Sherrie's Italian Pasta Salad

This salad can be served as a side with a meal, but is hearty enough to be a meal by itself--really good in Summer when it is hot and you don't feel like cooking. You can, of course, omit the meat for a vegetarian version.

1/2 pound dry fusilli or rotini pasta

1 six-oz can whole black olives, sliced

8 or 9 whole green Spanish olives, sliced

1/3 cup or so pickled banana pepper slices, chopped

8 to 10 marinated artichoke pieces, sliced to bite-size

about one cup diced summer sausage or salami

1/2 of a medium red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

(see notes for additional suggestions / ingredients)

Vinaigrette Dressing:

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Italian seasonings

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

4 or 5 dashes of Red's Hot Sauce

3 or 4 squirts of bottled Italian dressing with aged Romano

Cook the pasta in a large pot of generously-salted water about one minute more than the package directs--for cold pasta salads you really don't want "al dente." Drain pasta and rinse under cold water until no longer hot. Drain.

While the pasta is cooking and draining, slice and chop the other ingredients and place them in a large container. Add all vinaigrette ingredients into a glass jar with lid, and shake to combine.

Add drained pasta to the bowl, pour vinaigrette over and stir to combine. Although this can be eaten right away, it is best to let it marinate in the refrigerator for a while to let the flavors meld. It will keep in the refrigerator for several days to a week.

Notes:

This recipe is flexible and can include more vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc. as desired. Including the tomatoes and/or broccoli add a nice punch of color to this salad. Other suggested ingredients:

• Broccoli florets, cut into small bite-sized pieces (add them to the boiling pasta during the last couple of minutes to cook, then rinse them with cool water along with the pasta)
• Grape tomatoes, halved (these can be added with the other ingredients when making the salad, but halved ones tend to look a little sad if not served soon, so I prefer to add them right before serving. Of course you can put them in the salad whole, but they're tricky to stab with a fork)
• Fresh mozzarella or other cheese, cut into bite sized pieces, or grated (not the dry powdered stuff!) Parmesan or Romano cheese stirred into the salad
• Pickled Italian vegetables (giardiniera), but NOT pickles

  

  Aunt Peggy's Baby Shower 1946
  (She's in the mddle, with Mom right behind her;
  this salad would go well at a party like this!)

Coffee Ice Cream

Sadly, cousin Becky is lactose intolerant
so can't have any of this ice cream!

1-1/2 cups half-and-half

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 cup coffee beans

3/4 cup sugar

3 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the half-and-half, cream, beans and sugar in a saucepan. Heat, stirring quite frequently (almost constantly) until bubbles start to form around the sides of the pan--just slightly below boiling. Remove from heat and let stand for about one hour to allow the coffee to infuse into the liquid.

Strain the cream mixture into a separate pan; discard beans. Whisk egg yolks into the now-tepid liquid to mix thoroughly. Heat over low heat until slightly thickened (it doesn't really have to be "pudding" consistency, as the ice cream maker will thicken it, you just want to make sure the egg yolks reach a safe temperature). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Strain once more into a large measuring glass or bowl. Allow to cool & then refrigerate to chill further until cold.

Follow your ice cream maker's instructions. This makes about 1-1/2 pints, so is ideal for small electric ice cream makers, such as those which have a freezable bowl rather than using ice & rock salt.