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.....