Here's an easy one! Great for a light summer supper or potluck dish. You can embellish it anyway you like. The one I make for Ryker doesn't have quite as many ingredients as this one - because he wouldn't eat it - so feel free to add and remove things to your liking.
Summer Pasta Salad
1 pkg. rotini pasta, cooked, drained and chilled
1 1/2 c. fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried (if you are feeling brave you can try arugula instead)
1/2 c. pepperoni, chopped
1/2 c. Genoa salami, chopped - or you can use any dry salami you like
1 jar artichoke hearts (preferably packed in brine - but marinated works good too), drained
1 small can sliced black olives
1/4 c. red onion, finely diced
1/2 c. red or green bell pepper, chopped
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 a bottle Bernstein's 4 cheese Italian salad dressing (you can use more if you like)
chopped fresh basil and oregano to taste
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients - except dressing - together in a large non-caustic bowl (no metal). Add as much of the dressing as you like. I prefer mine to have a little more dressing. Add the fresh herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours before serving to let the flavors meld. The longer this sits - the better it tastes. If you keep it well covered and stir it every day or so - it will stay good for at least a week. Serve with crusty French bread for a nice light supper.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Trying to stay awake...
Well...it's 1:43 am and I have been on a conference call for work since 10 pm. It's supposed to last until 2 but they are talking about extending it another hour because the first phase of testing (which was supposed to take an hour and twenty minutes) hasn't been completed yet. We won't even make it to the second phase of testing on this call. Fortunately, this is my last night on call for a couple of weeks so I won't need to be on the subsequent call.
I'm having a very hard time staying awake because what my role in all this is, is to point telephone numbers to the different locations that they need them to route to to do the testing. If testing was going well, I would have plenty to do. Since it isn't...here I sit...blogging. This is after I added another cheesecake to my menu, played about 200 hands of blackjack on Yahoo games and another 200 hands of Pyramids on Yahoo games.
The only bright side to all of this is that I get to work from home tomorrow and don't have to wake up, try to get ready in what would be a semi-comatose state (forget about looking presentable) and drive in to the office. Plus, because this is going to take at least 4 hours (I'm betting closer to 5 when all is said and done) - I do get to sleep in a bit and won't actually have to be online until my first conference call at 11:30.
I can't wait to read this on the blog tomorrow and see if it is coherent. At this point I really can't tell. I could ramble on but I won't bore everyone with my on-call duty :-)
I'm having a very hard time staying awake because what my role in all this is, is to point telephone numbers to the different locations that they need them to route to to do the testing. If testing was going well, I would have plenty to do. Since it isn't...here I sit...blogging. This is after I added another cheesecake to my menu, played about 200 hands of blackjack on Yahoo games and another 200 hands of Pyramids on Yahoo games.
The only bright side to all of this is that I get to work from home tomorrow and don't have to wake up, try to get ready in what would be a semi-comatose state (forget about looking presentable) and drive in to the office. Plus, because this is going to take at least 4 hours (I'm betting closer to 5 when all is said and done) - I do get to sleep in a bit and won't actually have to be online until my first conference call at 11:30.
I can't wait to read this on the blog tomorrow and see if it is coherent. At this point I really can't tell. I could ramble on but I won't bore everyone with my on-call duty :-)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Busy Bee's
I swear we go from the most boring people on the planet to having not enough time in the day in 60 seconds or less! I've been a bad blogger...sorry. I'm back though and have lots of news to report.
First of all, a big congrats to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law Stephanie and Coby. After lots of trying (which can't be all bad!) and the help of a little modern science - Stephanie is going to have a baby!!! We are so excited for both of them and can't wait to welcome our new little niece or nephew into the world. Kai'le is also thrilled to be getting a new little cousin.
Congrats also to Riley and Sunni. They will be getting married on March 7th and will be welcoming a new little one as well sometime this summer.
And...last but not least - congrats to one of my oldest and dearest friends Kristi Smith, she and her husband Ryan will be welcoming their 4th little monkey into the world here in the next few months...HOLY CRAP IT'S A BABY BOOM - HOPE IT ISN'T CONTAGIOUS!!!
Ryker and I have been busy trying to get things in order for our roping club this Spring. I actually published and sent out a newsletter to the previous (and hopefully continuing) members to let them know the happenings around the Jones house. Some of you may know that we started a business this past summer for the roping club and we call it Stryker Stables. We decided that our arena should have a name as well. We settled on Lucky Stryke Arena and made a (we think) totally awesome logo for it. I was trying to download it here - but the blog doesn't recognize the power point format that it's in. Basically, it's a four leaf clover with a lightening bolt hitting directly in the center of it. Go figure...Ryker, four leaf clovers and lightening bolts...surprise, surprise!
To go along with our sweet new logo we have decided to take the steer by the horns (literally) and put on a summer roping series. We have commissioned 25 steers and a few fields of hay and will be producing ropings from May thru September for headers and heelers that are 2 1/2's an under. We are currently in negotiations with ACTRA to have our arena recognized as an affiliate - which will take care of insurance costs - and we've gotten two confirmed sponsors and are trying to work out a deal with a third. Amazing!!! People are giving us money to do what we love!
Needless to say, it's been busy. Ryker will be flying to California on the 20th to be a redneck for a weekend with my mom at the NASCAR race in Fontana. They've got really cool tickets that allow them to have breakfast and lunch with the drivers and then they get special seating in the grandstands. They will be with Kevin Harvik, Jeff Burton and the rest of the Childress racing team. Should be a good time and my mom will get some, not so free, electrical work done around the house. Then he and the kids will be off to Ogden on the 6th for Riley's wedding the next day. Hopefully they will make it back in time on Sunday to take me to the airport so I can be off to Denver. Then within three weeks will be off on vacation to Utah. Then it's back to work both in the office and at home to get ready for summer and lots and lots of roping fun. When you put it in that kind of perspective, summer will be here before we know it. Also when you put it in that perspective, it kind of sounds like we're SCREWED!!! But then again, in Spring time, when aren't we. Much love to all and I will be more diligent in the future with the blog.
P.S. I'm going to be building a website for the roping club and team roping series. I'll let you know when it's up and running and give you the URL - visit it often so it looks like we have lots of fans!!!
First of all, a big congrats to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law Stephanie and Coby. After lots of trying (which can't be all bad!) and the help of a little modern science - Stephanie is going to have a baby!!! We are so excited for both of them and can't wait to welcome our new little niece or nephew into the world. Kai'le is also thrilled to be getting a new little cousin.
Congrats also to Riley and Sunni. They will be getting married on March 7th and will be welcoming a new little one as well sometime this summer.
And...last but not least - congrats to one of my oldest and dearest friends Kristi Smith, she and her husband Ryan will be welcoming their 4th little monkey into the world here in the next few months...HOLY CRAP IT'S A BABY BOOM - HOPE IT ISN'T CONTAGIOUS!!!
Ryker and I have been busy trying to get things in order for our roping club this Spring. I actually published and sent out a newsletter to the previous (and hopefully continuing) members to let them know the happenings around the Jones house. Some of you may know that we started a business this past summer for the roping club and we call it Stryker Stables. We decided that our arena should have a name as well. We settled on Lucky Stryke Arena and made a (we think) totally awesome logo for it. I was trying to download it here - but the blog doesn't recognize the power point format that it's in. Basically, it's a four leaf clover with a lightening bolt hitting directly in the center of it. Go figure...Ryker, four leaf clovers and lightening bolts...surprise, surprise!
To go along with our sweet new logo we have decided to take the steer by the horns (literally) and put on a summer roping series. We have commissioned 25 steers and a few fields of hay and will be producing ropings from May thru September for headers and heelers that are 2 1/2's an under. We are currently in negotiations with ACTRA to have our arena recognized as an affiliate - which will take care of insurance costs - and we've gotten two confirmed sponsors and are trying to work out a deal with a third. Amazing!!! People are giving us money to do what we love!
Needless to say, it's been busy. Ryker will be flying to California on the 20th to be a redneck for a weekend with my mom at the NASCAR race in Fontana. They've got really cool tickets that allow them to have breakfast and lunch with the drivers and then they get special seating in the grandstands. They will be with Kevin Harvik, Jeff Burton and the rest of the Childress racing team. Should be a good time and my mom will get some, not so free, electrical work done around the house. Then he and the kids will be off to Ogden on the 6th for Riley's wedding the next day. Hopefully they will make it back in time on Sunday to take me to the airport so I can be off to Denver. Then within three weeks will be off on vacation to Utah. Then it's back to work both in the office and at home to get ready for summer and lots and lots of roping fun. When you put it in that kind of perspective, summer will be here before we know it. Also when you put it in that perspective, it kind of sounds like we're SCREWED!!! But then again, in Spring time, when aren't we. Much love to all and I will be more diligent in the future with the blog.
P.S. I'm going to be building a website for the roping club and team roping series. I'll let you know when it's up and running and give you the URL - visit it often so it looks like we have lots of fans!!!
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