Where has this year gone? Welcome, September. SEPTEMBER! Time is moving right along, and it was evident over this past weekend. Labor Day 2014 was one of those three day weekends with not enough hours in the days to get it all in. Busy is good, but busy hinders this cook. It’s hard to get in full on project mode with the daily question we all love to hate. You know the one, the sixty-four-thousand-dollar-asked-a-gazillion-times what’s for dinner question.
When Dave the Builder was a little boy his mother was always busy sewing dresses for his identical twin sisters. It never failed when his mom was at her busiest little Dave the Builder would decide he was hungry…now. Long on hunger and short on patience, a pitch perfect chorus of whining began. I bet my mother-in-law was about ready for the wining of another kind to begin, but I digress.
My mother-in-law patiently addressed Dave’s request, telling him if he would wait just one minute she would get up and fix him a sandwich. Deciding a sandwich wasn’t going to cut it he whined back “no Mama, I want something on a plate.” Poor baby wanted a full meal- meat, potatoes, vegetables and bread. When my mother-in-law and her ladies that lunch group would be deciding the menu for their events, it never failed that one of the ladies would quote Dave the Builder. Something on a plate is part of the Places In The Home lexicon.
When projects prevail and time gets away from me Problem Solved Pasta Salad is what’s for dinner.
This pasta salad is a super easy dish doctored up and prettied up with tri-color spiral pasta, chopped peppers, red onion, tomato, celery seed, fine black pepper, buttermilk ranch dressing mixed with a generous helping of dry ranch dip seasoning for added thickness and twang, and crumbled bacon. I don’t measure- I just throw it in and keep adding until the taste is ranch twangalicious.
Bacon and ranch- need I say more?
It is said the first bite is with the eye. This recipe is a feast your eyes on this something on a plate pleaser.
Never mistake easy for unappetizing.
A well delivered plating presentation draws the eye and pleases the taste.
