Italian Wedding Salad With a History

 Our girl was married this weekend - photos coming soon! They drove to the ranch on Friday, we headed to the mountains on Saturday, they were married on Sunday, we came back home on Monday. Plus, we're branding this week (Tuesday-Saturday) so I'm in the kitchen and my mornings are starting at 3 a.m. 

I made my menu after serving the crew breakfast and after dinner (lunch) on Tuesday I spent the afternoon in town getting groceries for 12 men for the rest of the week. We came back from the wedding exhausted, but no time to recuperate so we're running on auto pilot and Jesus this week. 5 days. We can do this. 

But I thought I'd share an old family recipe today. It's probably the oldest recipe I have and my Omi (my daddy's mom) made it when my folks were married. My daddy was German (from Ulm) and my mom was from Vienna, Austria so I have no idea why this is known as ITALIAN Wedding Salad, but there you go. 

And this is a very different kind of salad. The ingredients are odd and don't seem like they should go together, but this is a famous salad in my family. Growing up, I remember my mom making it and then rolling big spoonfuls up in rectangular ham slices. Then she would pipe a mayonnaise flower on one corner and top it with a radish flower she carved, pop in a sprig of parsley and serve them all up on big mirrored platters for all sorts of gatherings. She made hundreds of those platters. But our favorite way to eat this salad was always with her homemade Schnitzel. Our kids practically fell into the bowl when my mom made this. 

However, we're not that fancy and this is how I served it last week with lunch before our daughter's wedding

I saw a similar photo years ago  - before the Internet - and never forgot it. And it's even more fitting because her new husband, Kenny, raises pigs and fits for lots of kids who show through 4-H and FFA

So, today you get this salad along with the story of how it fits into our life and those are always my favorite kinds of recipes. And warning. My mom was an amazing cook, but she rarely used an actual recipe. She just made it until it looked and tasted right. 

4 Generation Italian Wedding Salad 

4 cans of peas and carrots, well drained (I only ever buy this for this salad because we don't care for them otherwise)

1 large package of thick-sliced bologna chopped fine (about the same size as the carrots - (mom said it didn't taste right if it was chopped too large. Once she tried to substitute ham, but it just wasn't the same) P.S. We don't care for bologna either, but it is transformed in this salad. LOL.

3 medium potatoes, boiled, cooled, peeled, and chopped (again - as small as the carrots) 

3 medium dill pickles, chopped...yep...small

3 boiled eggs, chopped...again - you know the drill. 

salt and pepper to taste

Enough mayonnaise to make it all come together

A dab or two of mustard.

*Mix everything together and refrigerate

*When I take the first bite, I close my eyes and it tastes like home and memories and I'm posting it here for our chiddlers who are the 4th generation of Italian Wedding Salad fans. I wish I had asked my Omi where SHE got it from.