Coffee with my Boyfriend's Parents

My boyfriend's parents stopped by for coffee a few days ago to catch up after out America trip. We had a nice visit and  we looked through some of our pictures from NYC. Here is a photo of the table. I made a simple Greek Pasta Salad and I had brought some pastries home from the cafe where I work. I served them on this three tiered serving dish from Ikea, i think it cost about 14euros. These types of serving dishes are great for a little "wow" factor and also save a lot of space at the table.

I also put together a simple cheese plate with brie, blue cheese and gouda. They were served with water crackers and sliced french bread. I added some red grapes to fill up the plate. I though we could use the left over blue cheese to make a chicken recipe for dinner (I will post that recipe soon) and the gouda and french bread we could use for sandwiches and any left over brie is a yummy snack. Cheese plates can get pricey but since we only got three super market cheeses and planned to use them for future meals I thought it was really affordable. And of course since we're in Finland we served coffee as well. Needless to say everyone was stuffed by the end of the visit. Below is the recipe for the Greek Pasta Salad.

Greek Pasta Salad

1 bag of al dente cooked spiral pasta

2-4 tablespoons olive oil (add more oil if the pasta salad seems sticky)

1 1/2 dl cubed Feta (I normally just buy a package of Feta in oil with herbs that are normally used for salads. Use the entire package in the pasta. If you do this then you don't have to add any extra oil or herbs other than salt and pepper)

1 small jar of black olives

Half a red bell pepper finely chopped

1 dl chopped pepperoni

1 dl chopped cherry tomatoes

Sprinkle of oregano

Sprinkle of basil

Salt and pepper to taste

1.) Cook the pasta as instructed until al dente. Drain and rinse. Pour into a large bowl.

2.) Add olive oil and feta. If you're using a feta in oil salad package add the entire package.Mix well.

3.) Add olives, red bell pepper, chopped pepperoni, chopper cherry tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and mix well. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve chilled. Enjoy!

- Tina