Fiesta Salad and One of a Kind Potato Salad--FF recipes #15 and #16

In the summer, we eat outside on the patio most every night.  We are lucky in Nevada, because we can do this.  We don't have bugs---too dry for many mosquitoes and once in a while we will have the yellow-jacket or two and in late August, those lazy big black flies.  But other than that, nothing.

(okay, for the record,  we had a moth infestation for about 10 days in early summer and I have had a June Beetle or three, but really nothing to write about)

I am getting side-tracked again.... We ate outside the other night, as we usually, do but I purposely made 2 salads from the Friday Friend cookbook!

I am going to countdown these recipes if it kills me.

The first one here is Fiesta Salad, turned in by my friend and cousin, Linda Ornelas.

The Fiesta Salad was a good salad--fresh and cool and crisp--good for a summer evening.  I suppose you could do what you want with it, such as try a different dressing or add some salsa to the French?

It looks pretty in a bowl, doesn't it?

Fiesta Salad

14 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup celery, sliced

1/2 cup French salad dressing

1 head lettuce,shredded

1 cup grated cheese

3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

1 cup corn chips

Layer in order given. Chill 2 hours, sprinkle with chips.

Below is my cousin, friend and  Friday Friend, Linda.  

She grew up with my dad, being only 6 years younger than him. 

She was 13 years older than me.

When I was  a baby, my dad was sent overseas and I lived off and on with both sets of grandparents (and my mom), so Linda was more like a big sister to me.

She would dress me up, and curl my hair and play with me.  I was like her little doll--and I loved it.

Linda has put a lot of recipes in the FF cookbook,so, I have tons of stories to tell about her while doing this cookbook countdown -- just wait until I get up to my 13th birthday!!  (can I say, I danced in a go-go cage in a bar?  With her permission!  I'll just leave it at that till next time)

She's a great cook.  Has always wanted to do her own cookbook.  

She should.

Look!  A photo of both salads!

A great transition.

This "one of a kind" potato salad is from my friend Letty Rodriguez, but I think it's taken from the back of a package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.

In the FF Cookbook, I have claimed it as MY recipe.

If you like potatoes and you like Ranch Dressing, how can you not like this?  The bacon is just an added bonus.

Sometimes I add black olives.

It's really good.

One of a Kind Potato  Salad

2 lbs small red potatoes, boiled and sliced

1/2 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup prepared (from the dry seasoning packet, not bottled) Hidden Valley Ranch dressing

paprika, black pepper, chives

cooked crumbled bacon

Combine potatoes, onions, green pepper and dressing. Toss gently. Dust with paprika (which I forgot to do), garnish with chives and bacon (which I just mixed in with everything)

The original recipe says to serve it at room temp.  I think it is better that way.

We all have those friends whom we've lost contact with,don't we?  Letty is that friend of mine.  It's been years since I've talked to her.

This photo I have of her  is at least 18 years old.  Her daughter must now be 20 or 21.

Although, I claimed this recipe as my own in the FF Cookbook, I originally got it from her.

I wanted to learn to cook 'real' Mexican food, the 'real' way, so one day, Letty invited my friend Sandy and I over and we cooked all day--we made chili rellenos from scratch and refried beans  from scratch and a great green chili chicken dish with fresh tomatillos--but that was years ago,  and I didn't practice, so I did not perfect these great dishes that she made. 

All I can do is dream about how good they were.

I miss her.  I should try to find her again.

And that is this week's Friday Friend Cookbook update!