A Twist on Pasta Salad

STILL WATERS by Frances Robson

Good evening. Ya'll come on up to the Net Porch and sit a spell and enjoy the view with me. The picture above is one of our views from the porch and it reminds me of the 23rd Psalm when David said that God will lead us beside the still waters. What a wonderful promise that no matter how troubled our waters become, God will lead us to still waters so that we may refresh our thirst for peace and joy. He is an awesome God!

Haven't written a while but I am trying to follow my daddy's advice - if you don't have anything worthwhile to say, just be quiet. Now I had lots to say but I am not sure it was worth saying. In fact, our son and his wife came to visit this weekend and he said I had to quit writing about unmentionables or underwear. It seems that a colleague of his reads my blog to get recipes and it embarrasses him when his good, Southern mama talks about her undies. Now I don't know why he is surprised for I've been embarrassing him for years with my weird sense of humor and if you notice it was all said in good taste. It couldn't be otherwise or MY good Southern mama would haint me for sure.

A former student of mine told me on Facebook that he always knew I had a twisted mind and now he was sure of it, bless my pea pickin self. I will have to say we became friends because he is a little twisted also. Now I will say it is not a twisted mind but one that thinks a little differently and it just pops out. I have always been a "thinker" just didn't think like most other people. It is called being an individual, marching to my own drum beat, weird, or as we in the South would say - "She's just a little strange." This doesn't bother me for most of my favorite people are a "little strange" or eccentric and this is what makes them interesting. As the philosopher and deep thinker - Kermit the Frog - says, "It's not easy being green."

So today, my son, I am writing about food. We had a good salad for lunch that I kinda concocted on the spur of the moment to use what I had in the refrigerator. To save money and not waste food, I am cooking from what I have in the pantry, freezer and refrigerator. You know we all buy more than we need most of the time and it just sits on the shelves, especially those impulse buys. I am trying not to do that but occasionally I slip up but I am trying to use all of these.

Last night we had fried chicken strips from Carter's Fried Chicken in Adel, GA and because they are so generous with their portions, I had 3 big strips leftover. When trying to decide what to do with them I found a box of Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Classic which we like. From that I began to pull from the fridge and this is what resulted and Roy said to do it again. When he says that it is a postable for the blog.

Fried Chicken Pasta Salad

1 box Betty Crocker Suddenly Pasta Salad - classic
4-6 cups chicken stock

Bring stock to a boil, add pasta and gently boil for about 14 min. Remove, drain, do not rinse and let cool. Do this earlier so that the pasta will be cooled.

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1 Tbsp. balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. cold water
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 clove garlic - pressed through garlic press or diced finely and mashed with knife
3 fried chicken strips diced (can be more - depends on what is in fridge)
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup dill pickle relish
3/4 cup grated cheese (cheese of choice- I used cheddar)

Combine seasoning packet from salad mix with vinegar, lemon juice, water, olive oil, and garlic. Mix well in large bowl. Add the cooled pasta, chicken and vegetables and mix well. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve on a bed of mixed lettuces. If tomatoes are in season add slices of tomatoes around the salad or chop and include in salad.

If you don't have leftover fried chicken you can use any leftover chicken or buy the chicken strips which are already cooked. You can add other vegetables you like such as bell peppers, banana peppers or others of choice.

I am trying to add as many raw vegetables to our meals as I can and salads are a good place to do this.

One way I have found to add a fruit is to add chopped apple to my raisin bran. It gives a wonderful crunchy addition and adds to the taste also. When I prepare oatmeal, I use the regular quick-cooking oatmeal and add chopped apple, raisins or craisins to it while cooking. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon and serve over brown sugar and you have included fruits to your meal.

I hope you will enjoy these ideas and ya'll come back and sit on the porch with me again. Next time I will have some fresh coffee for you. I didn't even mention undergarments this time, am I forgiven?

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach (from Alabama)
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Shrimp and Pasta

Good evening, ya'll. Come on up on the "Net Porch" and sit a spell. I can make some coffee if you would like and I have oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies I baked yesterday. They were so good I carried some to the church last night for our FAITH visitation night and those men took after those cookies like a hound dog to pot likker. I do believe if I had carried another dozen they would eaten those also. It is always good to see someone enjoying your cooking. There is no better compliment you can pay a cook.

I thought I would share a recipe I came up with today for "lupper". Remember because we eat in mid-afternoon we combine lunch and supper into lupper. Any way, I had a pound bag of cooked then frozen shrimp I had bought a good while ago and thought I better use them. They are not really good served alone so I fixed a pasta and tomato sauce to go with them. It was scrumpdili-icious. In other words you would steal the plate right out from under your brother if he didn't stab your hand with the fork. So without further conversation or "comersation" as the kids used to say, here it is.

Tomato Basil Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Shrimp

1/2 lb. of cooked, frozen shrimp or freshly cooked shrimp - you can use more or less
4 0z. tomato Basil Pasta - or enough to feed 4. I buy this great pasta from a Mennonite bakery and it is shipped in from Penn. You can usually find it at a good supermarket

Sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
10-12 Cherry tomatoes - halved
1 med. onion - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 lemon squeezed and zested
Parmesan Cheese

Thaw the shrimp if frozen and warm in a colander over hot water. I placed my colander over the pasta water. Set aside in a covered dish to stay warm. Don't cook them, just heat them.

Cook the pasta in salty, boiling water until soft but not mushy. If you have this homemade type pasta, it takes less time. Any good fettuccine will work. Drain.

Sauce: Put olive oil in skillet and heat. When hot, add the onion and saute for a few minutes then add garlic. Saute until tender and add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook for about 1 minute. You just want to heat the tomatoes. Add can of tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar and Italian seasoning to taste. Cook until hot on medium heat and add the lemon zest and lemon juice.

Pour over the hot pasta, sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese and place the shrimp on top. That and a green salad, toasted french bread and sweet iced tea makes a grand meal.

Shrimp is one of my favorite foods and as a child we had it only on very, very special occasions. Mama preferred oysters and oyster stew and we had that often but shrimp was a rare meal at our house.

As we got older and sold peaches every summer from our orchard, we would go to Gulf Shores, AL for a week. There we would buy shrimp from the shrimp boats as they would come in and boil them and eat until we couldn't hold another one. We would just boil, cool and eat our fill. Once I ate so many I was one sick puppy-child but that didn't turn me against them. The very next chance I had, I ate another bait. That is some good eating if they are not overcooked.

When we lived in North Carolina we lived over on the coast at New Bern where fresh seafood was readily available. Not too far from there in Morehead City, NC is a restaurant named "The Sanitary." Not sure where the name came from but presidents, sports stars and many famous people had eaten there. It was a rustic place on the beach with the dining room out over the water. Their specialty was shrimp grilled in butter. You talk about good! It was grilled when you ordered it and served with a bowl of clarified butter and you ate until you popped. I have not eaten any better since we left North Carolina and I hope someday to eat some there again. If you are ever in that area you must stop in and eat a meal there. Not only is the food good but the scenery is exceptional. You only a few miles from the Outer Banks and it glorious.

I hope you enjoy the recipe and let me know what you think. Just click on the little ole comment box and send me a note.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach
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Good Eats

Good evening, ya'll. Come on in where it is warm tonight for it is way to cold to sit on the porch. It wasn't too bad today but the temperature is dropping by the hour and is supposed to be in the teens this weekend. I sure hope it doesn't kill our fruit trees for we are enjoying the last of the grapefruit and oranges today. They are too big to cover up so we are just hoping for the best.

The farmers in this area are crossing their fingers with the peaches and greens they have planted. Peaches need so many hours of cold below 47 and I think they will reach those hours this weekend. Farmers in Florida may loose their strawberries and citrus but I hope not for we like to eat a lot of fruit.

During the holidays I cooked and we ate way too much and we have been cutting back on the amount we eat and I am trying to cook with less calories and have a few recipes to share with you. You know I like to use mixes and I am trying to use what staples I have without going to the grocery store. You know how it is, you go for a few items and leave with 3 bags full so I am trying to stay out of them.

The first recipe is from a rice pilaf mix and it is good. I also froze a portion and it freezes well, is inexpensive and feeds a whole bunch. Enjoy!

SOUTHWESTERN CHICKEN PILAF

1 pkg. rice pilaf mix - I used the Near East
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. cumin
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups of chopped, canned chicken or 2 cups baked or rotisserie chicken
1 can whole kernel corn - drained (or the Mexican whole kernel corn)
1 cup canned black, red or pinto beans rinsed and drained
1/2 cup green onion tops

Prepare the rice pilaf mix using chicken broth instead of water and add the cumin with the spice sack following the instructions on the box.
When rice is tender add the tomatoes, chicken, corn and beans. Heat thoroughly and sprinkle with chopped onions and grated cheese if you like. If it is too dry, add a little more chicken broth. Serve with a salad and toasted tortilla chips. It freezes well and feeds a whole bunch of folks.

SPINACH PASTA WITH OVEN DRIED TOMATOES

Oven dried tomatoes: I used 1 carton from the grocery store - the little green basket
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Halve cherry or grape tomatoes and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and dried basil to your tastes. Place on parchment lined baking sheet in one layer and bake until dried - about 25 minutes.

Pasta:
8 oz. spinach pasta - about 1/2 package. I buy mine from a Mennonite store
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, Romano, asiago cheese mixture (I use Kraft)
1/2 cup chicken broth

Cook pasta in salted water until tender. Drain, return to pan and add butter and cheeses. Toss gently and add broth and gently toss until cheese and butter are melted. Pour into casserole dish I served this with baked chicken but would make a great vegetarian main dish. You may need to add more broth - depends on the pasta. Some pastas soak up the broth more than others.

I hope you will try these and let me know how you like them.
You can follow my blog by going to the box that says "Followers", clicking and following the instructions. All you need is and email address and I would love to see your smiling faces. Also please comment for I think I am talking to myself and that is dangerous.

Stay in and stay warm and dry and drink some hot chocolate with me.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach
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