Memorial Day Weekend / Plans / Meals...??

I am buying rack of ribs to smoke.

baked beans

My killer mac salad.

maybe cole slaw..

no plans here.....but there will probably be something that comes up. I guess I'll just wing it when or if it happens.

Have you ever posted your killer potato salad recipe? Or do you even have a recipe....knowing you, it's just in your head and you know what to do and how much. You're like that, I know! LOL

I must have. However search on here is useless.


I will post it in 'salads'

Oh BTW. I have the recipe from the back of the Hellmens jar LOL Made it on a whim and now for years it's the only one I make.
You should see the dirty torn brown paper it's written on LOL

OK, thanks! I'll look for it.

I usually just mix some of this 'n that until I get something I like. Funny, but I don't care for a Dijon type mustard with my potato (or macaroni) salad, preferring instead the tried and true yellow 'ball park' mustard taste. The potato salad I made the other night had a good amount of fresh chopped herbs from the backyard garden....parsley, chives and tarragon. That stuff adds such great taste and variety to any summer salad. My dill has bolted and is all turning yellow so it's time to pull it up to dry the heads and plant some more seeds. Love, Love, LOVE me some dill in a bunch of stuff.

We decorated our yard with flags and r-w&b whirleygigs......difficult to see, but they're there!

Looks nice. I had to take down my flag it's very heavy rain and thunder is so loud. I better get the noodles cooked and hurry up and make baked beans. I know that my power is going to be out.

No sense turning the tv on the DISH is not working. Hate I put that in.

I posted in the wrong section.....so here's a 'copy & paste' to put it where it belongs.


I just got done baking two six inch rounds and two six inch square cakes.  The two square layers will get wrapped and frozen for another time. Two rounds will be used today for a strawberry/whipped cream cake to take to Lyn & Bill's for a cookout this afternoon.  We're having our 'Celebration-Holiday' special meal:  Grilled steaks for the guys and Snow Crab Legs for Lyn & me.  The guys don't like the crab so we set the table so they are sitting at one end and Lyn & I are at the other end (with the hot pot of legs in front of us).  LOL

We'll have corn on the cob and green beans as sides.

So, help me out here ~  I want to whip my cream and have it nicely stabilized and somewhat sturdy enough to sit on the cake in the refrigerator for a couple hours.  Should I add 4 oz. of room temperature cream cheese and powdered sugar?   I want to put the cream in between the layers with whole strawberries standing up to hold the second layer....then more cream & strawberries *maybe a few blueberries as well on the top for Memorial Day. .....OK (edit) I just found my Southern Living magazine and checked the recipe. It calls for 2 c. whipping cream, 8 oz. mascarapone cheese, softened (I'll sub cream cheese), 2/3 c. sugar and vanilla (the recipe also calls for almond extract but I do NOT like the flavor so I always omit it completely). So, my thought of adding the cheese was another of those 'useless but sometimes helpful bits of info that are stored in the nooks & crannies of my brain'. LOL

I thought a two layer 6" round cake would be just right for four people.  If I made a 9" there would be leftovers and we all know what I end up doing with leftover cake......under the excuse of "waste not, want not" ~ ~ but of course it goes directly to "waste not, want it & right on my waist".

I have made lots of trifles. Made ahead and put it in the fridge. Whipped cream stayed good. After a while after served it was a mess lol Didn't stop it from being eaten.

The cake turned out close to the one on the front cover of Southern Living magazine, just a smaller version......



I had made the entire recipe of whipped cream frosting and used the leftovers to throw together a birthday cake for one of the neighbors who will be turning 80 in a few days.....better sooner than later!

thanks...
I'm happy with the results.

pretty!!

how did you ever find strawberries all the same size? I mean to hold up the cake!

I had bought two 2# boxes and just lined them up until I found enough to cover the cake . After I cleaned them I wanted them to dry off a bit so I put them on paper towels and let them sit. Mr. Amazing came out to the kitchen and pretended he was going to eat them......If I were to do it again I would probably just cut the larger berries in half and not try to have it as tall. Maybe not. It was pretty impressive to present for dessert.

To serve, I just used an electric knife to cut through the berries neatly. The cream/cream cheese held together nicely....and was really tasty.

Your cake looked ABSOLUTELY DIVINE, Beth! I can just picture it on the cover of a magazine. Smart you used an electric knife to cut it, too. I have my mother's old one -- I rarely use it but boy, when you need it, it really fills the bill.

Brian made a smoked beef brisket for Memorial Day, which came out really, really good.  We had horseradish sauce and storebought BBQ sauce that I mixed with some apricot preserves on the side.  

I made macaroni salad (one of Brian's favorite) but make it a lot different than you guys.  I put chopped onion, sliced celery, some sliced green onions, chopped red and green bell pepper, mayo, some yellow mustard, cider vinegar, diced smoked ham chunks, garlic powder, salt, pepper, bit of cayenne, a tad of celery salt, fresh parsley, sliced black olives and the must-have, dill.  I have fresh in my herb garden but dried works fine, too, if you don't have fresh.  It really makes the dish.  Brian doesn't care for boiled eggs, or I'd chop up some whites and "smoosh" the boiled egg yolks and mix with the vinegar and yellow mustard before mixing in. I chill it for a couple of hours and then mix it well again and re-season if necessary.  I make a bunch so I sent some with him when he went to his friend Pete's house yesterday, like we normally do.  Brian loves it so I can't suggest giving more of it away!

We also had sautéed cherry tomatoes with basil and some bits of goat cheese mixed in.  Yum!  

Leftovers were delish yesterday.  He made brownies and served me dessert -- a huge warm brownie with Creole Cream Cheese Ice Cream (one of my favorites) on top with some fresh cherries on the side.  Too much to eat but it was indeed delicious...

Your macaroni salad sounds great, Michelle! If you want to add egg (helps so much with keeping the dressing firm) you could always do what I do....grate them. The pieces break up and then mix really well with the mayo, mustard & vinegar.....you hardly notice they are there, except for that lovely 'mouth feel' from the yolks.

I added five grated eggs to my cauliflower-pea-bacon salad today and, once mixed, you don't even see the small bits of whites.

bethk wrote:Your macaroni salad sounds great, Michelle!  If you want to add egg (helps so much with keeping the dressing firm) you could always do what I do....grate them.  The pieces break up and then mix really well with the mayo, mustard & vinegar.....you hardly notice they are there, except for that lovely 'mouth feel' from the yolks.  

I added five grated eggs to my cauliflower-pea-bacon salad today and, once mixed, you don't even see the small bits of whites.  

He's told me I can add the eggs but I like the whites in bigger chunks (grin). I could mix a separate small batch on the side for me with eggs but always seem to never get around to it. He's so good about trying stuff and encouraging me to ignore his dislikes and make stuff like I like it, though. He just loves eating so much that I enjoy making stuff that's up his alley (and I eat literally everything, so I'm easy to please). You do the same thing, B. Even though you tease and make us laugh with your stories about Dane's likes, dislikes and recent carb watching, I can tell you enjoy making stuff he enjoys.

Brian would hate it but your talk of your cauliflower-pea-bacon salad makes my mouth water. I'd love it, I just know it.