This 4th of July my friend and I had dinner and watched fireworks. We grilled steaks and corn and had my favorite pasta salad. I first made this pasta salad about three years ago when J and I had a package of orzo pasta and didn’t know what to make with it. It’s just cooked orzo pasta with grilled or roasted onions, bell peppers, and zucchini and a vinaigrette made with olive oil, lemon juice, mint, black pepper, and salt. The vinaigrette came about because I like mint lemonade and figured a vinaigrette with mint would be tasty. I normally just eyeball it, but because my friend wanted the recipe, I actually had to measure things out. I know vinaigrette are supposed to have a 3:1 oil to vinegar ratio, but I like more lemon juice in mine so I do a 2:1 ratio. If you want more vegetables in your pasta salad, grill or roast more and add them to the salad. It’s a pretty flexible recipe. Sometimes I add some feta cheese or smoked salmon to it, but usually I don’t have either around and I don’t use them.
Summer Orzo Pasta Salad
2 cups cooked orzo pasta
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
½ medium red onion, sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp dried mint or ½ Tbsp fresh chopped mint
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper
Grill or roast vegetables until tender, chop when cooked. In a medium bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mint, salt, and pepper. Add the cooked pasta and the cooked, chopped vegetables. Toss until everything is well coated. Serve warm or chilled.
We also made faux frozen margaritas. In a blender we blended half a can of tequila, frozen limeade concentrate (used the empty can to measure tequila and water), ice, and a can of water. I know real margaritas have other ingredients, but this is a fun and easy way to make them.
Vote for Life and Reaper. You know Roman and the Devil are the best villains out there and there's no better death scene than when Charlie throat punches Roman. And you thought Zen got him through 12 years in prison.
If Reaper or Life isn't nominated for something, vote for Moral Orel or The Venture Brothers. But only for good things.
Some pictures from a mountain bike race we went to.
Race start. J is toward the back of the pack.
Tandem bikes really are a true test of a relationship. I like riding tandem bikes, but I wouldn't want to ride with J. I love him, but it would not be good for us. Using a two-person kayak is enough for me.
Everyone at the race knew about the tandem riders and they made a great team. I think each of their laps should have counted twice since they were a team and each person rode the whole thing, but that's just me.
Pike's Peak (or so I'm told) and a rider coming in. I think she was a solo rider, but I could be wrong about that.
You both entertained and terrified the masses. May you be at peace and your children grow up to be fairly normal. At least more normal than it seems possible for a Jackson to be.
May you also be a lesson to all parents who push their children into the spotlight or otherwise exploit them for their own gain. Mommybloggers could learn something from you.
It'd be awesome if it were the Trek 720 touring bike, but I'm still pretty happy with the bike I bought last week. I've been cleaning it and I need to put a new chain on it since the previous owner let it spend too much time out in the rain. Overall, it's in good condition and the owner was starting to fix it up when I bought it (new wheels, cables, and brakes). I'm not doing anything tomorrow, so I'm going to change the chain and try to get a ride in tomorrow. It seems to be a pretty sturdy hybrid. I wasn't looking for something to start racing on; just something to get around on.
I'm back from Chicago and I had a great time. The wedding was beautiful. I spent the evening talking to my friend's friends. My friend's wife is even more fabulous than I expected her to be. She's somebody that I would've liked and wanted to be friends with if I had met her somewhere else. I'm happy for the two of them and think that they're great together. I'm glad I got to spend time with both of them in the few days leading up to the wedding. I was afraid that I was barely going to see my friend at all since we live on opposite sides of the country. Hopefully I'll have a conference that takes me up there again or they come my way for trips or conferences.
I'm also arted out for a while. I love going to the Art Institute of Chicago and art museums in general, but my brain is overloaded for the moment. The new Modern Art wing is really nice and there are some really interesting pieces. The video installation with the clown taking a dump was disturbing, although I'm sure J would've found it hilarious.
I'm done with finals on Monday when I turn in the take-home exam for robotics and I started a new job this past Saturday. It's just a temporary office job, but of course I was emailed about an internship interview yesterday. I replied back about maybe doing it two days a week and in the fall since I don't want to quit the job I have. The internship is a long drive and the office job is just a walk across campus. I'm happy to be done with the semester and to have money for the summer.
While that's great, I've been down this week because NBC canceled my favorite show, Life. The ratings haven't been bad considering the shows it's going up against and that NBC doesn't promote it. There is not a single bad episode and it's so easy to get into the show. It is a serial, but knowing the backstory isn't necessary to enjoy any given episode. The only other shows I'm really watching are Medium and Dollhouse, and Dollhouse has only just started getting good. Life was good from the first episode, but it's likely that all three shows I watch will be canned.
There is so much dreck on TV, but on NBC especially, that I'm sad that a smart, funny, quirky show has to go so that Jay Leno can continue to bore America. But I guess that fits in well with how GE in general tends to run things. I really hope NBC-Universal moves Life to USA instead of completely killing the show. Now that Monk is ending, it's a good time to bring Life on as a replacement. I'll buy the 2nd season DVD when it comes out, but I really want to know who the other 3 big people in the conspiracy were. We know number 1, 2, and 3, but I want to know 4, 5, and 6. I have the first season on DVD and both Hulu and NBC have the complete 2nd season online.
This scene from "The Business of Mircles" is one of my favorites:
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