Start by hard-boiling the eggs if you haven't already—place them in a pot of cold water, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let sit for 10-12 minutes before cooling and chopping. While the eggs cook or cool, finely dice the onion, thinly slice the celery, and dice the red bell pepper. I like to prepare my vegetables in this order since they go into the salad at the same time, and having them all ready prevents the dish from sitting partially assembled.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then add the elbow macaroni and cook for 8 minutes until just tender but still slightly firm—this prevents the pasta from becoming mushy when mixed with the dressing. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside to cool slightly before assembling the salad.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, mustard, sugar, white vinegar, salt, celery seed, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Whisk these ingredients together until smooth and well-blended, making sure the sugar is fully dissolved into the dressing. I find that whisking the dressing separately ensures the sugar dissolves completely and all the flavors are evenly distributed before combining with the pasta.

Add the cooked macaroni from Step 2, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and prepared vegetables from Step 1 to the dressing bowl. Gently fold everything together with a spatula until all the pasta and vegetables are evenly coated with the dressing, being careful not to break apart the eggs or overmix, which can make the salad mushy.

Transfer the macaroni salad to a serving dish and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. This chilling time allows the flavors to meld together and gives the salad the proper texture. For the best taste, I like to give the salad a gentle stir just before serving to redistribute any dressing that may have settled at the bottom.