Happy Fiesta Friday y’all! This entire week has been one giant fun-filled fiesta for me; I’m one lucky lil’ lady. Monday, B.O.B. Bob and I helped a dear friend celebrate her “38th” birthday, and ended up staying up way too late, but had an amazing time unwinding from the Herndon Festival Weekend with many of our favorite Herndon Peeps. It’s that time of year when we all start finally showing our faces in public again. The snow’s gone, the rain’s gone, and the sun is finally shining; it’s about time. Tuesday, our lovely neighbors Amelia and James invited us to see Nathaniel Rateliff  & The Night Sweats at Wolf Trap. Where do I even begin? I haven’t seen a better show in years. If you get the chance to see them perform live, please do it, do it, do it. You’ll be glad you did. Then there was Wednesday, my favorite day of the week so far, which was totally a dream come true. I woke up early in the morning and went online to find last minute tickets to a previously sold-out Dolly Parton show. Dolly’s pretty much my childhood crush, and I just couldn’t let the opportunity to finally see her in concert pass me by. So, B.O.B. Bob and I headed back to Wolf Trap yet again and enjoyed every little moment of the evening. I feel like a spoiled rotten child this week folks; blessed, blessed, and more blessed with a side of rhinestones and a super sparkly guitar.

With all the fun happenings going on this week, dinner has been fairly interesting. Monday consisted of vodka jello shots in strawberries, guacamole, cheddar cheese, and lime-infused tortilla chips. Tuesday and Wednesday were snack nights yet again. I created a literal feast of cheddar, mozzarella, manchego, salami, pepperoni, marinated black olives, tomatoes, green olives, fresh strawberries, guacamole, and organic tortilla chips. On Thursday, we ate whatever was leftover from our snack-obsessed menu earlier in the week. Basically, we have yet to eat a real meal and at some point this weekend, a salad needs to desperately happen. There will be lots of cooking going on around here on Saturday and Sunday. Next week is my Half-Birthday so I’ll be working on something special for that, and then there is also BundtBakers and FishFridayFoodies to prepare for. Oh, and did I forget to mention ice cream? I gifted my newly “38” year old friend the gift of her favorite ice cream for her birthday. She decided on either Mint Chocolate Chip or Chubby Hubby. She’s a girl after my own heart; I knew there was a reason I liked her so much. I think it’s finally time I tried out the recipe for Buttermilk Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream that I’ve been pondering over for years.

After the ice cream, I’ll be making pan-seared fish for FishFridayFoodies. I’m thinking Greek Cornmeal Crusted Cod with Olives, Capers, and Feta sounds just about perfect. What do you think? Maybe I’ll serve it on top of a salad, that way it will almost be like a real meal; the first in a long time. The next recipe up will be this month’s BundtBakers recipe. “Savory Bundts” is the theme for June, and I’ll be making Southern Honey Drenched Jalapeño Cornbread. There’s probably gonna be a lot of pain involved in that recipe. You see, I seriously can’t touch jalapeños y’all; it’s just not a pretty thing. My skin is always so severely dry, which means that all of the hot jalapeño juice and oil get soaked right up, and I feel like I am literally on fire within seconds. Thankfully I don’t happen to be a huge fan of jalapeños, so it’s usually not a problem for me to omit them from recipes in which they are called for. My current solution to this occasional problem is to replace fresh jalapeños with pickled ones, which don’t seem to cause a hell and brimstone fire reaction to my skin. I’m forewarning y’all that this weekend will bring real honest to goodness fresh jalapeños into my life, so I’m hoping y’all will pray for me. Hopefully, Brenna will be smart enough to keep her furry little ass out of the kitchen as I sing my heart out to Nathaniel and Dolly, chopping fire-inducing peppers, and occasionally sneaking into the freezer for yet another bite of my favorite ice cream. Now that’s my way of really having a fiesta y’all, what’s yours?

Ingredients:

• 1 (16-oz) Package Macaroni
• 1 (8-oz) Package Cream Cheese, Softened
• 2 Tablespoons Taco Seasoning
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1/3 Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil, Drained and Finely Chopped
• 6 Scallions-Green Part Only, Finely Diced
• 1/3 Cup Red Onion, Finely Chopped
• 1 Red, Orange, or Yellow Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped
• 3 Tablespoons Sliced Pickled Jalapeños, Finely Chopped
• 3 Tablespoons Cilantro, Finely Chopped
• 1 (15-oz) Can Great Northern Beans, Rinsed and Drained
• 1 (15-oz) Can Black Beans, Rinsed and Drained

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, making sure to season the boiling water with a tablespoon of sea salt.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, taco seasoning, and lime.
3. Add all of the other ingredients and stir well to combine.
4. Drain and rinse the pasta under cold water for 2 minutes, and then add it to the bowl of remaining ingredients.
5. Stir to combine and serve warm or allow to come to room temperature.

Suggestions:

• Make your own Homemade Taco Seasoning.
• If refrigerating, the cream cheese in this pasta salad will seize up. It really tastes best eaten when warm, so make it right before you plan to serve it, and slightly reheat any leftovers. If you want to make it ahead of time, simply throw everything together except for the pasta and refrigerate. When you toss in the warm pasta it will help to remelt the cream cheese mixture.

Improvements:

• Add a chopped fresh jalapeño to the pasta salad if you react well to cutting jalapeños. The green color will help to liven things up.
• Small cubes of Mexican cheese would be wonderful in this salad; I suggest Queso Blanco.
• If serving this as a warm salad or main dish, add browned crumbled hamburger into the mix.

I’ll be joining the Fiesta Friday Link Party today. Head on over HERE to see what everyone else is bringing to the celebration.