut into squares.

Servings: 2 dozen
Recipe Given By: Southern Living Cookies
Hint: The first time I baked this for the recommended time specified. The center fell and was very gooey. It didn't cook through. The second time I kept an eye on it and added about 15 more minutes. I just cooked it until the center didn't have much "jiggle" left. It was perfect! Keep an eye on it and go with what looks good to you.

Mom M's Macaroni Salad

I posted a picture on Angie's Ad Lib last week of a container of macaroni salad. I got lots of positive feedback about how yummy that salad looked, so although I've already posted about this recipe LAST April (we must get in the mood for it every spring!), I thought I would post again for some of my newer followers.

Mom M’s Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

1 1/3 C pasta shells, cooked & rinsed in cold water
5 eggs (2 sliced on top)
1 dill pickle (dice very small)
¼ C plus, mayonnaise
ketchup to light pink
1 T. pickle juice
1 red onion (3 thin slices)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients ½ hour before serving.

Hint: Can get dry the next day, add mayo.

Recipe Given By: Mom Martens

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Got a recipe you just won't trade in? No matter how good someone claims theirs to be. Yep, Nestle has me too. I love their chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I've tried a couple of other recipes, but then given up. This is the best of the best, my friends. You may "psh" me or agree; it doesn't really matter. I'm a believer.

So how can a perfect recipe turn out so differently when 3 women from the same family bake them?

My grandmother used real butter in this recipe. He cookies turned stale within a day or two (could it have been the container?) and tasted like sugar. My mom blamed it on the butter.

My mother uses Crisco shortening instead of butter or margarine. He cookies are fluffy and HARD. She does freeze them and have them on hand, but they are a crunchy cookie most of the time.

I use Imperial margarine only. I LOVE my cookies. My family LOVES my cookies. I wouldn't use anything else. They never last long enough to get stale.

Did I mention there was a stubborn streak that runs in my family? :)

No matter HOW you bake 'em, may all your cookies be to your liking and may you be able to eat them guilt-free!

Oh, yum!