Life's a Beach

Sunday was perfect beach weather here in upstate NY. Jerry and I packed up some burgers, hot-dogs, and pasta salad, rounded up his family and hit the sand!

Hinckley Reservoir State Park

I brought along my Nan's Pineapple Pasta salad. It is so simple, and can be made in the amount of time it takes to cook the pasta.

Pineapple Pasta Salad 

• 1 pound ditalini pasta
• 1 can crushed pineapple (in heavy syrup, if possible)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 3-4 Tbls mayo (or Greek yogurt)
• salt and pepper

In a large bowl mix the pineapple, onion, mayo, salt and pepper. The original recipe calls for pineapple in heavy syrup. I can no longer find this. I add 2 tsp of sugar when I am using pineapple 'in it's own juice". Cook and drain your pasta according to the package. Cool and mix with other ingredients. Refrigerate until cold.
This is Jerry's favorite summertime pasta salad. Not surprisingly, he likes it with more onion than is called for. I believe the original only calls for 2 Tbls of chopped onion, and maybe 2 cans of pineapple? Maybe EHHMom will clarify for me in the comments :)
This was the perfect beach pasta salad, light and citrus-y.

We really enjoyed our day at the beach. Everyone seemed so relaxed.

We ate.

We swam.

We built castles.

We played in the hammock.

My neice Maggie

We read.

New cookbook from EHHMom!

And we licked.

Aside from the water sloshing around in my ear since yesterday afternoon, it was a picture perfect summer Sunday.
I am hoping to make a few recipes from my new cookbook Peas and Thank You this week. I also got some fresh lettuce, Swiss chard, and squash from my in-laws garden that I am dying to use.
Happy August!