Sixteen for 50 - In which I confess I am odd and also that I use the word "crapshow"

I like to take things that people say, even just once in passing, and mull them around in my brain, sometimes for years.  One time - it could have been 10 years ago or more - a particularly opinionated member of my book club said something to the effect of people either like cooking or they like baking but they do not like both.  At the time I thought, I must be an oddball then. I like both baking and cooking much as I enjoyed both my creative writing and language classes, as well as my math classes.  Each stimulates different parts of my brain and personality.

Baking requires precision in measuring and following directions whereas cooking allows for some flexibility and adjustment for taste preferences.  You can cook "on the fly" and mix up something for dinner with some seemingly mismatched ingredients and a little improvisation.  If you were to try baking the same way, using approximate measurements and substituting ingredients with what you have vs. what the recipe calls for, a cake or some bread may be produced but it might not have the desired texture or taste.  You cannot, for example, use about the right amount of flour, or substitute baking soda for baking powder in equal parts (I know - even the dog wouldn't eat the baking SODA biscuits I once made).  You can use handfuls vs. pinches of cheese and substitute chicken for ground beef and still come up with a tasty meal.

Baking produces all manner of sweet treats, which I LOVE.  I like that it is precise and that there is science behind it, like math.  The right temperature of water activates the yeast and the yeast interacts with the sugar and makes the bread airy. There is a correct way of doing it with predictable results.  Cooking lets me improvise and use what I have and a little knowledge of what kind of ingredients taste great together.  Cooking is like writing a poem or an essay - try this word here and a sprinkle of that phrase there.  Even if it is not exactly what you thought it would be, it is almost always palatable, though perhaps not something you would try again.

Reflecting on the book club friend's statement, and knowing her better now than I did back then, I believe she likes cooking, not baking, and is inclined to project her preferences as truths for others as well.  And probably I am a little odd, as well.

I started this post a week ago, then didn't finish because I was having trouble figuring out what I wanted to say, plus I may have used up my creative allotment for the weekend with scrapbooking.  I had every intention of finishing on Monday but the workweek was, to put it nicely, a crapshow. I was supposed to be spending most of Monday-Wednesday at a virtual conference but ended up putting in long hours putting out a fire and then dealing with all the "feedback" related to that.  I did learn some interesting things at the conference and am happy to have 40+ days to be able to re-watch sessions I was not as attentive as I would have liked to have been and to watch other sessions that ran concurrently to the ones I attended.  Here I am now with a book review, 2 new recipes, a couple of the scrap book pages completed, and a shot of the red baby alpaca triangle scarf.

Book 15

I love Tom Hanks, just absolutely adore him and I have for a very long time.  Once, more than 20 years ago, my sister made me a Tom Hanks collage with a million pictures, big and tiny, of Tom in various roles (including Woody from Toy Story).  The man could read the dictionary, and I would buy a ticket to watch.  I think he is funny and smart and entertaining.  He has played a wide array of roles since I have been watching back in the Bosom Buddies and Splash days.  All this is just to say that now I have read his book of short stories Uncommon Type. It was... pretty good.  Some of the stories I liked better than others, as with most short story collections.  And I enjoyed reading to see when and how a typewriter would figure into almost all of the stories.  He has some fun and original ideas and characters, and the writing style was engaging.  I don't think I need to own this book (I got it at the library) nor read it again, but I am glad I read it.

Recipes 15 and 16 - File these under "sometimes you need a drink"

It is E's birthday weekend.  He started it off on Thursday night with some of his delicious homemade guacamole and fresh baked chips, plus margaritas.  The margs were new-to-us recipe, so I will share it with you here: 

Original Margaritas

1 oz Cointreau

2 oz blanco tequila

1 oz fresh lime juice

Combine all in a shaker, add ice, and shake.  Pour into a salt-rimmed margarita or rocks glass.

The next drink was his birthday dinner "signature drink" and was a secret from me, other than that it contained vodka and pineapple juice, and that we may have had it at a martini tasting on a cruise.  Considering that we have been to multiple martini tastings (and none for the past 5 years or so), I couldn't think of which drink it would be.  It turned out to be a lovely pinkish colored "French Martini" and we are also now proud owners of a beautiful bottle of Chambord.  This was a fresh and fruity martini and would taste delicious on the deck in the summer.

French Martini

2 oz vodka

1 oz pineapple juice

1/4 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur 

Combine all in a shaker, add ice, and shake.  Pour into a martini glass.

These recipes may be a little bit of a cheat for me since I am the baker and the cook but not the bartender/mixologist at my house.  Try them and see if you can forgive me.  

Scrapbooking

I spent a Friday evening in a Zoom craft time and completed a whopping one page.  Since my table and supplies were all dragged out and set up, I continued on my own Saturday and Sunday.  7 pages completed that weekend, finishing the 2014 Glacier/Yellowstone trip.  Then I made some cards.  Here are 2 of my pages made.

Knitting

A little scarf I made for myself.  It was a pretty easy (Free!) pattern I found here.  I didn't care for all the blah blah blah repetitiveness of the blog and the 12 million pop-up ads before the pattern, but I guess that is the price you pay for a free pattern.  I used the idea behind it and adapted for how I wanted it to look.  Basically - start with 1 stitch. At each row (except the rows you do a drop stitch pattern), yarn over (YO) and knit across.  Occasionally throw in a drop stitch pattern section

Row 1 - Insert  needle into first stitch knit-wise. Wrap yarn around needle two times then pull yarn through as if to knit. Repeat this with each stitch across the row.

Row 2 Knit the 1st knit stitch, slide the yarn overs off the needle and continue to knit each knit stitch, sliding the yarn overs off the needle across the row.

The pattern lady says to do this 4 times but I didn't like how it looked when I did it just 2 times in a row so I had 1 time every few inches.

You continue until about 42" across or until you run out of yarn.  Towards the end, I measured my yarn before and after a row to guesstimate how many rows I could knit before binding off so I wouldn't be caught without enough yarn.  It was a good trick and I ended up with about a foot of yarn to spare.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 15 (7 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 16

Blog posts published– 16

Miles walked in April - 37.25

               Miles walked year-to-date –166.21

Scrap book pages completed –19

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read again,

Hallie

Five for 50 - Frozen Fingers, Furnaces and Fame

 This week started off ok, I delivered hats, walked and then blogged all about it on Monday.  Much of my work time was spent trying to manipulate my training schedule around my "other stuff" schedule, preparing to train 2 new-to-us underwriters starting tomorrow.  I was in a meeting (virtual of course) on Tuesday afternoon and had my office door closed as I typically do, to keep the noise and pets out. It seemed to be getting chillier in there, so I added a couple of shawls I have in my office, one on my legs and then one around my shoulders.  After the meeting, I went to check the vent in my office (sometimes one of the cats bumps it closed). That was fine so I checked the thermostat.  Strangely it said the temp was 65, though it was set to 68.  I called my handyman up from the basement (he also serves as my accountant, grocery shopper and husband), we changed the filter, rebooted the system, checked the thermostat again and now it was 64 degrees.  I went back to work, adding my mittens (they have finger pop-out spots so I could still type) and another blanket, plus later my scarf.  It was chilly, ok?  Long story somewhat short, the heat exchanger in the furnace had died and we had to replace the furnace.  It was Thursday by the time it was replaced but we got by ok with space heaters (in fact my closed office became so warm that E said we should try hot yoga in there.  I hate hot and yoga, so that did not happen.)

I didn't walk very much this week - Tuesday and Wednesday it was cold and the thought of getting cold and coming back to a cool house was unappealing.  Instead I spent some time on the stationery bike while reading.  Thursday afternoon I walked but then not on Friday and Saturday because I wasn't feeling well.  So overall, I will miss 50 miles in January but plan to make it up later in the year.  Ice, the coldest temps so far this winter (of course during the days the furnace decides to die), and not feeling well are my reasons/excuses.  It's January after all.

Fame - where does that come in?  A little back story.  Over a year ago, I attended a scrap booking event hosted by Creative Memories and decided to become an advisor.  I have (or rather had until recently when she decided to become an advisor herself) one other customer besides myself - the woman who sat next to me at the event and said that if I signed up, she would buy from me (which really just entails picking my name as advisor when she ordered her stuff on the CM website).  I don't actively sell to anyone. Most people don't even know I am an advisor. Mainly, I make commission on things that I was probably going to buy anyway.  I am on a FB page for advisors to get ideas for my personal use, not for sales.  They had recently asked for feedback on what we liked about the 2021 Calendar Template so I put in my 2 cents.  I was pleasantly surprised to see my name and quote in the weekly newsletter.  Sharing it here, along with what my calendar currently looks like.  It is a page I made last week, photos from Yellowstone.  Fame - I'll try not to let it go to my head

Hindsight 2020

As noted previously, I read 30 books in 2020, despite difficulty with focus.  I posted about a few of them last fall, but here is the complete list, some with commentary. The * indicate a book club selection.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She's Sorry  by Fredrik Backman (interesting story, probably not one of the best-known by this author)

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (a re-read of one of my favorites by one of my all-time favorite authors, the story of friendship and betrayal.  I very much enjoyed this reading, though differently than when I read it in the past.)

*Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Feat by Elizabeth Gilbert (a book club choice by one of my least favorite authors, though I liked this book better than Eat Pray Love which was another book club selection that made it on to my list of "books I hated".  I appreciated some of what she had to say about creativity.)

The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (see 9/27/20 post)

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (The author was park ranger at Arches in Utah before it was made a national park.  He has much to say about preserving natural beauty and wilderness.  I liked the book though found myself not liking him as a person much.)

*Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (This was my selection for book club.  I liked it but I don't think most other people did.  It is a fictional account of Mamah Borthwick Cheney who has an affair in the early 1900s with Frank Lloyd Wright, the renowned architect. Both were married with children at the time and the relationship ruined her reputation, but did not have the same effect on his. Interesting from a historical, architectural and also feminist perspectives.)

Falling Boy by Alison McGhee (Not the strongest novel from this author.  I would suggest Rainlight or Shadowbaby instead.)

*An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (We read this one before the killing of George Floyd.  I would be interested to read it again, particularly after some of the other race related books I read later in 2020 to get some different perspective. At the time, I did not care for any of the characters really, but think I could get more ouf of the story now.)

At Knit's End: Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee 

*The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken (Re-read of an early book club choice that I had remembered loving.  It was ok on re-read.)

*The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton (I liked this one - good writing, interesting story that I did not see where it was going.)

*Vacationland by Sarah Stonich (See 9/27/20 post)

The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class by David S. Kidder (This is the 2nd one we have read in the series.  We learned about religions of the world, philosophy (though those often made my brain hurt), history, music, and science.  Nice "bite-sized" readings on 7 main subjects and I now feel so much smarter.)

*I Thought it Was Just Me (But It Isn't): Making the Journey from "What will people think?" to "I am enough" by Brene Brown (I think her other books are more approachable, though I appreciated the ideas in this one.  Also, her podcast is supposed to be good.  The only one I have listened to, though, was a conversation with Ibram X. Kendi on race and his How to Be an Antiracist.)

Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris (a thirller in the vein of Gone Girl, this book freaked me the heck out.  My review on Goodreads was "I don't even know what to say. Gripping and highly disturbing both at once. This one will stick with me." And it did.)

*Why Religion?: A Personal Story by Elaine Pagels

*Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (Quirky and likeable, though even the reader could tell Eleanor was not completely fine.)

Laurentian Divide by Sarah Stonich (see 9/27/20 post)

Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs by Michael T. Osterholm (Only I would choose to read about deadly germs in the middle of a pandemic.  I have had this book for 3 years and put it on my list to read in January 2020.  I struggled with this one but it was very good.  Very approachable (not too sciency) writing from Osterholm who was once our state epidemiologist and very recently helped advise President Biden on COVID-19 response. The "worst case scenario" he outlined in the book, and has presented to previous administrations was eerily how this pandemic has played out so far.)

I'll tell you about the rest next time.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 4 (4 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 4

Blog posts published– 5

Miles walked in January –43.77

                Miles walked year-to-date –43.77

Scrap book pages completed –6

Hats donated – 6

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read and eat again,

Hallie

Four for 50 - Taking risks, breaking rules and having fun

What did you do this last week?  I made some hats, did some scrap booking, walked, read, cooked, watched an inaugeration (discovered I cannot spell inauguration correctly the first time I type it ever), was inspired by a young poet, and then wasted spent a whole lot of time looking at Bernie Mitten memes.  One of my favorite is this one: 

Back to the inauguration, though.  I clapped, I got a little teary, I felt a giant sense of relief.  I admire Amy Klobuchar and enjoyed seeing her leading and smiling.  I watched history being made as VP Harris took the oath (and cringed as Justice Sotomayor mispronounced her name).  I was in awe at the enormity of President Biden's very old family Bible (and was afraid someone was going to drop it).  And then Amanda Gorman left me speechless with her words.  Amazed, I found myself wanting to try writing poetry.  Maybe next year.

Book 4

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace - I thought I had somehow missed this classic as a child but as I read it, I had a vague recollection of having read it before.  It was really a very sweet story of 2 little girls who are best friends.  They have imaginative adventures in a time that seems much simpler, in a town Deep Valley which is a fictionalized version of Mankato, MN.  I am going to also ready Betsy-Tacy and Tib this year.  Maybe I'll continue with the series some other time.

Hats 1-6

Last Monday I turned in 3 hats and saw some of my knitting friends whom I haven't seen in 2 years.  Sometimes my job gets in the way of the rest of my life, so I had taken time off from baby hats for awhile.  I happened to meet Helen as I was going into the community center and she was coming out.  She somehow recognized me with my hat and mask on, so we chatted briefly.  I should tell you that the group I knit with is called Knitting Grandmas (and friends!) and when I am not there, the average age is about 75.  Helen is a dear soul who always tells me her memory is not as good as it used to be, and her hearing is getting bad, and oh, yes, her back hurts. She always remembers my name and chats with me (even when we are supposed to be quiet) and when we used to gather, she would save me a seat.  Today when I walked in with 3 more hats in hand, I was running late and the other hats were already packed but at least 4 ladies recognized me, called me by name and acted as if they had known I would be there and they had been waiting for me.  It is good to be remembered.  Also, I love people who pronounce my name correctly.

Scrapbook 1-6

I spent a good part of the weekend working on my scrap book, completing 6 pages.  That doesn't sound like a lot but I am pleased with the pages, so that is something.  Here is one page I did, working on Glacier/Yellowstone trip from 2014.

 Recipe Four

Another new recipe this week - it was a quick one, an everyday type meal.  I liked it but didn't LOVE it, and I would make it again, probably with 12 oz of pasta instead of 16 and maybe a couple of tweaks to the recipe. It was a recipe I had pinned a while ago and found again when I search for ground beef recipes - Jen Around the World posted the recipe.  I am retyping here with some modifications I made.

Easy Mongolian Ground Beef Noodles

1lb lean ground beef

4 t minced ginger (our store was out of fresh ginger so I subbed in dried ground ginger)

6 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3-4, I think.  Actually E browned the beef and added ginger and garlic.)

1/2 C low sodium soy sauce (make sure to use low sodium or I think it would be way too salty)

1/2 C beef broth (I might consider using water vs. broth next time, as it was bordering on too salty)

6 T hoisin sauce (do they make this low sodium?  Might not be a bad idea to use that version)

1/2 t red pepper flakes

1/2 t black pepper

1 box (1 pound) linguine noodles (Jen Around the World did not say what size box - I guessed)

4 green onions, diced for garnish (did not add these)

Toasted seasame seeds for garnish (forgot all about these)

Brown the ground beef with ginger and garlic until cooked through, breaking it up into small pieces.  Drain any fat.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to instruction. "Be sure to salt water well so your noodles soak up that flavor" (I would skip this in the future - see above notes about saltiness). 

Combine the remaining ingredients (except garnishes) in a small bowl, then pour into ground beef.  

Let the sauce and meat cook together for a couple minutes to allow beef to absorb the flavors.

Drain noodles and then add to the ground beef mixture.  Mix thoroughly and cook for a couple more minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

Top with green onions and seasame seeds.

Makes 8 servings (or 6 bigger servings).

It was ok as leftovers but is best eaten the same day, I thought.  And I definitely didn't want to eat it 4 nights in a row, just because the noodles get a little rubbery the longer they sit.

That's all for tonight, friends.  I am tired.  Someday I'll get some more reflections of 2020 in here.  I really want to tell you about some of the reading highlights from last year.  Maybe next post.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 4 (4 more started)

Recipes tried – 4

Blog posts published– 4

Miles walked in January –39.2

                Miles walked year-to-date –39.2

Scrap book pages completed –6

Hats donated – 6

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read and eat again,

Hallie

From the Archives - In Memory of Mary

I found this post in my drafts from early 2014. I post it now, remembering Mary as I also celebrate the life of my Grandma.

**************

My friend Mary passed away in October 2013 after a nearly year long battle with kidney cancer that had metastasized to her brain before she even knew she had it. It was a difficult year for her: struggles with treatment, reactions to chemo, seizures, loss of abilities.  The funeral was packed.  I guess that's what happens when a person is only 55 and has touched so many lives. 

I met Mary through a friend/coworker when I was also introduced to scrap booking.  I have to note here that I never thought I would be come a scrap booker.  I used to call it "crap booking" and couldn't see the point of chopping up my photos and putting a bunch of junk in my album, of decorating the pages with baubles, stickers and fancy paper.  Somehow, I decided to go and check out an open house scrap booking thing Krista was having at her house.  As suggested, I brought a couple photos with.  I chose some pictures of my cat, Oscar.  Heaven knows I had plenty of those.  I can't help it - orange tabbies are highly photogenic.  Anyway, I started with just a little sample packet which just happened to coordinate nicely with the coloring of the cat.  Next thing I knew, I had the first page of Oscar's album and was making an order for more supplies.  And I went back to Krista's several more times for scrap booking sessions.  Part of the joy of scrap booking, for me, was the camaraderie.  Hanging out in Krista's basement workroom with Mary, Mary Kay, Mama Jere and the other girls, I found common bonds.  These were creative women who made beautiful scrap books.  Some of the pages were elaborate, some of them simple, all telling a story important to the woman creating the page.  Tales of travel, tales of a belly dancing troupe, tales of gardens, motorcycle trips, weddings and more.  I started joining them on retreats, spending a long weekend in a little cabin in the woods and later a retreat center build especially for scrap booking retreats, working on my own books.  I have completed Oscar's little album and several volumes of travel albums.  Mary was there for most of my scrap booking.  I liked the other ladies, but I really connected with Mary. 

Mary knew a lot about a lot.  She had a wicked sense of humor and lots of opinions. She was talented and loved to offer advice.  A designer and professional organizer, her sense of color and style was a terrific help.  I remember struggling to find the right paper to set off some pictures of a fortress I had visited in France.  I had a couple hundred sheets of paper in dozens of different colors and was about to just use black, my default background, when Mary pointed across the table to a color I never would have even looked at. I had thought it a hideous shade of poopy tan. "That one.  That's the one.  Do you have 2 sheets?  Do a double truck (2 pages side by side) and draw lines on it to look like the brick in the photos."  Genius.  It matched perfectly and turned into a terrific brick wall background.  Another time, she found the perfect shade of green (again a color I thought was kind of gross) which set off the foliage of Kauai like it had been color-matched by a computer.  Then she helped make the perfectly-colored bird-of-paradise paper flower to coordinate with the picture.  She offered tons of advice and encouragement on one of my more insane ideas - a paper stained glass window which mimicked the windows in a church E had taken a picture of in Hawaii.  She lent her exacto knife and helped with the shaping of the window, and then kept me going as I place all the little teeny pieces of paper in the "window". Hours later, I had finished one of the coolest, most frustrating things I had ever made for an album. 

These are just some of the scrap booking memories I have of Mary.  She also inspired me to seek out a belly dance class (she and some of the others we scrap booked with knew each other from when they were in a belly dance troupe together).  She offered advice, when I asked, about remodeling my kitchen. She made me laugh, A LOT.  Riding as passenger in my car she would say, "No cars!" and then as I entered the intersection, she'd add "Only vans, buses and trucks!"  She would wave to the mannequin in a car perched a top a tall billboard in Minneapolis - every single time we drove past it.  She would bob her head and sing "Raahr, raahr, raahr" in her best death metal voice when something like Rage Against the Machine played on the iPod in the scrapping room. And then say "I LOVE this music" with a sarcastic roll of the eyes.  Eating fries at McDonald's, Mary would shake the extra salt off each and every fry before she ate it - because of the hypertension, you know.

*****

Even now as I read this nearly 6 years after Mary's passing, I realize how much I still miss her.  Scrap booking is still fun and I love the group of women that I retreat with now (including my little sister!) but scrapping still makes me think of Mary and wonder what color paper she would advise, or what crazy-ambitious detail she would inspire.  And if ever RATM comes on the radio, I will say "Raahr, raahr, raahr - I LOVE this song!"

Mary is the one who is a friend of the author of Hit by a Farm which I blogged about before. If you want more stories about Mary, check out Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep and Enough Wool to Save the Planet also by Catherine Friend.

Mary, I am sorry that it took me all this time to get this posted.  Please hug my grandma who recently joined you in the great hereafter.  

Until we all meet again,

Hallie

Long time, no blog! My computer at home is not nearly as fast as the one at work and therefore makes blogging a little less easy and convenient. Enough with the excuses, on with the blog!
Reading: Still working my way through Hillary's book. They just moved into the White House. It took 130 pages for them to get there. It is pretty interesting. I don't remember paying very much attention to politics then (just knew we had to get Bush the First out of there!) so it is interesting to read from the standpoint.
Also still reading Galileo's Daughter. Not moving too quickly in this one, either, though it is interesting. Since I know very little about Galileo and his times, I am learning some as I go. Can't imagine living in a time when people still think the sun moves around the earth. Years from now, maybe someone will read my memoires and say they can't imagine a time when we sat around and watched reality TV so much.
I am kind of working on redoing my scrapbook from when I was in France. I want to write more about the pictures and stuff so that it might be interesting for someone other than me to look at. In the process, I looked through and sorted my huge box of letters (some from 1984, if you can believe it) and found those I received while I was in France. Hoping to jog my memory on some of the things about the trip that I might have forgotten. Mostly it is just making me wonder whatever happened to all these people I so eagerly corresponded with. Why don't I hear from them (or contact them, for that matter) anymore? There are huge numbers of people that just completely fall out of my life and I never figure out what happens to them later. Would it be weird to track down people I haven't heard from in over 10 years and say, "so what the heck ever happened to you anyway?"
Eating: I don't think we have tried anything new recently. However, I do have a recipe sent to me by my friend Matt from Prudential (that is where we worked together. Neither of us is there anymore, thank God.) The e-mail was so amusing, I am going to copy it here. I had e-mailed him after July 4th to ask for the recipe. Here it is.
'The salad is quite easy, really. I'm so flattered that you'd ask for the recipe. :) It's basically one unit of each thing, except for a few things.
1 box of rotini. I greatly prefer Barilla brand, in the blue box.
1 can of black olives, I use medium-sized olives. Dunno exactly what size the can is, but it's the standard-sized can that's about the size of a normal can of Spaghetti-O's.
1 10-oz. jar of green olives.
1 little plastic container of grape tomoatoes. I eat around the tomatoes, myself, but as I understand it, there are people who like them. They also give some nice color to the finished product.
1 3.5-oz. package of sliced pepperoni.
Okay, that's all that's whole units. I also have on hand:
Oregano leaves, mostly for looks since I can't really taste it myself.
Kraft shredded three-cheese blend of romano, asiago and parmesan cheese. My local Cub has it, but it's not next to the Kraft shredded parmesan cheese in the green can.
And the mystery dressing, which I'm not telling you yet.
What I do is open up both kinds of olives and dump them in a colander together. I then put the tomatoes in with them. I rinse them to get all the various olive juices off of them, and let them drain while the water boils for the rotini.
When the water comes to a boil, I put in the rotini and set the timer according to the directions. I try not to overcook it, because who likes soggy rotini?? Then I put the olives and tomatoes into my salad bowl. I shake a lot of the shredded cheese onto them, and a lot of oregano leaves. As the rotini cooks, I cut the pepperoni slices in half. I've found that they don't stick together in the salad quite as much if you cut them, as they do when they remain in a disc-like shape. As I cut the pepperoni, I'll separate the pieces and toss them in the salad bowl. If I don't finish before the rotini is done, it's no big deal, because I can finish later while the rotini drains.
When the rotini has finished cooking, I drain it using the same colander in which the olives and tomatoes drained. There's no real reason to use the same colander, it's just that I only own one. If I owned more than one, I'd still probably use only the one, because I like to minimize the amount of required clean-up. Run cold water over the rotini as soon as you get it into your colander. I'll keep it under the running cold water until the water draining from it is cold. It starts out quite hot, so be cautious if you stick your hand under the draining rotini.
While the rotini drains, I'll finish cutting the pepperoni and tossing it into the bowl. Before I add the drained rotini to the bowl, I'll stir it around thorougly, being careful not to squish or stab any of the tomatoes. When the rotini is done draining, I'll add it to the bowl, then I'll add the dressing.

The dressing is Kraft Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette dressing, from their "Special Collection", according to the label. I couldn't find it at the store one time, and I tried using olive oil vinaigrette instead, but it wasn't nearly as good. I end up pouring in about half of the 16-fl. oz. bottle. If you're making the salad a day ahead of time or something, wait to add the dressing. It tends to soak into the pasta, and the salad ends up a little dry. Since I usually make the salad at the last minute before I leave for the event, it isn't a problem for me. :)

After I've added the rotini and the dressing and mixed it all up, I usually end up adding more shredded cheese and oregano. I just estimate both, until they look about right.

That's really all there is to it. It's simple, and doesn't even take very long to make. You might consider variations, such as a different pasta, or colored rotini, or adding other things like sliced red onions or
pepperoncinis. I suppose that next time you invite me over for a party, you're going to make this salad, and I'll be back to being the teenie weenie man...."
Maybe you have to know Matt to appreciate this but I found it quite humorous. This is a man whose idea of cooking is to make toast. The reference to "teenie weenie man" is that for food days at Pru, he almost always brought a crockpot full of barbecue cocktail wienies and earned the nickname "The Teenie Weenie Man". Not a nickname he cared for, mind you.

Gardening: Apparently this is the time of the summer when I grow great crops of weeds and dead plants. Time to get out there again. Not very motivated...