Recipe: Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Greetings and Happy Labor Day! Just because the kids are going back to school does not mean summer is over - there are still plenty of warm weather weekends left to kick back and have fun!

This Labor Day Weekend, I attended an annual party with some friends from childhood - one comes in from Seattle every year and another comes in with his family, all the way from Spain! I was not going to miss this annual reunion...even if my beloved cat did die unexpectedly just a few days earlier. Creating in the kitchen has always been how I take my mind of that which I would rather not think about, and I came up with this great new pasta salad recipe. It's super easy to make, so give it a try before that summer feeling fades to fall!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Ingredients

16 ounces pasta (medium sized, like fusilli or cavatappi)

2 large tomatoes

1 cup fresh or frozen corn

1/2 cup diced red onion (optional)

1/4 cup sliced olives (black or Mediterranean mix)

1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. chili powder

3 - 4 stems fresh basil (leaves only), coarsely torn, or 2 Tbsp. dried basil

Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

Boil pasta according to directions on box. Rinse, drain, and let cool. While pasta is preparing, cook the corn, and core and dice the tomatoes. Add both to a large mixing bowl, along with sliced olives, and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain the liquid that has settled to the bottom of the bowl. Add dry mustard and chili powder, followed by olive oil, and mix well.  Set aside until pasta has cooled.

Once pasta had cooled, add to the mix and toss until well coated. Add basil leaves and feta cheese crumbles and toss again to mix (do not add basil and feta cheese sooner; the flavors will overpower the rest of the mix ). Add balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper if desired, and toss well. Enjoy!


KJM
09.02.19

On Becoming the Woman I've Always Wanted

From the moment I was born, I was taught how to be a woman. I never really thought about the process of being taught how to be a woman in American society - I have always been attracted to dresses and high heels, bright colors and delicate patterns, makeup and visits to the salon. I wasn't one for spitting or using foul language although I did go through both phases when I was a child, wanting to be included in the games boys played because they were fun, too. I loved my Barbie Dream House and my brother's Erector set with equal fervor and wanted to build what the Dream House would have looked like before it was finished; I was too young to know what a Structural Engineer was, but that was what I was discouraged from being. The Erector set was my brother's toy, and I was to leave it alone unless he invited me to play with it.

As a teenager, my Grandma taught me how to cook so I could help my mother around the kitchen. It was never assumed that my brother should learn how to cook; it was assumed that he would one day have a wife to do it for him. As a woman, I needed to learn how to cook - firstly to make dinner on the nights my Mom had to work late and second because it would someday be my responsibility as a wife. My family was - still is - very traditional in many ways and I love our traditional ways, which shocks a lot of people; as a feminist, they expect me to want a more egalitarian set-up but the fact remains that my kitchen is my territory and I would not have it any other way. I'm a feminist in the workplace and a traditionalist in the home. It's the type of woman I always wanted to become, as well as how I was raised. It's complicated, I know.

"Women are complicated" is a phrase I have often heard from many sources - mostly men, but also from those who are transitioning. I have had the honor of answering questions about how cis [female-born] women act towards and respond to various social stimuli and the answer is usually the same: it depends on the woman. While the one possible universal is that we don't pee standing up (so please remember to put the seat down, and that goes for anyone who pees standing up!) we all have different responses to stimuli. Some women love it when a man grabs their butt and tells them he wants to take them home; others are highly offended and may even physically strike him in response. Some fear walking to their car alone in the dark while others will abjectly refuse a man's well-meaning offer to escort them (to some it's sexist, to others it's practical). Some women think being required to wear makeup to work is being forced to bend to the will of the patriarchy while others see it as a part of a woman's professional appearance. Like I said, we are complicated. Somewhere along the line - be it as toddlers or adults - we figure out what kind of woman we want to become and start working towards that goal. Often times, it is a lifelong process and like any work of art we only know the that the process is complete when it is finally done.

As for me, I figured out what kind of woman I wanted to be when I was very young; I wanted to be the kind of woman who was not limited by societal expectations, a woman who would happily bend the rules but not break them. I wanted to be the kind of woman who doesn't sit on the sidelines when none of her friends want to play the game. A free spirit, I have always sought adventure - nothing extreme, but always memorable. My bucket list consists of everyday adventures that we all think would be fun but never get around to doing (and I swear that THIS will be the winter that I learn to snowmobile!). Most of all, I wanted to become the kind of person people liked being around without sacrificing the essence of who I am. Who am I?

• I am the woman whose voice raises when she is feeling insecure or disrespected.
• I am the woman who remains quiet when she is content to be with you.
• I am the woman who doesn't laugh often, but when she does it is until she cries.
• I am the woman who is always smiling but still wants to be taken seriously.
• I am the woman who isn't adverse to dirty jobs but who will always have a bow in her hair as she completes them.
• I am the woman people turn to when the need to know how to prepare a special meal or to mix a perfect cocktail.
• I am the woman burns dinner because she forgot to set the timer and sat down to read a book.
• I am the woman who is brave enough to stand her ground.
• I am the woman who is smart enough to know when she needs someone else to come to her defense.
• I am the woman who is afraid to love because she loves so deeply.
• I am the woman who, when disrespected, can walk away without looking back.
• I am creative and I am analytical.
• I am conservative and I am liberal. 
• I am stoic and I am emotional. 
• I am wholesome and I am bawdy.
• I am an enigma and I am an open book. 
• I am contradiction and I am congruity.

I am the woman whom I have always dreamed of becoming, and that makes me enough just as I am. Tell me: Who are you?


KJM
09.01.2017