Thursday Night Dinner and a CreamyTortellini Salad

Last night's dinner seemed more like a relaxed weekend meal.  Katie and Bill had some friends over and were cooking out on the grill.  I walked in and said "yes" before they even invited me!  They were grilling marinated chicken breasts (spiedie-style) and chicken sausage, and Katie was making a tortellini pasta salad.  Feeling a little guilty for crashing their dinner, I contributed my own (chicken) breasts (!), more frozen tri-colored tortellini, and a loaf of Italian bread.  (This reminds me of my own otherwise-proper yet funny mother, who used to say her breasts were thawing on the kitchen counter!)...  OK, enough with the juvenile anatomy references, except to say that I smile any time something my mother said comes out of my mouth!

Along with the grilled goods and pasta salad, Katie served bright and fresh broccoli.  Rounding out the meal was a platter of lemon cupcakes topped with a swirl of blackberry (just a hint) buttercream frosting, each sporting one blackberry - a little surprise for Henry's actual birthday today since his big bash was last weekend. His cupcake had a candle in it, and he's getting really good at blowing them out!  He got it with the first shot and no help!

 I loved the pasta salad, which was served cold, and here's the recipe as far as I can decipher:

CREAMY TORTELLINI SALAD

2 bags frozen tri-color tortellini, cooked and drained, then rinsed in cold water
Mayo/ranch dressing (equal parts of both), enough to coat
crumbled bacon
Freshly ground pepper, a little salt

I thought it would be great to add some crisp broccoli florets, broken up, or peas, and maybe just a little bit of  finely diced red onion. 

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