In the early years of my marriage, in the 1940's, Egg Salad was all the rage. Every lady in the neighborhood had a favorite recipe. It was cheap to make. In a farming community everyone had chickens, so we all had eggs.

For you younger women, gathering eggs is an unknown chore. For us, "old hens," it was a ritual. Towards evening every day, I would get my egg basket and head out towards the chicken coop. That building stood a ways off from the house. If you know what a chicken coop smells like, you would understand why. I would collects the eggs from the nests. That was not the end of it. There were other favorite nesting places. After all, ours were free range chickens. Those places would be checked out, too. Then back to the house to wash the eggs. A quick shake would tell me if they were fresh or not. In those days, you didn't break an egg into the frying pan. You broke it onto a saucer. You have heard the expression, "a good egg," that is where it came from.

Nowadays, eggs are washed, candled for freshness, placed in a 12 egg carton with the expiration date stamped on the end. They can be found in the dairy section of Food City. How far we have come from the good old days. Thank heavens! But my Egg Salad recipe is still good.

EGG AND CRACKER SALAD
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup diced sweet green pepper
4-oz can chopped pimientos, drained
5 or 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 cup salad dressing

In large bowl combine all ingredients. Chill several hours. Serve a dollop of egg salad on a lettuce leaf, or better yet, use as a filling for Egg Salad Sandwiches. The crackers make a great extender so you can use less eggs. You won't know the crackers are in the mix. It is delicious.