I have been out of town working all week with no time to respond here. Please understand my sensitivity regarding this matter. I make my living as a creative person, mostly doing visual art but am occasionally called on for my writing skills such as they are. I would be very upset if my efforts - visual or written - were presented as someone else's even if only by omission of attribution. To me it is just wrong. Pleading ignorance doesn't make it okay. Just because it's posted to the internet doesn't make it okay - anymore than taking someone's belongings because they left them unguarded in a car with an open window. Having opportunity does not grant permission. Many years ago I sat in the audience of a local design and advertising awards presentation and watched as my design work - a year's worth of my daily efforts - was presented on screen with no designer/illustrator credits given. I had resigned from my art director position with the design firm a few weeks prior to the show. I left on good terms and had even given a month's notice. I left because I couldn't work a 60 hour week any longer, I was exhausted. My heart broke as I watched my work receive award after award. Even the presenter commented that there were no credits to individuals (like the other entries). My former employer had no idea I was in the audience. She looked rather startled when she ran into me in the lobby after the show. I said nothing. At the same show a photographer had entered one of my pieces (her photo, my design) with no credit to me. Ironic because she had made a big stink about the design firm using her image without credit or royalties. The client had supplied us with a large number of transparencies without informing us that they didn't actually own rights to many of them. Our ignorance didn't make it right. A fee was negotiated and she was given printed credit on the finished piece. Yet she submitted that same printed piece as her own. Go figure. Another time I was asked by a friend and professional colleague to create a poster for an event. It was for the one-time performance of a master's thesis, an interesting adaptation of a Mozart opera. Most of the professional opera singers donated their time, as did the costume designer and others. I created the poster, promotional materials, and tickets. When I opened the program (written by my friend) I read the many credits and my name did not appear! I hadn't given myself a credit on the poster itself, either. I mentioned it to him. He looked horrified, poor fellow. I have a distinctly formed opinion about creative ownership. I can site many examples of my work being imitated, sometimes it's flattering. It feels a lot better to be acknowledged and appreciated. I do gratis work as well for friends, for fund-raisers. It isn't all about monetary gain. Eileen

Two more for your perusal: GREEK PASTA SALAD 1 lb. medium-size shell or other short pasta (4 cups) Salt 2/3 cup olive oil 2 Tblsp. fresh lemon juice (1 lemon) 2 small cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press 1 tsp. dried oregano Freshly ground black pepper 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half 1-1/2 cups chopped cucumber (2 medium-size or 1 large cucumber) 1 cup chopped red onion (1 medium-size onion) 1 cup (4 oz.) crumbled feta cheese 1/2 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint or parsley Pickled banana or cherry peppers or steamed shrimp (optional), for garnish Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in the pasta and 1 tsp. of salt, reduce the heat to medium-high, and cook the pasta, uncovered, according to the package directions until just done, 8 to 9 minutes. Meanwhile, place the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and oregano in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Set the salad dressing aside. Drain the pasta well in a colander, shaking it to remove the excess water. Transfer the pasta to the large mixing bowl with the dressing. Stir to coat and let the pasta come to room temperature, about 20 minutes. When the pasta is cool, fold in the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta cheese, olives, and mint or parsley. Stir to combine well. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and/or black pepper if needed. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and serve at once garnished with the banana peppers or shrimp, if desired, or cover and refrigerate the salad until serving time. Serves 8. Big Batch: This salad is easy to double or triple, but cook the pasta a pound at a time, and mix the salad one batch at a time. Tote Notes: Tote this salad right in its serving bowl and bring the optional garnish of peppers or shrimp in a separate container, if you like. Cover the serving bowl with plastic wrap that sticks securely to the rim of the bowl to make traveling less messy. If possible, let the salad come to room temperature before serving. Then stir the salad again and top it with the garnish, if using. From What Can I Bring by Anne Byrn. SANTA FE PASTA SALAD This salad is simply fabulous! The flavor blend is right on. Add some diced, cooked chicken to make a delicious meal-in-one salad, or serve as is on the side. 1 pkg. (16 oz.) rotini pasta 1-1/4 cups tomato juice 1-1/2 Tblsp. olive oil 1 Tblsp. red wine vinegar 1 tsp. chili powder 1/2 tsp. paprika 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup cooked corn kernels 1/4 cup chopped scallions 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 2 Tblsp. diced green bell pepper 2 Tblsp. diced Roma tomato Boil pasta according to pkg. directions. Rinse under cold water and drain well. Stir together tomato juice, olive oil, vinegar, chili powder, paprika, salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Toss with pasta in a large bowl. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Combine Parmesan cheese, corn, scallions, cilantro, green pepper and tomato. Combine with chilled pasta; cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Season with cracked black pepper before serving if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Oh, Heavens to Betsy! I got scared to death when I saw this post beause I don't remember any Mexican Salad in my lifetime! Things can happen if you post recipes at night after you have red wine with dinner. Well, I searched and found that I had, in fact, posted it, LOL, but the rest of the recipe will show that it is Ann of Virginia's recipe - so let's change the name to Ann's Layered Mexican Salad and give her the credit and not me. In any event, I would do what Seagrass suggested and toss the avocado in some extra lime juice also - certainly couldn't hurt. Here's the rest of the story (with a nod to Paul Harvey :) Posted by annova914 (My Page) on Tue, Jul 8, 08 at 23:09 I just made this for tonight's dinner and it is delicious. I think you could substitute Italian parsley for the cilantro if you don't like cilantro. I made extra dressing thinking there wouldn't be enough but there was (so I'll use the delicious extra dressing on a tossed salad - it's very good). I used fresh corn which made the salad really refreshing on a hot night. Ann/VA

I'd personally prefer an Italian type dressing. Chase's recipe above looks good. Your ingredients sound good, but you need a little color... you have a lot of red (tomatoes and pepperoni) and white (pasta and cheese) so you need a little yellow (maybe some yellow peppers or you could use cheddar cheese instead). A little green (peppers, broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, or green onion) would be good too, and black olives look and taste good in a pasta salad. Now, just between you and me, if your not serving it for company the color really doesn't matter and I'd just load it with your favorite stuff whatever it is, and whatever you have. The secret is all in the dressing; if it's good, everything will taste good. Adding or subtracting an item or two shouldn't really matter. There are no right or wrong ingredients for a pasta salad.