Guanella Pass in the Early Summer Light & Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

My husband took some really lovely photographs of our drive over Guanella Pass.

-------
Here's a pasta salad I am making for this week's lunches. I've used a gluten-free pasta to make it more Paleo friendly.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Author: Snappy Gourmet Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 6-8

8 ounces uncooked pasta (such as mezze penne)
1/2 cup Frank’s hot sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
2 cups precooked chicken, chopped
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped

Cook pasta according to package directions to al dente. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Meanwhile, whisk together hot sauce, oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt in small bowl until well combined.

Place pasta in large mixing bowl. Stir in chicken, blue cheese, carrots, and celery. Slowly mix in dressing until desired amount.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

SNAPPY TIPS: You can serve this as a side dish or main dish. It would even be great for a tailgating or picnic potluck! It’s mild to moderately spicy. If you would like it to be spicier, use more hot sauce and less olive oil. If the pasta salad seems dry after being in the refrigerator, add a little olive oil or hot sauce.

SNAPPY SUBSTITUTIONS: Use any shape pasta you’d like. Instead of chicken, you could use precooked small shrimp (peeled & deveined) or leave out the meat all together for a vegetarian option. A little ranch flavored seasoning mix would also be good in the dressing. Red onions and/or scallions would also be a good addition.

(For more recipes visit Snappy Gourmet at http://www.snappygourmet.com to sign up for an email/RSS subscription or visit Snappy Gourmet on Facebook or Twitter)

2010 Welshon Family Highlights

I love Shutterfly. I think they are so easy to use and they produce quality stuff. I love them even more when they send me amazing coupons. I recently received a code for a free 8" x 8" book. I had a good start on the 2010 photos, but honestly, they were lingering in my computer. This simple $30 code spurred me into action. I would have liked to make the pages more decorative, but in the end I simply like to include as many photos as possible.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

I had hoped to get the entire year done, but alas, I could not. So, this is part 1: January - August (52 pages). I will endeavor to do the remaining 20+ pages for the rest of 2010 soon. I really want to get caught up. The cover is a bit cheesy, but it was nearly midnight and that was when the code expired, and the image makes me smile every time I see it, so I decided that it was the one to use. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Quaking Aspens

And just as quickly as Jack Frost had trapsed across our fields, pouring rain, sleet and snow across our fields, he left that night - as if he was on a journey else where. The next morning the sun gladly chased away the few remaining and whispy clouds so that it could reign sunny and supreme on Sunday. Ethan enjoyed a day of complete relaxation, gettting caught up on watching shows he loved through Netflixs. Ellie slept in and then returned to Fort Collins with Stephen and Maxl to see the pros race again. Larr and I went for a quiet drive in the hills. I had wanted to see the changing of the colors. I had fear that the rain and snow would have washed them all off of the trees, but I was thankfully wrong. Here and there we found pockets of the quaking Aspens in their various shades of change.

Many trees were festive and glowing dressed in the shimmering gold leaves. A few still sported the green on the edges, fading like an old tattoo on a wrinkled arm. Others took on a pinkish hue, making me think of little girls in two tone tutus. And then there were the trees like the one above. It was like it could not make up its mind and decided to keep both colors. I like that.

Other places reminded me of the value of solitude and quiet. It is calmness in physical form. In this quiet space I enjoyed the time with my husband. It is rare to have time with him that is not full of the chatter of scheduling plans, replays of the day or parenting issues. We simply enjoyed our time together, living in the moment and not on one found somewhere else on the calendar.

As the sun began to retire for the night we rounded the bend and drove into Central City, once a blast from the cowboy past, now a small gambling town. I spied this recently painted building. I love the image and the attempt to hold on to the past culture. Larr thinks the painting is less than a year old. I'd never really walked through a casino, so I wanted to check it out for my self. My brother loves to spend his birthday at the hotel casinos so I wanted to see what his excitement is about. We strolled through the Ameristar. It was certainly nice. We learned how to play craps, sort of (it is complicated) and we saw lots of slots going. We even check out the hotel, the roof top pool and walked through the spa. Those were very nice. I just don't see the excitement of it all. Thankfully, those games do not call to me.

Back home we went, driving in the dusk and dark. Happy to hav spent the day together.

Shutterfly Give and Get Joy Party