Another Pasta Salad

We had a "team building" outing today at work. We went to a local park and had hamburgers and hot dogs and fixin's. So I brought pasta salad. This one in a favorite of mine and a recipe I created one day while bored and hungry. It's really great on hot day, cool and refreshing and easy.

Caesar Pasta Salad

1 lb rotini pasta
8 oz grape tomatoes halved
1 large red pepper diced
3 to 5 green onions chopped
8 oz basil tomato feta cheese
1 sm can sliced black olives
1 bottle Caesar Salad Dressing (I like Gerard's)

Cook the pasta per the directions on the box, drain and allow to cool. In a large bowl, place tomatoes, pepper, and green onion. Add pasta. Drain the olives and add to bowl, along with crumbled cheese. Add dressing. I've never found that it takes a full bottle, but some days 1/2 a bottle is fine, others take almost the full amount. This salad is best when served cold. I like to make it a day ahead of time. You will note that I was out of black olives so last night I grabbed the jar of salad olives out of the fridge and used them.

And then, after we got back to work, I was doing my busy bee, head down, shoulder to the grindstone stuff when my boss asked me to come with him. I followed him to the conference room and found his boss and her boss there as well. I gulped.
I was asked to take a seat.

Then I was told that I was being given a raise "IN RECOGNITION OF ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK, LEADERSHIP, AND DEDICATION"! I was also told to not tell anyone, as I was the only one in the office receiving a raise. When told how much, I immediately transferred it from currency to the new medium...I've been given a 40 gallon a month raise! Effective next week.

So I walked back to my desk, careful not to skip, shout, or dance, and resumed work at my usual breakneck pace.

To celebrate, I'm having a little wine tonite with my left-over pasta salad...Barefoot California Pinot Grigio. I'm putting my feet up, and reading a new book. Today, life is good.