one of life's little pleasures

From Jim's Kitchen

Fruited Pasta Salad

1 1/2 cups uncooked spiral pasta
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chuncks
1 carton (8ounces) peach yogurt.
1-1/2 cups cubed cantalope
1 cup halved seedless grapes
1-1/2 sliced fresh strawberries

Cook pasta according to directions; rinse in cold water and drain.  Cool completely.  Drain pineapple, reserving 2 tablespoons juice set pineapple aside.  In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, sour cream and reserved pineapple juice until smooth; cover and refrigerate.  In a large bowl, combine pasta, pineapple, cantalope, and grapes.  Just before serving, stir in the strawberries and drizzle with yogurt mixture.

Notes:  7/30/99   I used bananas and fresh peaches instead of grapes and strawberries--very good.  Just made up half of yogurt recipe, and added a little more sour cream.  This would be very good on any type of fruit.  I salted the pasta water out of habit and shouldn't have.
Source: Taste of Home ( August/ September '99)

Editor's Note:Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint, and sprinkle poppy seeds on the salad. I think kiwi and star fruit would be pretty served on the side of the serving, as well.

Horrible picture, beautiful meal

This is a pic I snapped last nite at dinner.  I used my camera phone, so I wasn't expecting the best quality, and I was correct. But it was nice to be able to "jot" down what I had. Grilled Salmon with Honey-Pecan crusting that was just yummylicious. Iced tea was good, and the bread was fresh and hot. Then I went home and FINALLY watched Closer. I enjoyed it. Jude Law is a wuss in it, but I still enjoyed the film.

Tonite I am making baked red snapper. Just a classic drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon zest. I have some spinach and cream cheese laying around. I might bake some puff pastry shells and stuff ala florentine. OMG I need to make iced tea. Later taters.

I am a hummusexual

If you know anything about me, you know that I love food, kitchen gadgets, cooking shows, appliances, and Ina Garten. In no particular order. So of course you know that I just recently acquired my dream Cuisinart 14 cup Food Processor. Of course the main reason people buy Cuisinarts is to make/assemble Hummus. That delicious, delectable Arabic and Greek dish made from cooked chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, garlic and spices as suits the individual. Did you know that the word hummus is actually the Arabic word for chickpea?

As I was faffing about, instead of jogging in the park like I should have been, it suddenly dawned on me that I needed to make some Hummus.

This Sunday I purchased the Barefoot Contessa Parties! And her Lunch in the Garden menu has Hummus. Unfortunately for me, it only has it on the menu, not the actual recipe. That recipe is found in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.

I did not relish the thought of running over to Barnes and Noble to purchase that book, so I was stewing in desperate silence. I MUST MAKE HUMMUS...then it dawned on me "why not use the internet?" Surely some other Ina Garten afficianado must be out there in the world? Right? I remember reading a wonderful blog and I seem to recall that he likes Ina Garten.

Saints preserve us, I was correct, found the website, and Burt Viola, here is Ina Garten's Hummus recipe via Amateur Gourmet's site.

Here we see the fruits of my labors. I added black pepper and crushed red pepper in lieu of Tabasco sauce.