I had not made this for a long time, but remembering recently how much I liked it, I made a large bowl of macaroni salad. It was fair, but there was something not as tasty as I remembered. After lunch (and the salad already in the refrigerator), I remembered.

I had forgotten to add the tuna.

So I did, and we all liked the macaroni salad much better at the next meal.

Because I had not made this in such a long time, I went looking for recipes in the cookbooks that you thoughtful Baptists have sent me from your churches. I found several, and discovered that macaroni salad is much like potato salad and vegetable soup: The recipe changes with each cook and each cooking.

This is an old, old use for macaroni and is a good dish to carry to a picnic, church supper, family reunion, etc., because, even after being out of the refrigerator for a while, it is still good. It isn’t as colorful and pretty as a garden salad of fresh greens (which will wilt) or as a shimmering gelatin-based salad (which can go limp). It also keeps well, so if you don’t use it all in one meal, it will live happily in the refrigerator until the next one.

The recipe I almost used was from the cookbook of Unity Baptist Church, located immediately outside the city limits of Simpsonville, and it is that one I am sharing with you today. No name was given for the recipe, so I don’t know who I should thank.

Unity has a new minister, the Rev. Larry Ledford, who came there about six months or so ago to replace the Rev. Chuck Ballew, who served as interim. The church is growing. Before Rev. Ledford’s arrival, the Sunday attendance was 35-40, and now is around 70-90 each week. Something Unity is doing to increase attendance is to have an outreach program on Sunday evenings. Three to 10 volunteers meet weekly to discuss prospects, pray and plan visits.

They are also getting new, young, excited Christians, and have a youth program on Wednesday evenings for kindergarten through grade 11. They have a group, Joy Fellowship, for those 55 and older, which meets monthly for a meal and a program. The 125-year-old church is part of the Greenville Association.

Back to the macaroni salad: Instead of the Unity recipe, I went to my halfway-remembered one, using the macaroni, pickles, olives, hard-cooked chopped egg and mayonnaise. And the tuna.

Whether you use my remembered recipe (which, if you add the tuna, can almost be the main dish for a light lunch) or the one listed here from Unity church, try making this hearty macaroni salad soon. You can make it this Saturday and have it ready to enjoy this weekend for … Sunday Dinner.

 

Apologies and corrections department:

Sometime ago, we used a recipe for The Best Coconut Cake Ever from Glenda Inabinet of Charleston’s First Baptist Church School. The recipe omitted an ingredient. A 12-ounce carton of Cool Whip should have been added to the coconut-sour cream-sugar mixture used for the frosting. I am sorry, and hope your cake wasn’t ruined by this omission.

Please forgive.