Easy Macaroni Salad

 

10 facts about macaroni:

(1)

Macaroni is a corruption of the Italian maccheroni, which comes from the Latin macerare. The word means to bruise or crush; crushing wheat is how pasta is made.

(2)

In the United States and England, they call it macaroni and cheese. In Canada it’s Kraft Dinner.

(3)

Kraft sells about a million boxes of macaroni and cheese per day. All-time bestselling non-elbow shape: SpongeBob SquarePants.

(4)

Why did Yankee Doodle stick a feather in his cap and call it macaroni? In the 1700s, fashionable men who wore expensive Italian clothes were called macaroni, another word for “dandies.” The patriotic song is a jab at Americans who were so boorish that they thought a feather would make them fashionable.

(5)

The macaroni penguin, with black and yellow plumes on its head, is named after those very same dandies from “Yankee Doodle.”

(6)

Emergency tip: You can cook pasta in a coffee pot. Just put the noodles in the filter basket and fill the tank with water. The hot water cooks them.

(7)

The average American eats 19.8 pounds of pasta each year. The average Italian eats 62 pounds.

(8)

In Hong Kong, macaroni is traditionally a breakfast food, cooked with mushrooms, peas, ham, eggs, and chicken stock.

(9)

Thomas Jefferson introduced macaroni to the United States in 1789. He brought back a macaroni shaping machine after eating the dish in Naples, Italy.

(10)

There are about 350 different “authentic” shapes of pasta—meaning ones that originated in Italy.

That just goes to show you what kind of girl she is.

It was just going to be the family, and two of her closest pals that came over for a BBQ that summer.

My granddaughter was going to be going to a school where there was no option to live on campus, so she had to get a house with a few of her friends.

Ingredients:

1 lb elbow macaroni

6 oz cheddar cheese, cubed

1/2 red onion, minced

4 celery stalks, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 cup of frozen peas

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup of fresh dill

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

Instructions:

Cook macaroni according to package directions.

You want the pasta to still be firm so cook until al dente.

Immediately rinse under cold water and drain so it isn’t sticky and prevents it from overcooking.  Drain well.

In a large mixing bowl, toss together cooked pasta with the cubed cheese, onion, celery, bell pepper, and peas.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, dill, sugar, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.

Pour the mixture over the pasta and toss until everything is well coated.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour before serving.