Sharing Recipes the New Way

Back when I was a kid, we saved recipes by carefully copying them onto recipe cards. I still have some of the recipes I transcribed by hand as a 10-year-old 4-Her. They are stuck in a now-rusted tin box, but I still pull them out from time to time.

There is still value in hand-written recipes. Jill was getting a little nervous during the unpacking process in Topeka when we hadn't uncovered her Jill and Eric's Family and Friends Cookbooks that I'd made for a bridal shower gift. Most of those recipes were handwritten by family and friends and included in two binders. We found them this past weekend during more unpacking chores.

I still love browsing through cookbooks and leafing through old recipe cards, but the internet has added a new dimension to how we share recipes these days. I may find a recipe on a fellow food lover's blog. A couple of my young Facebook friends often post what's for supper or dessert in their Facebook status.

That's where both Jill and I saw the recipe for Picnic Pasta Salad. Jill's cousin Paige posted a link on Facebook last week. When Randy & I were at Topeka this Sunday, it was on the menu at Jill's. I did my part by chopping up the vegetables and Jill did the rest.

No matter how we share recipes these days - whether by recipe card, phone call, email, blog or Facebook - the sharing continues. And that's a good thing.

Jill served the pasta salad with paninis we each assembled ourselves and then put on the George Foreman grill. Yum! It's great to be a dinner guest!

Picnic Pasta Salad
from Taste of Home

1 package (12 ounces) tricolor spiral pasta
1 package (10 ounces) refrigerated tricolor tortellini
1 jar (7-1/2 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts, undrained
1/2 pound fresh broccoli florets (about 1-3/4 cups)
12 ounces provolone cheese, cubed
12 ounces hard salami, cubed
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, drained
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 envelopes Italian salad dressing mix

Cook spiral pasta and tortellini according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Place in a large bowl; add the artichokes, broccoli, provolone cheese, salami, peppers, beans, olives, onion and garlic.

Prepare salad dressing according to package directions; pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.

Yield: 14-16 servings (at least!)

Recipe Notes:

• Jill didn't use salami because she's not eating luncheon meat while she's pregnant.
• She didn't include the olives because neither she or I like them. Randy & Eric do, but they weren't the ones in the kitchen ... cook's prerogative.
• We used green onions instead of red onion (See above!)
• Jill used already cubed cheese to save time. Since her grocery store didn't have already-cubed provolone, she used a combination of sharp cheddar and a marble cheese.
  
• She used tricolor rotini, but she used regular tortellini.
• Jill didn't use 4 cloves of garlic.
  
• This makes a big salad. We ate it for two meals and there was still a huge bowlful left. It's a good thing Eric eats leftovers! Maybe that's how Jill and Eric can meet their neighbors: Show up at the door with homemade pasta salad!