Egg Salad

Eggs are a staple on most Amish homesteads.  A plentiful supply of eggs will find their way into omelettes, breads, noodles, and plenty of other homemade goodies.  But what about egg salad?  Egg salad is popular in some Amish settlements, especially ones that have refrigeration of some sort.  You don't want to make a big bowl of egg salad on a sweltering summer day in a Swartzentruber Amish community with no ready refrigeration.

Our Plain Kansas columnist Rosanna Bauman deals with plenty of fresh eggs.  Her farm sells them to regular customers. Here are some photos of her farm's eggs.  Notice the rich yellow of the yolk in the fried egg?  I'll take a farm fresh egg over a factory-farmed trucked-in type any day!

Rachel made us some homemade egg salad last night from the fresh eggs that came from the local egg man. The salad made for a delicious dinner.  Rachel's experience with egg salad hasn't always been wonderful. I remember her ordering egg salad once for lunch when we were traveling in Florida.  The waitress erroneously scooped potato salad and gave Rachel a potato salad sandwich instead. Ugh, too starchy for my taste, but Rachel gamely ate it anyway.

This is a simple, classic egg salad recipe, the one that Rachel made last night.

10 large eggs

1 1 /2 cups celery, finely chopped

1 /2 cup mayo

1 tablespoon mustard

1 /4 teaspoon salt

dash pepper

Boil the eggs and chop into pieces.  Put pieces into a large mixing bowl and add all of the other ingredients. Stir gently, chill and serve.

  The Amish Cook column also has an egg salad recipe if you are in the mood for something a little different.  Some have told me that this egg salad is more of a mock ham salad, but you can make it and be the judge!:)

AMISH EGG SALAD

6 pounds of cooked hot dogs

5 dozen eggs, hard-boiled

6 cups salad dressing (Miracle Whip could be used)

2 cups mayonnaise

Salt and ground pepper

Grind the hot dogs in a meat grinder. In a large bowl, stir the ground meat, eggs, Miracle Whip, and mayonnaise together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.