Notorious Pasta Salad

It was 90 degrees today, which isn't so bad. I'm just worried about what's coming around the corner. My daughter had a swim meet today and we had a barbeque afterwards with all of the "swim" families. It was just a nice, casual evening. I enjoyed it all the more because our school's superintendent had a "party" at his house which I definitely did not want to go to, and the barbeque gave me the perfect out.

In my last entry, I mentioned how food can be so evocative. I brought a pasta salad to the barbeque that is very evocative to Russ and me. I brought what we call Bud and Bev Pasta Salad. I've had this recipe for over fifteen years and got it from...you guessed it...Bud and Bev. They were my cousin's in-laws, and they served this pasta at a barbeque at their beautiful house out in the country. We had a great time swimming and socializing with my favorite cousins. Russ and I thought Bud and Bev seemed really nice, and so did all of my extended family...for a while. Unfortunately, their son ended up being a jerk... er...a psychopath.. or maybe a sociopath. Anyway, to make a long story short, He really was a terrible person, and my poor cousin went through hell for several years because of him. He really was a head-case. Now Bud and Bev seemed to think that their son, who had nearly died from head injuries received in a drunk driving accident when he was in high school, could do no wrong. I'm all for parental devotion, but there weren't two sides to this story. My cousin worked all day as a teacher, took care of their two young children, and tried to be supportive of him as he tried to go to school (seizures and other results of the earlier injuries hindered this); while he had a trail of women "visiting" their house while she was gone all day, among other things. I don't like Bud and Bev anymore, even though I didn't really know them to begin with. My cousin is happily married to a nice guy and her ex and Bud and Bev don't even live in the state, BUT we still call this pasta salad "Bud and Bev Pasta." Kind of a silly story to tell. I just think it's kind of funny. I gave the recipe to a friend tonight and told her the story. She says she's going to call it "Bud and Bev Pasta" too.

Bud and Bev Pasta

Toss together while pasta is warm:
1 pkg. cooked corkscrew pasta
1/4 cup Italian dressing (I use Berenstein's Cheesey Fantastico)
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/4 garlic powder
dash of oregano and pepper

Toss with pasta just before serving:
1 cup Feta cheese
4 tomatoes
1 green bell pepper (I often add red bell pepper too)
4 radishes
2 green onions

I don't have a picture of my finished salad, but here's what my bowl looked like at the end of the evening.