Here’s a delicious mashup of pasta salad and potato salad, that you can enjoy warm or chilled.

It was created by Priscilla Willis of She’s Cookin’, for Idaho Potato.

Priscilla shares that the pairing of pasta and potatoes is popular in the coastal region of Liguria in northwestern Italy, bordering France.

That’s not all: There are 30 more potato salad recipes below.

> The different types of pasta.

> The history of pasta.

> The different types of potatoes: a glossary.

> The history of potatoes.

> The history of potato salad.
 
 
RECIPE: PENNE & POTATO SALAD WITH SPRING VEGETABLES

Prep time is 10 minutes, and cook time is 20 minutes. Enjoy warm or chilled.
 
Ingredients

 
For The Arugula Pesto

 
Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil over medium-high heat. Blanche the asparagus for 2 minutes, then use tongs to remove to an ice bath.

2. ADD the sugar snap peas and cook for 2 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a colander.

3. ADD additional water to the pot if necessary and bring the water to a boil; then add the pasta and potatoes. Cook according to package directions, usually 9-11 minutes which is sufficient time to cook the potatoes al dente as well.

4. DRAIN, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Remove the potatoes and set them aside to cool; they should be firm and will continue to cook. You do not want them to be soft or you won’t be able to slice them.

Do not rinse the pasta, so the sauce will coat the pasta instead of sliding off. Meanwhile…

5. ADD all of the pesto ingredients and half of the olive oil to a mini food processor. Pulse several times, stopping to scrape the mixture from the sides once or twice; then add the remaining olive oil. Pulse until fully incorporated.

6. LEAVING the skin on, slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch slices using a sharp knife or mandolin. (You may peel the potatoes if you prefer, but the skins add a nice color to the dish.

7. HEAT the pot with a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Transfer the pasta to the pot, and stir to break up clumps and coat the pasta with olive oil. Add the half cup of cooking liquid and mix in the pesto.

8. GENTLY FOLD in the asparagus and snap peas and reheat for 2-3 minutes, stirring once or twice to heat evenly. Serve in pasta bowls and garnish with a few shelled peas and toasted pine nuts.
 
 
30 MORE POTATO SALAD RECIPES

[1] Penne and potato salad with spring vegetables (photos #1 and #7 © Priscilla Willis Idaho Potato).

[2] Red jacket potatoes. Leaving the skin on adds color to the salad (photos #2, #4, and #5 © Good Eggs).

[3] Penne rigate—ridged penne, a popular cut (photo © Webstaurant Store).

[4] Sugar snap peas are some of the spring vegetables in the recipe.

[5] Asparagus joins the sugar snap peas in the penne-potato salad.

[6] It’s easy to turn fresh arugula into pesto (photo © Baldor Specialty Foods | Facebook).

[7] Arugula pesto is easy to make in a food processor.

[1] Hot dog with ketchup and mustard (photo © Milan | Pexels).

[2] Brownwood Farms Dill Pickle Mustard, adding more tang and texture to whole-grain mustards (photos #2 and #3 © iGourmet).

[3] Dill pickle ketchup.

We’re not far away from barbecue season. One way to add pizzazz to conventional burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches is to serve them with special condiments. Our choices today are Dill Pickle Ketchup and Dill Pickle Mustard from Brownwood Farms.

Whether or not you’re already planning to have pickles on or with your fare, these condiments add dill pickle tang and texture to whole-grain mustard and ketchup with a mild note of Bourbon, both featuring tangy dill pickles. It will be the talk of the meal.

You can also serve them with fries and burgers.

 
We’re fans of Brownwood Farms, having featured their:

 
We like to give the bottles as party favors and stocking stuffers.
 
 
GET YOUR PICKLE KETCHUP & MUSTARD

The products are also carried by other fine retailers including iGourmet:

 
 
ABOUT BROWNWOOD FARMS

Ohio-based Brownwood Farms uses fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients grown in the Midwest to make its products. Their Cherry Barbeque Sauce and Famous Kream® Mustard put the company on the map

The brand says that “the level of pride, freshness, and commitment to quality that goes into every product is just like that found at roadside stands throughout the Great Lakes region.

“Brownwood Farms products are ones you will be happy serving to your family and friends,” they say, and we agree.

The brand’s parent company, Milo’s Whole World Gourmet, has been a Nibble favorite since the early days of The Nibble (which was founded in 2004).
 
 
> The history of ketchup.

> The history of mustard.

April is Earth Month and Earth Day April 22nd. As environmentally conscious people, we seek to “do something” new each year. In addition to working more sustainably in the kitchen, we look for food growers and manufacturers who have taken steps to lower their carbon footprint and/or take other sustainable actions. Wine drinkers can look to sustainable wine*, and there’s no better time to tell you about the sustainability efforts of the Champagne region of France.

Champagne is golden in hue†, but the entire region has taken steps to sustainably produce its wines, making Champagne an option for those who aim to drink “greener.”

Producers in Champagne are working to combat climate change. Below are some key sustainability initiatives from the Champagne region:

Champagne was the first wine-growing region in the world to implement a carbon footprint assessment and identify the main sources of emissions.

Since the region’s carbon footprint plan was enacted in 2003, the CO2 emissions generated by each bottle of Champagne have been cut by 20%. The Champagne region aims to achieve a 75% decrease by 2050.

Champagne has worked with its regional partners to create an industrial ecology program for waste recycling and biomass conversion.

Due to this, 90% of waste from the region is sorted and recycled, or used to recover energy, and 100% of winemaking sub-products are reused by various industries.

Champagne has initiatives to become more environmentally friendly in the vineyard as well.

[1] A delicious glass of Champagne. This tulip shape is preferred by Champagne experts. The dynamics of the shape allow the wine to express its aromas and the bubbles to develop (all photos © Champagne Bureau).

[2] Harvesting the grapes.

[3] Grapes are clipped in clusters and brought inside the winery to start the winemaking process.

†Colors range from pale gold to the warmer amber shade, and as the wines age, the colors darken. Rosé champagnes range from pale pink to deep rose.

[1] Minnie Beasley’s Lace Cookies (photo © Specialty Food Association).

[2] A delicious bag of cookies (photo by Michael Steele | © The Nibble).

[3] Cherry tuiles from Martha Stewart. Here’s the recipe (photos #3 and #4 © Martha Stewart).

[4] Lace cookies can be flat. Lady Bird Johnson made them this way. Here’s a recipe (not Mrs. Johnson’s) from Martha Stewart.

[5] A tin of Pirouline brand rolled cookies. Each is filled with a flavored cream (photo © Pirouline).

[6] Pepperidge Farm’s version, Pirouette cookies (photo © Taste Of Home).

[7] The thin, flat cookie is rolled into a pirouette shape while still warm. Here’s the recipe (photo © King Arthur Baking).

Way back in 2007, THE NIBBLE wrote enthusiastically about Minnie Beasley’s almond lace cookies, buttery, lacy almond toffee cookies. They won a gold medal as “best cookie” at the Fancy Food Show the following year, but we subsequently lost touch with the brand.

We were pleased to receive an email from them recently proclaiming, “We’re back!”

This means that you, too, can know the joy of Minnie Beasley’s Almond Lace Cookies*, thanks to her great-nephew Harmon Beasley Canon.

And keeping up with the times, there Minnie Beasley’s also are available gluten-free.

The cookies (photos #1 and #2) are a delicate gourmet confection, a special treat, a hybrid of a lace cookie (photo #4) and a pirouette cookie (photos #5, #6, and #7). See the section below for an elucidation.

Lace cookies are a Southern specialty, and Southern ladies created them in different ways.

Lady Bird Johnson, for example, was known for her recipe†, a flat lace cookie. Aunt Minnie’s cookies were—and are—rolled, pirouette-style, and contain almonds.

You can find still other recipes online.
 
 
MINNIE BEASLEY & HER COOKIES

Great Aunt Minnie lived with Harmon Canon’s family during his boyhood in Memphis. As Mr. Canon relates:

“She blessed us with a wealth of wisdom and love as well as giving us this wonderful recipe.” She made them every year at Christmas, a family holiday favorite (the kids would fight over them).

After Minnie’s passing, Mr. Canon’s mother made the almond toffee cookies for the holidays.

When Mr. Canon moved from Memphis to Denver in 2003, it became his turn to bake the cookies at Christmas. He later began to sell them at retail, urged on by the ardent enthusiasm of recipients.

The cookies are made completely by hand. It’s a labor-intensive process.

The dough comes out of the oven flat and paper-thin, and each cookie must be hand-rolled before it cools.

While they look like they might stick to your teeth, they don’t; they melt in your mouth. Anyone’s great aunt can nibble away to her heart’s delight.

Following success with Denver-area retailers, Mr. Canon began to sell to retailers nationwide, and direct to consumers via the Minnie Beasley’s website.

The good news is, you can have them year-round: no waiting for the holidays.
 
 
WAYS TO ENJOY MINNIE BEASLEY’S COOKIES

You certainly can see these cookies being served at tea parties in Memphis, enjoyed by fine ladies in hats and white gloves.

You can dress up if you like. Or not.

Enjoy Minnie Beasley’s Almond Lace Cookies:

 
The cookies can be frozen if they aren’t consumed within a few weeks, but one would have to be on a serious diet to resist consuming the box (sharing with worthy friends and loved ones, of course).
 
 
GET YOUR LACE COOKIES

Almond Lace Cookies are $13.85 per 6-ounce bag, slightly more for gluten-free. Order 10 Bags and get FREE shipping—just in time for Mother’s Day.

Head to MinnieBeasleys.com to place your order.
 
 
MINNIE BEASLEY’S COOKIES ARE PIROUETTES, NOT TUILES

Minnie Beasley’s calls their almond lace cookies tuiles. That’s not entirely accurate. The slender cigarette shape is a pirouette (photos #5, #6, and #7).

Many food experts make this mistake. So please hear this: A cookie needs to be shaped like a curved rooftop tile to be called a tuile.

Tuiles, the French word for tiles, are the curved rooftop tiles of the Provence region of France (photo #3). Tuiles have some form of U shape—a narrow opening like photo #3, or a much broader one like this or like this.

Lace cookies themselves can be flat (photo #4), tuile-shaped (photo #3), or rolled into cigarette-shape pirouettes (photo #2). There are even cone shapes. The differentiator is that the texture is lacy.

Here are three different shapes of lace cookies: cone, pirouette, and tuile.

Any of these shapes scan have a lacy texture or be solid, thin dough. If the dough is solid, they aren’t lace cookies (photo #7).

> The history of cookies.

> The different styles of cookies.

> The different types of cookies.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF PIROUETTE COOKIES

Pirouette cookies are rolled wafer cookies. Versions exist all over Europe.

Around 1860, the DeBeukelaer family of Belgium launched a cookie business, the 1st Biscuit and Wafer Co. The company later claimed to have invented the rolled wafer cookie.

We can’t find a history of that company, but in 1978, Peter DeBeukelaer, a descendant, founded DBC Corporation, also operating as DeBeukelaer Corporation and the DeBeukelaer Cookie Co.

That same year, the company trademarked the Pirouline Swirl, a rolled wafer cookie with a contrasting edge (photo #5).

Americans may be more familiar with Pepperidge Farm’s Pirouette cookies (photo #6), which were likely discovered in Europe by Margaret Rudkin, the company’s founder.

The company website noted that she went on a “tasting trip” to Europe in the 1950s in search of distinctive cookies that were “delicate in flavor and texture” to add to her line.

Perhaps she stumbled over Piroulines (photo #5).

Many cuisines have their version of a rolled wafer cookie.

*Minnie Beasley is not the same Mrs. Beasley as that of the cookie gift basket company owned by Cheryl’s Cookies. Minnie Beasley’s specialty is an artisan, top-quality rolled lace cookie with almonds. Mrs. Beasley’s/Cheryl’s are mass-produced.

†Mrs. Johnson’s cookies were made with coconut and were flat, not rolled. Here’s the recipe.

[1] The recipe for this yogurt dip and sauce is below (photos #1 and 5 © Heraclea Olive Oil).

[2] Old Chatham is one of the two artisan brands of sheep’s milk yogurt in the U.S. (photos #2 and #4 © Old Chatham Creamery).

[3] The other delicious sheep’s milk yogurt is made by Bellwether Farms. Do you know what a bellwether is? See the footnote‡ (photo © Bellwether Farms)?

[4] Thanks for the milk!

[5] The dip recipe was created by Berk Bahceci for Heralea Olive Oil.

Most of the yogurt sold in the U.S. is cow’s milk yogurt, and 51% of that is Greek-style yogurt [source]. In addition to cow’s milk yogurt, you can find yogurts made from:

 
Today, we’ll focus on a true foodie delight, sheep’s milk yogurt, which few yogurt-eaters have ever tried. Why not?

First, because sheep’s milk yogurt is more expensive to produce, few companies make it. In the U.S., we’ve only found it in artisan brands like:

 
Second, sheep’s milk yogurt can be twice the price of cow’s milk yogurt. Sheep are difficult to raise and don’t yield much milk, hence the premium.

And third, as a premium-priced product, it is typically only available at high-end markets and specialty food stores.

But if you’re a yogurt fan—or a sheep’s milk cheese fan—treat yourself to some and get to know this delicious variety.
 
 
WHY SHEEP’S MILK YOGURT IS BETTER

Ounce for ounce, compared to cow’s and goat’s milk yogurt, sheep’s milk yogurt:

 
 
RECIPE: SHEEP’S MILK YOGURT DIP

Enjoy this dip with cocktails, or as a sauce for chicken, fish, lamb, pork, or vegetables.

Sheep’s milk yogurt is naturally thick and doesn’t require extra straining, although you can substitute Greek-style yogurt.

Thanks to Heraclea Olive Oil for the recipe.

Prep time is 10 minutes.
 
Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation
 
1. MIX the yogurt, oregano, dill, and mint in a large bowl.

2. USE a separate, smaller bowl to mix the garlic, salt, and vinegar; then add it to the yogurt mixture. Combine well.

3. DRIZZLE with olive oil and serve.
 
 
A BIT OF SHEEP HISTORY

The domestication of sheep—as well as that of goats and cattle—first took place roughly 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia and the nearby mountain zones of western Asia.

This happened when humans, who had been hunter-gatherers, settled into agricultural communities. Being stationary enabled animal husbandry and domestication the first plant crops like barley and wheat [source].

Today, the countries of the Mediterranean remain the world’s biggest sheep dairy producers.

†Short-term fatty acids improve gut health through a number of effects, from maintenance of intestinal barrier integrity, mucus production, and protection against inflammation to the reduction of the risk of colorectal cancer [source]. Medium-term fatty acids (triglycerides) promote “fullness,” reduce fat deposits, increase energy expenditure, and are more easily metabolized (i.e., turn into energy).

‡A bellwether is the leading sheep of a flock, with a bell around its neck. Why? Long ago, it was common practice for shepherds to hang a bell around the neck of one sheep in their flock, to hear the sheep when they wandered. The word was formed by a combination of the Middle English words belle (meaning “bell”) and wether (a noun that refers to a castrated male sheep). The term first appeared in English in the 15th century. It eventually came to refer to an indicator or predictor of something, or to someone who takes initiative or who actively establishes a trend that is taken up by others.