Food of my summer's past

     When I think of summertime food, I always think of the macaroni salad that my mom made.  I mostly remember it as a teenager.  I would claim it as mine, or eat all I could before it was gone.  It was my favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner food, well, maybe not breakfast!  I didn't do a lot of cooking when I was younger, so I never asked my mom how she made it.  When I went home recently, I requested her to make it, so I could finally learn.  It's actually really easy!

     The recipe is really forgiving, in the fact that you can you as little or as much as the ingredients as you want.  There are no set amounts, just use whatever your preference is.

     The ingredients are simple:  Tri colored noodles, mayonnaise, italian dressing, and cut vegetables.  I'll explain more in the steps.

1.  First start with the tri colored noodles.  I used two bags for a cookout, and still had a lot left, so if you're just making it for your family, you may only need one bag.  Boil the pasta like you would any other time.  Drain and put back in the pot.

2.  While the pasta is cooking, you should be cutting up your veggie into small pieces.  Use as much or as little as you want.  Using different veggies will make it more colorful and summery.  I used tomatoes, cucumber, purple onions, red pepper and yellow peppers.

3.  After you have replaced the pasta to the big pot, add a couple heaping spoonfuls of mayonnaise, really just enough to coat it.

4.  Next, mix in all the veggies.  It may seem like a lot before you put them in, but once you mix it into the pasta its not really.  Again, put in as much as you'd like.

5.  Then you add almost a whole bottle of italian dressing.  I think the bottle I used was 20 oz.  Save some of the dressing for later.  Put the pasta salad in the fridge, covered, until cold, or until you need it to serve.  When you take it out, add in the rest of the italian dressing.  It's good to add more later, because while in the fridge, the dressing will soak into the pasta some.

6.  Serve to your friends and family, and enjoy!