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Ah . . . glorious spring! Time to clear the cobwebs from my head and soak up some of the warm sunshine. And I’m sorry to say, I’ve been playing hooky from the blog. It has been one long, dreary winter, and it seems I’ve hardly strayed from the house except when the cupboards were bare.
Now that the endless cycle of cold fronts, snow flurries, and northerly winds has broken, I’m trying to make up for lost time. It’s been fabulous going to lunch and talking about writing with friends. On Friday, I headed over to Mardel’s to a book signing where I met the lovely Karen Kingsbury and then ate dinner with a couple of other writers. Max and I went to a Southern Gospel concert Saturday evening, and this afternoon I worked for four hours in the yard.
I raked the detritus of winter from the flower beds and discovered a plethora of green shoots poking through–two kinds of garden lilies, moneywort, dime-sized violet leaves and nice clumps of green that will bear giant daisies in a couple more months. The daffodils, which shot up overnight it seems, have swollen tips, so their happy faces will be here soon. Such a welcome sight after the brown of winter. To celebrate, I made our favorite pasta salad, chock full of fresh veggies. It’s a perfect side dish for grilled chicken. Hope you enjoy it. We did!
I box tri-color Rotini pasta
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
6 green onions, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 orange bell pepper (or red or yellow), chopped
12 cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
1 small can sliced black olives
Cook pasta in 10 cups boiling water to al dente. Don’t overcook. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add to chopped vegetables in an extra large bowl, then toss with dressing. May use bottled Italian, if desired, but I like to make my own.
¼ c. olive oil
½ c. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. dried basil (or 3 tbsp. fresh, if you have it)
1 tsp. dried parsley
¼ tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Refrigerate four hours. Stir well and toss with 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese before serving.
Any signs of spring where you live?