I'm Back!!!! (Pasta Salad Anyone?)

Hello Everyone!

I am SO SORRY about the long delay, you have no idea how I've been longing to write a blog post. But as you may recall from my last posting, I moved recently, and the packing, traveling, unpacking, red tape, and everything else involved with moving has kept me really too busy to cook or photograph anything blog- worthy, not to mention sit down at the computer for long periods of time. However, now I am all settled back in at my Mom's place (I'll be regrouping here until the next adventure life sends me on) and the internet connection is soooo much better here which means I won't be at the mercy of signal strength every time the fancy strikes me to write a blog post :)

As some of you may or may not know, last week was my grandparents 60th Wedding Anniversary! Whee! In addition, yesterday was also my Grandfather's 83rd birthday (yay Poppa John!) So, we had a bunch of family over yesterday for an Anniversary/Birthday/Labor Day BBQ :) The festivites abounded, and it was a ton if fun. The recipe I would like to feature in this particular post is for a Tri-Color Pasta Salad :) Can I just take a moment to say how much I love a good Pasta Salad? Something about the cold or room-temp pasta with whatever ingredients strike your fancy is just so refreshing. Personally, I like my Pasta Salads without mayo, but there are some good mayo-based pasta salads too, no question. I'm not gonna yap too much more about this recipe, as the ingredient list kinda speaks for itself, But other than being DELISH, it's mayo-free, travels well, all the ingredients can be purchased year-round in the regular grocery store, and it's PRETTY! This recipe was adapted from the Pappardelle's Palm Springs Pasta Salad:) To learn more about the RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME Pappardelle's Pasta , go here:

And now, the recipe:

Tri-Colore Pasta Salad:

-1lb Tri-Colore Pasta, any small to medium shape is fine

-1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped

-1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped or torn

-1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

-1/2 cup Kalamata Olives, whole or chopped (Green Greek Olives would work well too)

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil OR reserved oil from the sundried tomatoes for drizzling

-3 tablespoons vinegar (my personal choices would be red wine or apple cider, but use the one you like the best)

-Salt and Pepper to taste

-Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al-dente, drain, rinse, drain a second time (normally I'm not a fan of rinsing my pasta, I feel like you lose the good starchy-ness, but in this case, you need to stop the cooking process, other wise you get soggy pasta and no one likes that)

-Add all remaining ingredients and toss lightly. Taste, adjust seasonings until you're happy with it :)

-The salad can be served immediately at room temperature, but really, I think it's better if you let it chill out in the fridge for a few hours, and let the flavors blend :)

It won't be almost a month before my next post, I SWEAR!

Love to All!

Lynn