Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

 

I guess Dill Pickle Pasta Salad is a hit on TikTok. I don't know anything about TikTok. But I now DO know about Dill Pickle Pasta Salad. It was on the potluck table at our church recently, courtesy of Lauren - one of my former Joyful Noise Children's Choir members. Now she's a mama herself and bringing tasty dishes to church potlucks. (Am I old, or what?!)

I like pasta salads in general. When I saw it on the buffet, I figured it would just be a tasty pasta salad. But this was not your usual pasta salad. The dill pickles packed a powerful puckery punch. After discovering who brought the salad, I asked for the recipe and then promptly tried it myself.

The recipe Lauren shared was from the Together As Family blog. I also did a little Googling, and there are lots of versions of recipes for Dill Pickle Pasta Salad. For my version, I used extra sharp Cheddar cheese. Together as Family suggested Colby Jack, but I think the stronger flavor of extra sharp Cheddar holds up better against the powerful pickle taste. I only had enough of the dill pickles for 1 cup (without a trip to the grocery store), so I used bread and butter pickles for the remainder. (That was a suggestion from another recipe.) You can use the combination that best suits your taste buds. We liked the touch of sweetness that the bread and butter pickles provided. 

The recipe said dill pickle slices or baby dill pickles could be used. I like the chopped whole baby dill pickles for more flavor and more crunch.  

If you try it, let me know what you think! 

Dill Pickle Pasta Salad

Adapted from Together As Family blog 

For salad

1 box (16 oz) rotini pasta 

1/3 cup dill pickle juice (from pickle jar)

2 cups chopped baby dill pickles 

1 block (8 oz) cubed extra sharp Cheddar cheese

1 small onion, finely chopped (opt.)

 

Creamy Dill Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup dill pickle juice 

2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill (or 1 tbsp. dried dill)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper 

 

Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.  When pasta is done cooking, drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Move rinsed pasta to a mixing bowl and pour 1/3 cup pickle juice over it. Stir to combine. Let sit while you prepare the rest.

 

Chop the dill pickles and cut cheese into small cubes. Finely chop the white onion, if desired. (You can use green onion for a milder onion taste.)

 

In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients, mixing well.

 

Drain the pasta again that was sitting in the pickle juice. Add the pasta back to the mixing bowl. Add in the pickles, cheese and white onion. Stir to combine.  

 

Pour dressing over pasta salad; stir well. Salad can be eaten right away or, if you prefer a colder salad, refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. 

 

Store leftovers in the refrigerator. However, after sitting, the pasta absorbs the dressing, making it less creamy.  

 

Take a Photo Holiday

Take time to smell the roses ... er, the yellow wildflowers?

 

Take pictures as if you were taking a holiday in your own life.

That was one of the photo prompts from the book, "One Photo a Day Keeps the Doctor Away" by Joost Joosen, which Brent and Susan gave me for Christmas last year. On the same page was this Alexandra Horowitz quote:

Together we became investigators of the everyday. ... In this way, the familiar becomes unfamiliar and the old becomes new. We do have the ability to pay attention. We just forget how to use it. 

We're all quick to share the moments from the highlight reel of our lives. Maybe it's the visit from our grandchildren. The beauty of a National Park is sure to generate dozens - if not hundreds - of photos. But there is no shortage of beauty hiding in plain sight along our normal routes.

Several times, I drove past those yellow "flowers" at the corner where I make the turn onto the Zenith Road. But on a day when the clouds were like a 3D painting on a bright blue canvas, I made the time to stop.

The same clouds and sky provided a counterpoint to the green alfalfa field and hay bales.

They also gave me a different backdrop for my sunrise tree ... even though it was the middle of the day and not sunrise.

When I took my "photo holiday," we were coming back home from a Labor Day trip to the Stafford golf course. 

I spent a lot of the time reading my book. But I also took a few photos with my favorite model, framed with some natural "decor."

It's not often that it's wet enough in August to find mushrooms on the golf course!

All the rain this summer has offered other unusual August photos. Last week, we had a total of 3 inches of rain, and Peace Creek was uncharacteristically flowing.

This was the scene at our new bridge - which is done, by the way! 

On the Zenith Road looking east

I always like looking at Peace Creek from a view on the Zenith Road, too. 

On the Zenith Road looking west

 It's certainly prettier with water than without!

August 10, 2022 - from the Zenith Road

To prove that point, here's a photo from August 2022. (For the record, the water is back down this week.)

Last sunset of August 2025

 Sunsets are always an opportunity to take a holiday in my everyday life. 

First sunset of September 2025

Storms that went north and east of us provided the drama in the sky last evening.

We only see what we look at. 

To look is an act of choice.

--John Berger 

 

 

 

***

I love the nature all around me. But the "highlight reels" of life can be fun, too. K-State football games have been part of my life since I was a little girl. 

The drone show following the home opener win was certainly worth commemorating with photos.

It may have been man (or woman) made, but the formations were certainly worthy of a "photo holiday." 
 

 

Sunday Drive on a Friday Night

 

We took a "Sunday drive" last Friday night.  

The term "Sunday drive" originated from leisurely car drives taken on Sundays in the early to mid-20th century as a form of cheap entertainment. That just happens to be the time I was a kid growing up on a Central Kansas farm. I know about "Sunday drives" firsthand as a kid sitting in the backseat of a car while my dad sang songs like "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" or "Mairzy Doats." Those - plus "I'm An Old Cowhand" - were also part of the sound track of our trips to visit my grandparents in Sublette. 

If you look up the definition of "Sunday drives," it says that initially, these drives were a form of recreation with no specific destination or time constraints. Over time, the term "Sunday driver" has evolved to describe someone who drives slowly, cautiously or inexpertly, often associated with inattentive drivers. Alternatively, it can mean "those who take their time to enjoy the scenery."

Since the only living things we saw on our trek off the beaten path were grazing cattle, we didn't bother any other drivers on our foray down country roads. So I guess, in this case, we'll stick with the definition of "those who take their time to enjoy the scenery."

We ate supper at Sylvia's Oasis restaurant after a fellow golfer recommended the Mexican food there to Randy. On the way home, we took a detour to the Ninnescah Pasture. Randy had been there more recently than I had. One summer when we were still actively farming, we took more trips down that road than any of us would have liked. There was a group of cows and calves that were determined to find the proverbial "greener pastures." No matter what we did, they would not stay in, so we were on 4-wheelers rounding them up more times than either of us wanted. (That group of escapees eventually ended up at the sale barn.) 

Anyway, it was nice to take a leisurely trip down the road - with no purpose in mind, other than checking out the water flow in the Ninnescah ... 

Looking east at the bridge

 

Looking west at the bridge

... And "smelling the roses" - or, in this case -  the wooly verbena. 

 

The road to another familiar pasture - the Rattlesnake Pasture - used to be lined by a tunnel of cottonwood trees, a route I loved in the summer. But several years ago, those aging cottonwoods were cleared away from the road. I'm sure it made practical sense, but I still miss dodging light and shadow as we work our way down that road. I imagined Randy's predecessors 120 years ago appreciating the road less traveled as they brought cattle to the Rattlesnake pasture and then checked them throughout the summer months.

July 2013 - This was before the township tore down most of the cottonwoods along the road to the Rattlesnake Pasture.

Maybe those nostalgic memories factor into my love of a tree-lined road near the Ninnescah Pasture, where the trees still tower over the dirt road and the sun plays peekaboo among the branches.

 

 You can't beat a Sunday drive on a Friday night.

 

Look for chances to take the less-traveled roads. 

There are no wrong turns.

-- Susan Magsamen 

 

*** 

And an update on the bridge north of our house: We drove up to the bridge last evening to check out the progress. Completion is definitely closer, but the Road Closed signs remain. However, all the big equipment is gone, and the new guardrails are in place. 

On August 5, the public works guys told Randy that the bridge would be done in 2 weeks. We'll see if their prediction holds true. 

 

Bridge Over Peace Creek Water

 

You remember the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff from your childhood, right? The three billy goats wanted to get from one meadow to the next. But, in order to make the trip, they needed to cross a wooden bridge with a big troll stationed under the bridge, wanting to eat them up. 

The little goat's hooves went Trip-Trap, Trip-Trap as he crossed the wooden bridge. He told the troll something bigger and tastier would come along. So, the troll allowed him passage to the other side. 

The middle-sized goat's hooves made a Trap-Rap, Trap-Rap sound as he crossed the bridge. He, too, did a bit of fast-talking and outmaneuvered the ravenous troll, throwing the bigger goat under the bus - or under the bridge, so to speak.

And the big goat hammered out a Stomp-Tromp, Stomp-Tromp as he crossed the bridge and also outwitted the lurking troll. (In some versions, there's violence involved and the troll's untimely demise. We'll just keep it to the PG version for our purposes and say that all the billy goats arrived and were able to graze on greener pastures.)

The wooden bridge over Peace Creek always made me think of that story, especially when its planks were struck by dozens of cattle hooves pounding their way across it during one of our many cattle-moving days. 

 

   

The bridge - located a couple of miles north of our house - has been a conduit from 4th Street Road to our house for me for 40 years. It was the start of the route to visit the library in Hutchinson and other destinations there. But, more importantly, it was the route to get to much of our farm ground and pastures.

Randy grew up less than a half mile from the bridge, so it's been a life-long centerpiece for him. Besides being a "thoroughfare" for our farming operation, it was a childhood location for the Fritzemeier kids to meet the Hornbaker cousins for a little neighborly fun.  

This was a photo taken by my late brother-in-law, Lyle. It shows part of the bridge in fall.

 

When Randy's brother Lyle died in September 2020, I posted the photo above, and mentioned the excursions to the Peace Creek bridge. I got this response from one of those neighbor "kids:"

Oh the stories to tell of deeds done here! The famous rocket tree, picking leeches from between our toes, the nest of owlets beneath the bridge, fishing with string and a safety pin and never understanding why we were such unlucky fishermen, and the hundreds of miles racing our bikes down those sandy roads.

Pam Hornbaker Turner

Since April 22 this spring, the Reno County Public Works department has been working on the bridge, so we've had to detour from our normal route. 

As I looked for photos of the bridge, I realized I've probably taken more photos from the bridge than I've taken of the bridge. 

Taken from the bridge on a spring/summer day.

October 2018, when we got an overabundance of rain.

 

A winter scene from the bridge.

But a Kim's County Line blog search did yield several images of this important way we've gotten from Point A to Point B throughout the years - spring, summer, fall and winter.  

One of the public works guys told Randy on Tuesday, August 5, that it would only be a couple more weeks before they are done. None of us who live along the route are going to bet on that completion date. But I guess it's something they can aspire to, right?

Photo by Randy - May 4, 2025

Since the April start date, Randy has taken periodic trips to check their progress. His first one was taken on May 4.

Shelby, and her husband, Justin, bought Melvin and Marie's house. Shelby, too, has chronicled the bridge progress on her Facebook page.

Photo - Shelby Bremer

 Her first photo was taken on May 9.

Photo by Shelby Bremer

Shelby's photo on May 14.

Photo by Shelby Bremer

 Shelby's photo on May 21.

Photo by Shelby Bremer

 And Shelby's photo on July 11 (above).

The photo above was taken by Randy on July 17.

On August 5, Randy watched as they craned one of the spans into place.

 

 That's when the worker optimistically said the bridge would be in place in the next couple of weeks. 

Morning of August 7, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

They'd made a lot of progress when we checked again on August 7.  

However, no longer will there be that clomping sound as cattle walk over the bridge. With this rendition of the bridge, there's no wood. I'm guessing it will hold up better in the long run.

 

We neighborhood people are definitely ready for its completion.  Don't get me wrong: I'm glad they worked on it. Every time I drove the heavy feed truck across it or watched the combine traverse it, I hoped it would stay standing.  

2013 photo accompanying blog post on beaver gnawing down a tree there. Click HERE.

 

 

The wooden bridge was central to many of our cattle-moving endeavors. During one of those times, I had my life flash before my eyes tumbling off that bridge in a 4-wheeler accident in 2019. 

Randy has lived and worked near the bridge for his entire life - nearly 70 years now. This current remodel is the third time he recalls that road crews have worked on it. 

After one of those rebuilds when Randy was about junior high age, Randy's dad asked if he could have some of the wood stripped from the bridge. 

 

That request was granted, and Melvin used it to build feed bunks in the winter pasture by the bridge. 

The bridge looks a lot different, both on top and underneath, with this latest version.

 

2025 version - August 7

On one of Randy's earlier expeditions to view progress, workers had explained that they had driven i-beams into the ground until they reached solid rock. 

 

 

The beams were in 30-foot sections. The workers would weld additional beam on top and keep pounding it in. They reached the rock at 90 feet.

 

 

Maybe this current version will outlive us. We'll see. It has to be finished first.