Friday Friend Recipes #230 - Artichoke Pasta Salad

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook? I had about 50 of my closest friends and family (from all over the county) on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends . At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 19 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday. (plus so much more....)

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #230

My mother-in-law's Artichoke Pasta  Salad

It tasted good.

The photographs do not do it justice.

The balsamic vinegar I used was very  dark and the pasta soaked up the color, SO if that offends you for some odd reason, don't use a hearty balsamic, but something lighter.

This is easy and good--a little different take on a pasta salad.

So, this is my favorite mother-in-law Teresa's recipe, her 8th one in the countdown.

I was going to do this write up about what a great time we had at the wedding of her son and daughter.  What a great mother of the bride--and groom, she was.

Yes!  Her son and daughter. 

It was a double wedding--they married other people, they just had a double wedding. 

The Handyman likes to say 'the day my brother and sister got married'.

It kind of freaks people out and we laugh and laugh before we tell them.

We're kind of weird.

They had the best wedding!

I'll write all about the next time one of 'my' recipes comes up.

But for now--I'll just show you a photo of the Handyman and his mother (my favorite mother-in-law) at said wedding.

You can tell by the photo that they had the BEST wedding, but that's a tale for another day.

This story just took a turn of its own--- because of the mystery of the coconut bra.

It is missing!

The coconut bra is property of our friend Shelly and she loaned it to the Handyman for his wedding attire and she says she hasn't seen it since.

Seen below with Barbara Brown, the editor and publisher of the original Friday Friend cookbook (meaning she typed all these darn things out, made copies, punched holes, put in notebooks, etc)

Barb was at the wedding, but never wore the bra.

(but apparently had enough to drink to bravely point out a coconut nipple)

Much later Shelly is seen at book club with coconut bra on over her clothes.

Thank goodness the Handyman has proof he returned Shelly's bra.

Much, Much later a coconut bra is seen on Debbie E at Cooking Club.

Shelly is not concerned because this is not the same coconut bra.  Not hers. 

Still hers has not been seen since book club.

What does that mean?  That book club was wilder than the wedding reception of the Handyman's brother and sister?

That book club was so wild another coconut bra had to be purchased for Cooking Club?

What happened at book club? 

What happened to the coconut bra?!

Stay tuned to find out!

Also-- we love a theme apparently!

My friends I bring to you recipe #230!

Only 137 left to go!