Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is my favorite. I make it all the time for family gatherings, birthdays, etc. It is actually two recipes that I morphed together, one is from my mom (she actually made it for my after-wedding lunch!) and the other is from a church cookbook. It is very simple and has a yummy sweet & sour type dressing that kids especially like. I'm planning to make a big batch for family at our upcoming holiday weekend at the lake.

My Pasta Salad

16 oz pasta (any variety)
1/2 c canola oil

Cook the pasta, rinse with cold water, drain well then combine in a big bowl with the oil.

Then, combine these dressing ingredients in the blender-
1 c white vinegar
1/2 c chopped fresh parsley
1/2 medium onion
1 t salt
1 t garlic powder
1 t pepper
1/2 t ground mustard
1 c sugar

Blend until liquefied then pour over the pasta.

Then, add veggies of your choice. Cucumber, in my opinion, is a must have. I dice one large cuke and mix it in. I also like to add halved grape or cherry tomatoes and chopped green pepper but not if I'm making it just for my three stooges since they are picky like that. Just add what you like, the more you add the prettier it is! After adding the veggies, let the salad chill in the fridge for at least a couple hours before serving.

This batch is kinda boring looking, but it sure tasted good!



And since I had to chop a lot of cucumber for this recipe I thought I'd show off my fancy cucumber slicing machine. It's actually a wonderfully simple little slicer that belonged to my Grandma, and was handed down to me after she passed away. She made some great cucumber salad and I have many memories of her using this or letting me use it while I helped her in the kitchen. This thing is OLD but it is still amazingly sharp and can slice up a cucumber like nobody's business. I love it, I love her and I love that it makes me think of her whenever I use it.