What Would Mom Say?

Mom makes meatloaf. I make meatloaf. The difference is mine tends to involve three types of meat and a counter full of pastes, sauces, and spices.

Mom makes chili. I make chili. The difference is I use six or seven chili powders, hot sauce, smoked salt, and vegetables I wouldn't touch growing up.

And the other night I decided that a tuna salad was the right call. I grew up eating these. They fell under the category of "really? you like that?" Not because it was gross, but because I generally wasn't a fan of tuna being added to things (outside of tuna sandwhiches), and my salads often ended up swimming in either Catalina or Thousand Islands dressing. But there was lettuce, tuna, and Miracle Whip.

But of course, why make it easy on myself?

Out came the can of tuna, it was drained to the sing-song meowling of the cats at my feet. If you ever question a cat's sense of smell, crack open a can of tuna from 3 rooms away.

After giving the cats their share, gathered the ingredients.

Mayo, dijon mustard, horseradish, hot sauce, sundried tomatoes, capers, olive oil, 10 year aged balsamic, soy sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne.

And dump it all into the food processor.

Cut up a tomato, chop a green onion, break up some romaine, grab the dark rye croutons I made a couple weeks ago, and mix it all with the tuna and processor dressing.

One tasty tuna salad, if a bit more complicated than mom makes.

I also decided to experiment with my ice cream last night. Good 'ol Alton Brown made an quick comment on one of his shows in season 1 of Good Eats about adding gelatin to homemade ice cream to help it keep its shape. A friend needs some ice cream for an upcoming event and I was making up a second batch for them. It's a situation where a bit more stability may come in handy, so out came the gelatin. Tonight I'll see how it turns out once frozen. This could become a regular addition if it turns out the way I think it will.

Mom doesn't make ice cream.