Picnic in the Park

To celebrate the beautiful weather we've been having lately, Nathan, Merissa and I decided to have dinner in the park, picnic-style. It's been staying light out until almost 9pm every night, and continues to stay light later and later. Ah, the redeeming benefits of being in a northerly locale in the summer! Versus the winter, of course, where it gets dark at 3:30/4pm.

So, we made Emily's delicious pasta salad (a perfect light summer meal), freshly baked pretzels with sweet mustard, avocados that we splurged on from the Viktualienmarkt, cherries for dessert and a great bottle of red wine from France. It was perfect. Except for the avocados. They looked like Haas, they felt like Haas, but baby, they were NOT Haas avocados. They were sad, watery, flavorless, slightly rotten on the inside yuckiness. Europeans do not know the beauty of true Californian (or Chilean, as Merissa would carefully point out), avocados. Sigh. Soon.......soon, we shall taste their delicioiusness again.

If you are interested, here is the recipe for the pasta salad. It's just so good. We call it Yummy Pasta Salad. Thanks Emily York for sharing this with us!

12 oz. bow tie pasta
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
16 oz. artichoke hearts in marinade
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn or roughly chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and cool it down. Mix with everything, except the cheese in a large bowl. Refrigerate for as long as you can stand (sometimes, I skip this step 'cause I'm hungry! But you just want the salad cold). Add the cheese. Mix all together thoroughly. Enjoy!