The Wonders of Pasta

Ah yes. The decision had been made and acted upon. The ingredients acquired; the recipe read and the cooking began.

Although, to be honest, there wasn't any cooking involved in this pasta dish. Well, okay. I cooked the pasta. But that actually is something I never really had any problems doing. So it wasn't a big effort. Didn't even have to read the instructions on the box. Ha! Bet you didn't know I could do THAT, did you?

Going on...I had found a recipe this morning in my search for just the right pasta salad. It seemed fairly easy and uncomplicated; something I could possibly do successfully. I don't believe it had a name but it was black and green olives (did you know that you can buy them already chopped? I didn't either until after I had chopped them all up). Some chopped onions, some bacon bits, shredded cheese and ranch dressing. I actually got brave and doubled the recipe although I did cut back on some of the ranch dressing. Maybe it's me, but the picture that came with the recipe looked slightly too wet.

I thought it turned out rather well although a trifle dry (Next time I won't cut back so much) It will probably taste better tomorrow when it gets really cold. I only gave it a couple of hours in the fridge.

Oh and I cheated on the pork chops. (Yes, told you we had pigs so lots and LOTS of pork). I bought the packaged Shake n Bake and just popped them in the oven. Needless to say, they turned out really well. But then, even I couldn't mess up Shake N Bake.

I'm posting a picture; please forgive the messy plate. Not used to trying to make it look pretty and I always forget how much the flash on a camera picks up.

Thanks for listening! Possibly Italian food in the near future.....

Decisions, decisions....

Italian? Pasta salad? Or maybe a delicious, decadent dessert? (I love that word: decadent. Sounds so...sinful) I've cooked a few dinner meals and learned a few things (reading the recipe is ALWAYS a good thing) but now I think I want to stretch it out a bit. Do I stick with dinner and make something Italian? Or do I push the boundaries and make a fairly simple pasta salad for lunch or a dessert worthy of a king? Well, maybe not THAT good the first time. But pretty darn close.

I have actually cooked all of those before. Just never enjoyed it like I'm doing now. And if I pick Italian, do I start simple with a homemade spaghetti sauce or just throw caution to the winds and go for the big one, lasagna? Hmmm....

And a pasta salad could be anything I wanted it to be. There are so many different possibilities that I wouldn't even know where to start with that one. But should I go for easy or more elaborate? Should it be cold or hot? Just looking through SOME of the recipes for pasta salad took quite a while. Maybe I'll just close my eyes and point to one.

Dessert. Who doesn't like dessert? My first thought of dessert is something chocolate. So that narrows it down quite a bit. Maybe a cake but something unique or something that isn't offered very often.

Not sure yet which one I'll choose although just writing about them makes me hungry. I am leaning more toward the Italian choice (I love Italian food) so maybe I'll start there. Wait. Here's a thought although possibly more than I should even think about taking on at this point in my self-education.

Why not all three? Hmm....definitely worth thinking about!

Thanks for listening. Will let you know my decision!