MOM'S OVERNIGHT PASTA SALAD
THE AMISH COOK
BY GLORIA YODER
Greetings from Illinois. After receiving numerous requests from readers to have a continuation of last week's letter about our wedding day, I'd like to invite you to join me as I relive more events and happenings of our special day and share a recipe for Mom's overnight pasta salad.
My cup was full and overflowing with joy as I sat at the bridal table beside my brand new husband. Candles glowed everywhere, two witnesses sat on either side of us, and in front of us on the table was a Bible as a centerpiece. It was open to Psalm 86:10 and 11: "For thou art great and doest wondrous things; thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart and fear thy name."
The cooks and table-waiters were busy bustling around making sure everyone was taken care of. My favorite part was the six little children who served ice cream sundaes to the bridal party. I had sewed small white aprons for the girls to wear with their grape-colored dresses. It was just too cute.
Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. The cooks wore medium blue with white aprons and the table-waiters had dark blue dresses with white aprons as well. The boys wore white shirts and black or grey pants.
Once the guests were finished with the noon meal, tables were re-set for the cooks and table-waiters to be seated and served. After they had finished their meal they remained seated to sing some songs that Daniel and I had picked out and put into a booklet form. The cover of the booklet had a few of my favorite verses on it. It was Proverbs 3:5 & 6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not onto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct that paths."
After singing several songs two of our grandpas each shared some inspirational thoughts and words of encouragement followed by prayer. It meant a lot to us to have them supporting us in a special way like this.
While the guests sang several more songs, Daniel and I passed out thank-you cards and gifts to those helping on our wedding day. We gave the ladies who helped cook, rugs and tip towels, the men who assisted them were given umbrellas. The guest girls and sundae servers received candles we had put on the tables. The table-waiters got mottos with Thomas Kinkade pictures. Daniel had made the picture frames several weeks before. The mottos were all hung on the walls in the reception area. This gave them to the opportunity to choose which one they wanted and gave the reception a cheery look in the meanwhile.
Once the singing was past most of the guests sat on benches watching Daniel and me open our wedding presents. How interesting and enjoyable this was for us all because of others thoughtfulness and kindness. Our witnesses helped open the gifts while a few of my friends wrote down who gave which item. After each present was opened, Daniel held it up, announced who it was from and thanked them.
I c an almost hear you ask "What were some of the gifts you received?"
We certainly got a wonderful variety. I can still feel the surprise and delight that swept through me when I open a large gift bag they shoved over for me to open. It was from my Mom's parents. My mouth dropped open - what could I say? It was a quilt that my dear grandma pieced and quilted for me! That will certainly be a lifelong treasure and keepsake from grandma. Daniel was also blessed with a nice variety of tools.
Grape-themed kitchen items are a favorite of Gloria's. This is one of her canisters for storing flour or sugar
Several of my friends who had been in my youth group knew that I liked grape-themed kitchen items so they gave me with a grape canister set, salt and pepper shakers, dish towels, etc
After the gifts had all been opened, Daniel addressed my parents and thanked them for giving the best gift of all. I couldn't help but smile (or perhaps blush a bit?)
At 6 p.m. the evening cooks had supper ready for us. Out of the approximately 400 people that attended our wedding, about 250 people stayed for supper. Leftover mashed potatoes were used to make "underground ham casserole", corn, pasta salad, leftover tossed salad from lunch, ice cream dessert, and pie was also served. Everything was set out on several tables then we filed through cafeteria style to fill our plates. Our big day was rapidly coming to a close. How could it possibly seem so short? I'd enjoy writing more about that evening and the following day, perhaps I'll have to save that for later.
Pasta salad is one of my Mom's specialties. In our community she is known for her delicious pasta salad. Not only does she do an outstanding job of making it tasty but also it making it look attractive by adding multicolored vegetables like cucumbers, radishes, green, red, yellow peppers and so on (add 1 /3 cup each to follow recipe below). So feel free to use your imagination and add whatever strikes your fancy. For the flavors to really meld and blend you should refrigerate this overnight or for eight hours. If you are going to add cucumbers or radishes, add those the next day because they'll get soggy overnight. Here is a recipe for Mom's overnight pasta salad!
- 2 cups cooked and drained rotini
- 1 1 /4 cup Italian dressing
- ⅓ cup green pepper chopped
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 1 /3 cup tomato diced
- 1 /2 cup cheese, Colby, shredded
- ¼ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- Cook pasta for 7 to 10 minutes or until tender.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the above ingredients.
- Cover the bowl and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
- The next morning, remove from the fridge, toss and serve!
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