Blog reader Deb was the quickest with her keyboard this time around, so she wins the three books I discussed in this morning’s blog entry.
Since Deb is such a faithful reader of the blog, I could have sworn that she’d won something before. But when I checked back, she had not. So congratulations to Deb! You’ll have to let us know how those pretzel recipes turn out.
For the rest of you, I have a wonderful recipe sent in earlier this week by blog reader Amanda. This recipe has a twist on an old favorite, pasta salad. Called Supreme Pizza Pasta Salad, it is loaded with tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, pepperoni, mozzerella cheese and more.
Check it out, and have a great weekend! The blog will be alive with guest bloggers all next week, so be sure to keep checking in.

Supreme Pizza Pasta Salad

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
8 fresh white button mushrooms, sliced
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 stick pepperoni, casing removed, cut into a small dice
1 pound ball fresh mozzarella or fresh smoked mozzarella, diced
20 leaves fresh basil, torn or thinly sliced
1 pound wagon wheel or corkscrew pasta, cooked to al dente and cooled under cold water, then drained

Dressing:
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves or Italian dried seasoning
1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (eyeball it)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (eyeball it)
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, peppers, pepperoni, mozzarella, basil and pasta in a big bowl. Whisk garlic salt, oregano or Italian seasoning, tomato paste and vinegar together. Stream in extra-virgin olive oil while continuing to whisk dressing. When oil is incorporated, pour dressing over pasta salad, add a few grinds of black pepper to the bowl, then toss salad to coat evenly. Adjust your seasonings and serve salad.

Enjoy!