5 Stars: Rosie’s Diner in Monument, Colorado

Just posted this review on Google Maps Reviews:

We were a hike from home, and wanted to grab lunch before returning. From the moment we walked in, we knew we made the right decision choosing Rosie’s Diner.

Awesome food, atmosphere, and prices! Not to mention, our server, Mimi, was the icing on the cake.

It’s far away from where we live, but we’ll be back

And it was well-deserved!

Poppy’s Tuna Macaroni Salad

EloiseI am out in New Hampshire for my oldest daughter’s wedding (which was Wednesday and was awesome), and to see both daughters, their husbands, and my first grandchild.

Daughter #2 is said kiddo’s mom, and she wanted my famous tuna macaroni salad for a cook-out today. How does one say no to the mom of your first granddaughter?!

So, I made it! I’ll put my original recipe from Traditores.org below (with edits to supply missing text and to make the original image larger). Since I’m now a grandfather, I’m officially naming it Poppy’s Tuna Macaroni Salad. However, as I note below, credit is due to my dearly departed mom, Eloise (shown doing macrame).


Okay, I know it is fair for someone to ask, “Why are you putting a recipe on a religious site?!”

Well, ’cause a few weeks back I made two full recipes of it for a church pot luck! 🙂

Just ask my kids…it may have simple ingredients and sound boring, but it is super yummy, and is even better as leftovers the next day! 🙂

Poppy’s Tuna Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

  • One pound elbow macaroni
  • Three globs of real mayonnaise
  • Three 5 oz cans solid albacore white tuna (in water)
  • One 16 oz jar of sweet pickles (I recommend Vlasic Sweet Gherkins)
  • Two 15 oz cans snow or sweet peas (I recommend Le Sueur Very Young Small Sweet Peas)

Boil the elbows to whatever consistency you like (I prefer not too soft)…drain…poor back into the pan…run cold water on them until they are cool (I don’t run the cold water too fast). Drain again.

Take a large spoon and get three good globs of mayonnaise…plop them on top…and then mix it into the noodles by hand.

Squeeze all the water out of the tuna…and then crumble it thoroughly by hand into a bowl. After that you mix it in…again by hand…making sure it is evenly spread throughout.

Chop the pickles into decently small (but not relish size) pieces (I like using a Pampered Chef Cutting Edge Food Chopper), whacking it 16 times for each group of pickles). Mix it in by hand..again making sure it evenly spread throughout.

Finally, after draining the peas, poor them in…and again…by hand mix…well, you get it at this point. 🙂

When you eat it, salt to taste. For me, that means a lot of salt. 🙂

The “secret” to the recipe is to make it so every bite has a little tuna, peas, and chopped gherkins…but not too much. Well, that and putting some love into it….

P.S. Yes, you can leave out the peas (that’s the way my daughter, April, likes it). I would not leave anything else out, but I know some people aren’t fans of sweet gherkins either. Their loss. 🙂

P.P.S. I’m not sure exactly what her recipe was, but credit for this should go to my mom…who made the original that I loved so much I’m willing to spend a lot of time getting my hands slimy recreating it as best I can…