Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m in Arizona for a few days and as I write this, I’m enjoying a cool morning on the porch at a friend’s cabin a few hours north of the already very warm Valley of the Sun. Every time I visit Phoenix, it makes me appreciate the beauty of cooler weather and changing seasons all the more.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Ohio? I hope I never take for granted what a gift it is to wake up to my favorite place in the world every morning.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: It’s pasta salad season over here and I’m pretty happy about it. Al dente tiny pasta tossed with generous amounts of cooked shrimp, crunchy fresh vegetables, and a citrus-spiked creamy dressing all combine to make this Shrimp Pasta Salad irresistible. It’s about to become your new summer favorite!

Mozzarella cheese, salami, tomatoes, bell peppers, red onion, and black olives are combined with bite-size pasta and tossed in a tangy, garlicky, vinaigrette to make this Salami Pasta Salad. My boys went a little bit crazy over it the first time I made it.

Oh how I’m loving fresh asparagus right now! Asparagus wrapped in bacon is an impressive-looking side dish that is every bit as awesome to eat as it is to admire on the plate. I could happily make a full meal out of this asparagus.

Tender pasta, shrimp, bacon, and asparagus are tossed with garlic in a creamy sauce to make this irresistible Shrimp Asparagus Pasta. This is a deceptively easy recipe, friends. While the directions look lengthy at first glance, I promise you that this is a quick and straightforward recipe.

With layers of sweet vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, and vanilla wafers tucked under a fluffy layer of whipped meringue, this Old-Fashioned Banana Pudding is a hit every time it is served.

Rich, sweet, and infused with whiskey that has been mellowed by heavy cream, Homemade Irish Cream is dreamy. It’s much more subtle and sophisticated than its commercial counterpart.

And if you’re a fan of Bailey’s Irish Cream: this Irish cream infused Bailey’s Ice Cream is going to make you weak at the knees!

What I’m CRAVING: My friend Christi’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. If you love chocolate and peanut butter, this recipe is about as good as it gets. I could very happily eat this entire batch myself. These cookies really are THAT good.

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Easy BLT Pasta Salad

This easy BLT pasta salad recipe is unique with it’s creamy basil dressing and fun shaped pasta. Load it up with salty, crispy bacon, juicy tomatoes and don’t forget the smokey cheddar cheese! BBQ side dishes are jealous when our best pasta salad shows up!

STOP cooking your pasta al dente for pasta salads! This might go against everything you’ve ever heard, but pasta that is slightly overcooked will hold the flavor of the dressing better making a more flavorful pasta salad.

BLTs are Claire’s obsession and she’s always encouraging me to make it into another recipe, so here we are with another pasta salad recipe. We like this served at room temp or slightly warm though cold works as well, but tbh an accidental warm pasta was used once and we’ve really never gone back as it turned out the best.

We also used to make a mayo-based dressing for this pasta salad, but we tried it with this healthier basil dressing and we’ve only used it since. So that’s the dressing we are including in the recipe with a shortcut for using a store-bought ranch if you’re short on time.

If you aren’t familiar with a BLT sandwich, BLT stands for bacon, lettuce and tomato. For a sandwich, we layer those between two pieces of toast that have been slathered with mayo and then devour. We are keeping those same delicious flavors in this tasty pasta salad and adding a fabulous basil dressing, pasta, smoky cheese and creamy avocado.

Ingredients for BLT Pasta Salad

You’ll need a few ingredients for making the homemade dressing, but the pasta salad itself is only needs 6 simple ingredients. Here is everything you will need:

For the Dressing

• Plain Greek Yogurt: lightens up the dressing a little while adding good protein
• Mayonnaise: adds creaminess and tang to the dressing
• Buttermilk: added to thin out the dressing a little while keep the tangy flavor
• Fresh Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Dill and Chives
• Worcestershire: adds depth of flavor
• Seasonings: Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

For the Salad

• Radiatore or Cavatappi Pasta
• Smoked Cheddar Cheese: sharp cheddar cheese
• Romaine Lettuce: chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Cherry Tomatoes: halved
• Bacon: cooked ahead of time and chopped
• Avocado: adds creaminess and healthy fats

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Easy BLT Pasta Salad

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Calling all Bailey’s Irish Cream lovers: this Irish cream infused Bailey’s ice cream is going to make you weak at the knees!

Bailey’s Ice Cream

Whiskey, chocolate, and coffee. Is there any more tempting combination? It’s a classic for good reason, and it makes for one very lush (pun intended) ice cream.

Irish cream is made from heavy cream, Irish whiskey, coffee, chocolate, and vanilla which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from being a legitimate ice cream base on its own. Alas, pure Irish cream will never freeze to an ice cream because of the alcohol content.

A little bit of kitchen know-how gets us around the problem, though, as we can amplify all the flavors that we get in a shot of homemade Irish Cream or commercially available Bailey’s Irish Cream. Adding a generous amount of Irish cream to our ice cream base does the trick.

If you want to treat yourself to a memorable dessert designed to impress, put a scoop of this ice cream into a martini glass and pour a shot of espresso over it for the world’s best affogato. That is a guaranteed hit!

Bailey’s Ice Cream Recipe

To make this indulgent ice cream, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• whole milk
• heavy cream
• Irish cream
• sugar
• kosher salt
• vanilla extract

The most popular question I get is whether it’s possible to make ice cream without a machine. The answer is YES. You can make ice cream without a machine. Find the full directions here!

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Rich, sweet, and infused with whiskey that has been mellowed by heavy cream, homemade Irish cream is dreamy. It’s much more subtle and sophisticated than its commercial counterpart.

Homemade Irish Cream

Unless you’ve never been in a bar or had an adult beverage in the United States, you’ve definitely heard of and probably enjoyed Bailey’s Irish Cream. From Irish coffees to Mudslides, Irish cream is everywhere.

It’s also used in many cakes, frostings, and other desserts. And if you love Bailey’s, you should definitely be making Irish cream at home.

Why? Well, fresh is always best, for starters. But it’s also so easy to make it seems silly not to. You can also make your own subtle adjustments to the recipe to make it exactly like you want it.

Which brings us to an important point. What is Irish cream anyway?

What is Bailey’s Irish Cream?

Irish cream is a perfectly balanced of cream, Irish whiskey, chocolate, and coffee.

Commercial versions are emulsified with vegetable oil, and are good for up to six months after being opened so long as they’re refrigerated. Homemade foregoes the vegetable oil and uses the blender to add an aerated texture and is good for up to two months in the refrigerator.

Homemade Irish Cream Recipe

To make your very own homemade Irish cream, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• heavy cream
• sweetened condensed milk
• Irish whiskey
• chocolate syrup
• instant coffee granules
• vanilla extract
• almond extract

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Al dente tiny pasta tossed with generous amounts of cooked shrimp, crunchy fresh vegetables, and a citrus-spiked creamy dressing all combine to make this shrimp pasta salad irresistible. It’s poised to become your new summer favorite!

Shrimp Pasta Salad

Shrimp and pasta go together like peas and carrots. They’re made for each other!

And this shrimp and pasta salad is a perfect example of that harmony. The creamy mayonnaise-based dressing has a pop of fresh lemon juice to complement the shrimp’s natural sweetness. The bell pepper, celery, and onion provide the textural variety and crunch every good pasta salad needs.

While we’re talking about the shrimp, this salad can use almost any variety and size of fully cooked shrimp. Because you’re chopping it into bite-sized pieces, it doesn’t matter whether you start with small, medium, or jumbo shrimp just so long as it’s cooked and chilled.

While you technically could use extra small or salad shrimp as well, I prefer not to. The texture and taste of the larger shrimp in this salad are much nicer. Extra small and salad shrimp tend to blend in, can sometimes be a bit tough, and often lack some of the flavor of the bigger sizes.

We do a lot of shrimp meals in our family. They’re quick cooking, convenient to keep on hand in the freezer, and fairly budget friendly!

Shrimp Quesadillas are a busy weeknight go-to because they come together so very quickly. Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Kabobs are another excellent summer meal option.

And shrimp doesn’t just have to be a dish at the party, it can be the party itself! Especially if we’re talking about a dish as special as Shrimp Boil!

Pasta Salad with Shrimp

To make shrimp pasta salad, you’ll need the following ing