It's a Stravaganza of Salad!

**A note from, what I loosely call, "the author"** DUDES - Yesterday I FORGOT the Stravaganza was TODAY. F*ck! Today I had eleventy billion things I had to get done. F*ck!! I started this lil round-up around 8ish this morning.. it's now 10:30 p.m. I partly blame my chores. I partly blame the beautemous sunshine outside and I partly (85%) blame how I don't know how to shut the fakk up when writing on this here blog. Forgive me! Please? :D xoxo Holy cow! You guys ARE THE BESTEST!! When Kelly, of Sass and Veracity, and I started this whole Salad Stravaganza thing, we were thinking how blessed we'd be to get like 20 to 25 submissions.. 48 49 is what we got!! FORTY EIGHT NINE! Ya'll rocked our salad lovin' worlds! Thank you SO MUCH!!! =) So here's the deal if you are just now tuning in.. One day (okay, several days in a row quite possibly adding up to a month of days) Kelly and I were whining about our boredom with the same old, same old salads that we make almost every day for lunch and/or dinner.. and then we thought, "Wow, wouldn't it be great if someone would do some sort of salad event?" I mean, really - I know that Kel and I can't be the only 2 women on the face of the planet who hate their thighs, arse, hips, tummy, underarms, forearms, ankles, big toes, earlobes, etc. could we? Hell no we aren't! I've yet to meet a woman who finds herself to be perfect in every way (even though I think many of my "real-life" and "online" gal pals are completely perfect in any way, shape or form). I even know quite a few men, who don't poo-poo the salad lunches or dinners as they aren't happy with their bodies either. Christ we live in a world that constantly tries to beat into your brains about how healthy you should be (at least that's the way it is here in America) and how being overweight is the bad juju, mon. Yet, those healthy, skinny folk are pretty much in the minority. Why is that? I'm going to tell you why!!! Because chocolate cake TASTES GOOD! :P No really, how many of you are in she same boat as Kelly and I with the same old boring salads? If I've learned anything from this wonderful offering of delectable salad recipes, is that we need to look beyond what's in the crisper drawer of our refrigerators, kids. I've never seen such a variety of salads that use ingredients such as roasted vegetables, fruits & berries, beans, herbs, cheeses and meats! I mean, salads aren't just for diets anymore. And salads of this caliber can't even be recognized as healthy meals, because they are SO DELICIOUS! Hello? How can something that tastes SO GOOD be good for you?? Before I show you what I mean, I just want to thank Kelly for being an awesome partner in this salad adventure. Boy, for someone who's never organized and kept track of event submissions before, Kel - you rock, sistah!! I LOVED working on this with you, thank you so much =) What's more, way more, is how lucky and happy I am to be able to call you my friend. Love you, honey! xoxo Okay now that the moosh is outta the way *blush* let's get to my half of the Salad Stravaganza round up: Starting us off on our journey is a new friend of mine whose name is Danny. Danny keeps promising me he's going to start his own blog, but for now he's emailed me a recipe for what I am titling,"Danny's Best Ever Salad" Why that title? Because Danny says anyone who's ever tried it has proclaimed it to be the best salad they've ever had. =) I can believe the hype as this salad sounds amazingly good! Allow me to copy the recipe here for all of you on Danny's behalf: Danny's Best Ever Salad Fill a large tray with mixed greens Hard boil 3,4,6,...eggs (as many as u like) In same pot boil a few small potatoes Slice 1 red onion 1 can large black pitted olives A handful of cherry or grape tomatoes Dressing: this really makes the salad , or any salad....! 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil Juice of 2 blood oranges 3-4 tbsp. of aged balsamic vinegar (the good stuff only please) Finely chopped fresh basil as much as u like 1 tbsp. honey dijon mustard Mix all dressing ingredients together well. Peel and half eggs and potatoes and place on greens, toss in olives (liquid removed), red onion, and tomatoes. Smother entire salad with dressing and enjoy! Did I lie? Doesn't that sound fantabulous? Thanks Danny! Next on our list is the gorgeous Jenny of All Things Edible. Yes, well it's a fitting title for her blog as she shares with us so many tasty treats - this salad among the tastiest! Her Romaine-Strawberry Salad sounds heavenly. And if that weren't enough, her equally talented 4 year old son has submitted a recipe too!! One of the best pasta salads I've ever had, Tri-Colored Pasta Salad with Cheese, Baby Carrots and Cucumber I'm so hunnnnggggrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Thanks Jenny! And please thank your son for us too! Marta of An Italian in the US was kind enough to share with us a magnificent salad made with mangos and other super tasty ingredients. Her Insalata di cavolo rosso, peperoni, mango, avocado e mandorle is not only a mouthful to say - but hello? It's a salad that I'd be more than happy to have a mouthful of! hehe What all of that means is a delicious mix of red cabbage, peppers, mangoes, avocado and almonds. *swoon* You've got your sweet, your savory, your creamy and your crunchy.. what else could be better? Thanks so much, Marta! Emily of Appetitive Behavior writes one of my favorite blogs. She comes up with some major droolworthy dishes and I always look forward to what's next! And she sure kept us drooling with her submissions (yes, plural as in 2 tasty recipes!) for the 'ganza! First up is this creative Amansala Ginger Salad Emily says that she had a version of this salad in a restaurant called Rangoon in Philadelphia with her boss and she was immediately taken with it. Although she could not reproduce it exactly, she says this version is an excellent substitution. I'm quite intrigued with the ginger in the salad, that's something I've never tried.. YET! Her second submission is this, Melon Salad Agridolce. What we have here is one of my favorite things - a fruit and cheese platter. You know sliced melons, pears, grapes or cherries paired with nutty, creamy, salty, delicious cheese selections and usually there is a side of various nuts and always served with a good glass (or bottle, Kel!) of wine. Now take these components and turn them into salad. Genius!! You've got fresh greens with the cheese, the fruit and the nuts - and a red wine vinaigrette drizzled over it. Ohhh happy! happy! Thank you so much, Emily! I'm grinning from ear to ear just thinking about this next salad.. You see, when I first saw Alanna's, of A Veggie's Venture, submission I knew I was going to run out to get the ingredients that very night. And I did.. and I squeeeeeeeeeee'd the whole way home. Seriously, just imagine some crazed woman with a bag of green beans in one hand, her other hand firmly gripped to the steering wheel of her car with this huge, teethy, maniacal grin on her face comin at you at 65 mph. Yeah, scary. Her Fresh Green Bean Salad with Asian Dressing did this to me! I even blogged about it early and spoiled the debut for the Stravaganza! Hee! Thank you and thank you and thank you, Alanna! Talk about your lovely and talented ladies, our next salad genius is Dolores, of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. Unfortunately for last month's Hey! Hey! It's Donna Day event, Dolores was a a lil late in meeting the deadline, but it worked out perfect for us! Woot! Now we get to share with you (and our own tummies!) this completely droolworthy Caesar Salad with Skewered Shellfish. Holy cow.. does anyone have a tissue so I can wipe my chin(s)? Heavenly, Dolores, thanks so much! One of my favorite ladies in the blogosphere is Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict. Jasmine has such a wonderful way of writing that I just really can't help myself but to love her posts. She was neck-deep in her classes, but still found the time to send us a most delicious salad with a tropical feel.. I introduce to you, The Tropical! YUM! This salad has all the fixin's - chicken, grapes, almonds, greens, peppers and a yummy raspberry vinaigrette - oh yeah baby! Thanks Jasmine - it sounds delish! Jeanne, from Cook Sister! brings to us a most creative salad that she'd been playing around with in her head for quite some time. I'm so glad she finally decided to give it a try because she has me salivating by just reading her post (which I've read several times!). The vibrant color of that butternut squash just has me all ga-ga drooly. heee! Paired with the warm butternut squash is salty Feta cheese and crunchy pine nuts.. oh! my! God! I want some right now! =) Go check out this gorgeous Roasted Butternut, Feta & Pinenut salad immediately if not sooner! Thanks Jeanne! What can I say about this next girl? Well.. exactly what can't I say about her? I could go on for days =) She is my partner in crime, my "sister" from afar, she's my confidante, my rock and the calming factor in my life. No one settles me down like Ivonne. You might be familiar with her "little" blog - Cream Puffs in Venice? hehee My dear, sweet friend Ivonne has not only made us one salad.. but three.. bless her cotton socks. ;) And what glorious salads they are! First we've got a warm and inviting mix of roasted potatoes, green beans and tomatoes. This is a type of salad I make often - and for the exact reason that Ivonne states, "The warm potatoes soak up the dressing..." Ohh how I love roasted potatoes in a salad, especially with a good oil and vinegar dressing.. YUM! Her second and third salads come from Tracy Stern's Tea Party. The first of the two is what sounds to be a magical mix of both creamy and crunchy in a green apple and avocado salad with her own special dressing.. I will be using that dressing tonight, as a matter of fact! I can't wait! And finally, her third salad is pasta salad containing chickpeas, roasted red pepper, red onion and artichoke hearts. *swoon* We can't thank you enough, Ivonne - you rock! Ahhh my Gracie. How I heart her so =) She is one of the driving factors in my life that makes me want to continue on in bettering my baking skills. Between her and my other love (I'm gettin kinky with all this lovin' going on!) Helene, I hope to one day at least be able to frost a damn cake evenly. hee! While reading Gracie's post, I was chuckling and giggling quite a bit. I guess we did kinda "gently remind" the Daring Baker crew of our lil salad event, didn't we? heheee! And I so love hearing what delicious and commonly loved foods her hubby doesn't like. hahahaaa! Which, yeah.. this time is salad. But that doesn't stop her - thank God! - although it's not as often as she'd like, she still enjoys salads - and if even half of them are anything like this one.. I'd be able to live on salad alone! Pears poached in red wine, bites of savory bleu cheese, spicy candied walnuts with a blackberry jam vinaigrette drizzled over each seductive bite. And I say seductive because - Hot damn, kids! This salad is sexxxxxy! Thanks for bringing the Sexy Back in salads, Gracie!! heee! Ohhhh.. and one more thing! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRACIE!!! Tomorrow (July 2) is Peabody's birthday - make sure you wish her many more to come! Our second Romaine and Strawberry salad is brought to us by the lovely and very articulate Kristen of Dine and Dish. But there's nothing second hand about this gorgeous salad with it's creamy poppyseed dressing, no there is not! Kristin craves this recipe since she was introduced to it by a friend this past Easter. And I can totally see how she would crave it often. Okay that's 2 now - I am SO TRYING a romaine and strawberry salad before all the strawberries go away! Thanks Kristin - between you and Jenny, ya'll have got me craving it now too! =) Laura's blog, EAT DRINK LIVE, had become a fast favorite for me. How I never found her before she joined the Daring Bakers, is a mystery to me.. or at least it's a reason I'm kicking myself in the arse over. Laura's baking abilities are bar none and her creativity in the kitchen is quite stunning! Just like this lil stunner of a salad, Spiced Orange and Avocado Salad Wow.. oranges and avocados.. just a lil slice of heaven right here on earth! Not only is this salad something special to look at, but it sounds absolutely delicious. Thanks muchly, Laura - you've once again blown me away! Next is my smilie girl - I picture her smiling a lot AND she makes me smile alla time. =) Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms was kind enough to share with us her Grandma L's Super Salad! What this is, is a combination of super fresh ingredients, such as crisp romaine and carrots and then 2 of my favorite things, marinated mushroom and roasted red peppers! Yum! This sounds SO GOOD, Elle! Thank you sooooo much =) I've met so many wonderful people in this blogging world of ours and truly, I am blessed. Whether I were to meet all of them or none of them in person, I am blessed. I feel this way particularly for our next "salad mixologist". Morven and I were paired together for our first BBM over a year ago and we became fast friends. She's my soul sistah! I love you, Morv! =) (Does everyone pour out their hearts and kinkiness in their round-ups? :P ) 'kay well there's something else I love.. and that's roasted veggies.. and hoooo bay-bay, Morv's done us up right! A salad made up entirely of roasted vegetables with a sprinkling of fresh cilantro and spring onions - all warm and caramelized and crispedy and creamery.. oh heaven's.. THIS is one of the reasons I love her so. :D Thank you Morven! The ever charming Susan of Food Blogga has wowed me yet again with another one of her fresh veggie creations.. this time it's an inviting Warm Three Pea and Radish Salad. YUM! I love me my peas! And if this weren't enough, Susan educated us on the differences between the English pea, the Sugarsnap pea and the Snow pea as well as a little background on each and tips on how to prepare them. I learned something new! I always appreciate that. =) I also appreciate such a pretty and most delicious salad! Thanks so much, Susan! Oh my gosh.. time for me to get sappy again! har! (You can scroll down a few lines if you've had enough of the sap) Callipygia of FOODchair is another close friend of mine who I cherish! We've shared much about each other - the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't know what I'd do if she weren't in my life. Course she'd be better off if I weren't in her life - lousy friend that I am!! Happy Belated Birthday, Callipygia!!!! I love you sweetie! =) (her birthday was yesterday, the 30th - everyone wish her a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) hehe And now on to her fabulous salad! Have you ever read Callipygia's posts? If you haven't I couldn't urge your more strongly to go and get comfy in her archives. You won't be disappointed. A damn good example is her post regarding mushrooms. Yep, mushrooms! Once you are finished reading, before you even realize you are famished and wish her Seven Generation Salad was sitting right in front of you, you'll notice just how much you take a mushroom for granted. Seriously. You rock, Callipygia - Thank you so much! Hooo lordie, I'm going to start shortening up these lil write-ups! And this is a good one to try to keep short and sweet because - yes, you guessed it! - I could go on and on about how much I love Danielle's blog Habeas Brulee. This woman knows how to cook! She knows how to bake! She knows how to do attorney type things! My God, she knows how to blow glass, producing BEAUTIFUL bowls, vases, glasses, etc. A few of which are highlighted above.. she made the clear glass bowl and her sweetie made the red one! And you'd really need beautiful bowls to show off these 3 (THREE) beautiful salads. Firstly we have a very creative Fava Bean and cherry salad I gotta tell yas.. I'm so fakkin intrigued by this one - my "dislike" of beans doesn't even sway how much I'd like to try this! And then we've got two cucumber salads.. Danielle decided to compare two grandmother's recipes. Her own grandma's Hungarian style cuke salad and Alanna's (from A Veggie Venture) grandma's sour cream based cuke salad.. either or, I'd be SO HAPPY to have them in front of me, right now! Thank you so much, Danielle! Well this is the price you pay when you have so many wonderful friends.. my very special Sara, whom I just adore. She's a wonderful cook, she's a great writer and she's trying to learn how to bake with me! She's also a very special friend (as if you couldn't guess?) - and if anyone is going to get me to eat tofu, it's going to be Sara. :D Sara out did herself this time.. not 1, not 2, not even 3 recipes - FOUR! Four fabulous salad recipes that had me drooling right from the start with this tomato salad "base". Fresh tomatoes, a lil salt, a lil oil & vinegar.. YUM! Building on to that she created this super yummy sounding Tomato Pasta salad! Double yum! And then she hits one out of the park with two pineapple salads that sound AMAZING! We can't thank you enough, Sara - 4 fabulous thigh trimming salads! Lisa's blog, aptly named, Lisa's Kitchen is a new blog to me - but I gotta say - it looks great! And hey, you have to love a Lisa, right? =) Lisa brings us a creamy cole slaw that looks to die for.. this one I'm definitely making Hubbs as he's a cole slaw aficionado. He's going to love this and I'm going to love it sittin' beside a marinaded, grilled chicken breast - cole slaw and grilled chicken are the bomb! Thank you so much, Lisa! And last but certainly not least (you can all sigh with relief, my long-windedness is almost complete) my partner in the Salad Stravaganza and very good friend, Kelly of Sass and Veracity! WOOOOO! Kelly! We did it, Sistah Christian!! Kel's salad is just way to fakkin good looking to even remotely being good for you. I absolutely positively REFUSE to believe that this salad is better than say.. a plate full of brownies (which, yes.. I've eaten for dinner before.) (DO NOT JUDGE ME!) ***crickets*** Brown Derby Cobb Salad with Marinated Top Round Steak. Could you just die right now? She marinated the steak and then she grilled the steak to medium rare perfection. And then.. then she sliced the steak into tender savory mouthfuls of joy. Can anyone else hear angels singing? And then.. AND THEN she boiled the eggs, she fried the bacon to the perfect crispedy crisp, she sliced the avocado and sprinkled on the bleu cheese.. AND THEN she grilled up some poultry mammories to juicy lipsmacking goodness. Could that be all? Hell no it couldn't be all.. THEN she whipped up a home made Cobb salad dressing.. *swoon* Could somebody please shut those angels up?? I can hardly hear myself think! uhh? HOLY CRAP!!!!! I'M THE WORSTEST HOSTESS IN ALL OF THE WORLD!! I FORGOT ONE OF THE SWEETEST GALS EVER =( I FEEL HORRIBLE.. WORSE THAN HORRIBLE! PLEASE GO GIVE KELLY-JANE LOTS OF SALAD LOVIN', KIDS! My dear sweet Kelly-Jane, of Cooking The Books, who made us TWO gorgeous salads.. one of which I flipped over and will so definitely be making it as soon as some apricots become available.. and still - putting that recipe in my notebook to try this summer.. I FORGET TO ADD TO THE ROUND UP. I swear to God, I suck. Kelly-Jane, I hope you can forgive me! But while I wait to find out what her punishment is going to be.. allow me to share with you what this very talented gal cooked up for us! Firstly, she made this very pretty "Cowboy" salad of rice, beans, chicken sausage, spices and what looks to be an amazing lime dressing bringing all the glorious flavors out. This salad looks and sounds so good that I think it'd make a perfect dish to start off my "healthy bean eating" kick. YUM! Secondly - and the one I really flipped over (yanno me by now - the sweet and the salt or the savory and I'm all fakkin over it) was her creamy and luscious Apricot, Ham and Cheese salad.. ohhh man it looks SO GOOD! I can't wait to make this for Hubbs, I think he's going to really enjoy it too. Again, I'm so sorry Kelly-Jane! But a great big THANK YOU! for an awesome submission of 2 really, really tasty lookin salads! xoxo Anyhoo.. yes, yes my friends... 50 51 delicious new salad recipe choices right at your fingertips!! Your thighs are breathing a sigh of relief.. I know mine are!! We can't thank you guys enough, seriously - way to make a lil salad round up so huge and filled to the gills with creativity. Ya'll rock.. but ya'll knew that, didn't you? ;) xoxo

A Jumble of Salads Because it's a Stravaganza!!

Hi! I have no time, but wanted to post quickly on a couple things that I've been meaning to share. Salads! I know I've been posting everything but salads lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been eating them left and right! Okay well at least 2 times a week for dinner and 5 days a week for lunch. Although I have not tried any of the AMAZING submissions we've received for the Salad Stravaganza yet, I have finally got out to buy the ingredients and will be experimenting starting today. Yay! This first salad I want to share is the best grilled chicken salad you will ever eat! As long as you over-look my horribly lit pictures and try it. ;) It's a simple salad.. your basic greens.. and yes, I'm an iceberg lover.. even though there are definitely many more lettuces out there that have more flavor, I usually buy iceberg. Do you see now how badly I need salad help?? hehe But the crunchiness of the iceberg lettuce works nicely with this recipe. So all you do is, marinate your chicken breast - I do this simply with Wishbone Robusto Italian salad dressing. I swear by this stuff. Although I can't stand it as a salad dressing, for marinating chicken it's wonderful. I marinate for at least 30 minutes if I'm in a rush, but usually at least 8 hours. I either grill the chicken or pan sear it until it's nicely browned, being careful not to over-cook it. Cut it into bite sized chunks and throw into a salad made of iceberg lettuce, sliced cukes, grape tomatoes, diced bell peppers, black olives, and small diced pancetta - cooked until crispy. I prefer pancetta in this salad as it's not as potent as your basic bacon. DO NOT GET ME WRONG. There is nothing better than bacon!!!! But, for me, in this salad, I prefer the dressing and the chicken to be the main flavors with the pancetta adding a nice crunch and background hit of heavenly porkiness. heee! 'kay so you've got all your components in a big giant bowl.. I am now sharing with you my most favorite and pretty much only dressing I eat.. where there is nothing spectacular about the ingredients, I firmly believe it's all in the shake and the salt. I sprinkle garlic salt on the salad.. just when you think you've got enough, go ahead and give it one more little sprinkle (nope the salad doesn't turn out salty). And then in some kind of vessel, I use the cruet that you can buy with Kraft's Good Seasons packet dressing (I sometimes use the packets in a shrimp marinade, I'll have to blog about that one day, eh?). I fill the cruet up past the line for the vinegar (about an 1/8 of inch over) with balsamic vinegar. Then I fill the rest of the bottle with canola oil. I'm not a huge fan of olive oil and balsamic as a salad dressing. I prefer the lighter canola oil on my salads, and the olive oil in my cooking. Anyhoo.. once it's filled, I pop the cap on and I shake the mo'fo until I've got an emulsion - and then I shake some more. I have no idea if I'm adding anything to the emulsion by shaking it longer than necessary.. I just like prancing around my kitchen while shaking it. :P Once you're emulsified, pour a generous amount over your salad. Wait there's more shaking involved!!! I put a tight fitting lid on my bowl of chicken salad (or plastic wrap secured with a rubber band) and I shake, shake, shake.. shake, shake, shake, shake my salad.. shake my salad.. I know!!! Am I a freak of nature when it comes to my salad dressing, or what??? But I'm telling you - it comes out perfect each and every time.. SO GOOD!! Ohhh and if you use this method for just veggies without lettuce and let it sit for an hour or two, or even over night - heavenly when you finally dive in. I do this with bell peppers a lot - slice 'em up, shake 'em up with the dressing and just let them sit, with maybe an extra shake every once in a while for good measure - then we snack on them later. SO GOOD. SO FAKKIN GOOD. But Wait! There's more!!! As an added bonus, if you really get into your shaking abilities, you'll burn off the pancetta before you even eat it! How's that for a bonus?? :D The second salad, is basically the same dressing - although the components are different. This one is made with our first harvest of the leaf lettuce we are growing in our garden - squeeeeeeeeee! We may not have 'maters yet (Sher :P ) but we've got lots of lettuce and it's fab. I just threw on some cukes and grape tomatoes, gave it a shake with my balsamic and oil dressing and shaved some Parmigiano Reggiano over top.. heavenly. Finally.. potato salad. My mom's potato salad, to be specific. Quickly (as if, like I could be quick and to the point in my posts.. har!) boil potatoes with their skins on and take them out the very second they are fork tender.. let cool. Peel and dice - throw into big bowl. Dice some white onion - as much as you prefer. Dice some bell peppers, black olives, green olives, celery, and boiled egg - all amounts are what you feel is right for you. Give it a quick mix in the bowl with the potatoes. Now find some vessel again - the cruet won't work here, you need something bigger. Add 3-4 TBS. of Hellmann's mayo or Kraft or whatever, but NO MIRACLE WHIP (or as I like to call it, Miracle Sh*t), add 2 good squirts of either Dijon or plain yellow mustard, add a good sprinkling of celery salt, spanish paprika, onion and garlic powders and black pepper. Now, drizzle in eh? 1/4 c. - 1/3 c. milk - be careful on the milk, you don't want your dressing to be too thin - and you can always add more if it's too thick. Now, put the lid on your vessel and.. you know what to do, ladies and gents.. SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE - SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE - SHAKE YOUR POTATO SALAD DRESSING - SHAKE YOUR POTATO SALAD DRESSING!! Please feel free to frolic in your kitchen while shaking. It adds to the flavor. I just realized that's a crappy picture because you can't see all the good stuff in it.. but trust me there was good stuff in it. :D Pour your freshly shaken dressing over your potato salad and give a good mix, but be gentle so you don't mash your potatoes.. cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.. longer if you can - over night is best.. The ONLY potato salad I'll eat. =) I'm also linking to past salads I've made as they all need re-introducing.. each one is sooooo fakkin' good.. Such as: - My Summer Tortellini Salad - Mmmmmmm - Chopzanella! - A savory Broccoli-slaw - Kevin's Grilled Corn & Shrimp Salad that I make all the time now! - My Dad's favorite Fish Salad - A low cal/low fat Mango Rice Salad with Grilled Shrimp And finally - a quick fruit salad - which I haven't made in a while for some STOOPID reason, but will post pictures when I do.. take your favorite melons and cut into bite sized chunks, add your favorite type of grapes, maybe some mandarin oranges, strawberries and other types of berries are excellent as well. Give 'em a light toss.. now in some kind of vessel (methinks you know where I'm going with this) combine (whisking is allowed here, but you don't burn as many calories in whisking as you do in SHAKE SHAKE SHAKING your booties!!) 2 TBS. honey with 2 tsp. freshly grated ginger and 3/4 c. citrus juice - I've tried them all and they all work wonderfully, but orange is my favorite - Pour over your fruit, give quick, gentle mix and let macerate for a couple hours. You can do this in the fridge or on the counter top, depending on if you prefer your fruit salad to be cold or room temp (I usually go room temp) - mow down.. is fabulous. =) And lastly, I attended what I guess is becoming my yearly Women In The Outdoors (since I'm all about the linkage today) event with my friends again last week. Although I was not as awestruck as I was that first time, I did have fun and I kicked 14 out of 20 clay pigeon's arses. WOOO! Okay well I'm sorry I squished all these delectible salads into one very long and not so quick post - but, as I'm sure some of you can relate to, summer blogging isn't as easy as winter blogging... that sunshine, fresh air and my pooches are what I crave, so my PC is getting the cold shoulder more often than not. =( Nigel is being sneaky here.. this is when he looks away from you but keeps walking very... slowly... towards you and then POUNCE! He'll try to tackle your knees. We call it stalking - it's hilarious. =) How can you resist that face and that schnozz?? Chloe likes to play ball. And after a 20 minute game of catch the ball and bring it back, she likes to play ball again. Then after that she likes to play ball AGAIN. It's kind of never ending. :D Enjoy!! xoxox

A Favorite Blogger Recipe and I'm the Luckiest Gal in the World...

Well the beautiful weather, a hectic work schedule and a slight back injury (ugh) has kept me away from my PC for way too long.. I am so behind in posting and what's even worse, I'm so behind in reading my favorite blogs. I hate that! I will catch up though.. some how. hehe I have been cooking and grilling.. lots. Mostly grilling - which I am falling in love with again. Thank the baby Jebus for aluminum foil, kids. What a wonderful invention. I tell ya, you just chop up some veggies, give 'em a lil sprinkle of sea salt & cracked black pepper, a lil drizz of EVOO, wrap it up and set it on the top rack of your grill and BOOM in a short time you've got perfectly roasted veggies. Ohhh and potatoes.. dear lord.. roasted to perfection, crispedy and creamy all at the same time.. Reynolds Wrap, I heart you! =) But this post is not about grilling. Actually this is one of those posts O'mine that I enjoy thoroughly (no, not a kitchen disaster - much to my chagrin), it's all about seeing another food blogger's phenomenal recipe and knowing without a doubt that this one isn't going to hit the "MUST MAKE" pile, it's going to be made hours after you read about it. There's a relatively new food bloggin' gal in town, some of you already know her. I've got the distinct pleasure of being her partner in this Salad Stravaganza fun-fest we've got going. Her name is Kelly and she's the author of Sass & Veracity. Kelly's cooking isn't pretentious.. most times it's not fancy at all.. it's the kind of food that assures your need for a huge glass of water after reading it because of all the fluid you'll lose due to the droolage. She's yet to post something that doesn't make me want to move in with her. By the way, Kel? Is that a possibility? I can pack up the pooches and be there in less than a week! :D One of her most recent posts was all about her and her son making tortillas from scratch. A very interesting and informative read, complete with step by step instructions. And although that was all good, it was what she did with those home made tortillas.. she wrapped them around delicious pork Carnitas. One of my most favorite items to order when I hit my favorite Mexican restaurant. I'd never even given thought to making it myself.. until I saw Kelly's post. I read that post early Sunday, and by 10:30 that morning Hubbs and I were on our way to purchase a pork roast that we could throw into the crockpot when we got back. Ya know, crockpots aren't just for Autumn/Winter. Which I'm sure many of you realize. For me though, when I think about using my crockpot it's for a rather heavy meal such as beef roast, chili, stew, etc. I don't think I've ever dragged it out in the summer before and how fakkin silly is that? It doesn't heat up your already inferno-like kitchen, you can spend 5 minutes in the morning, not worry about it all day long and then spend another 10 minutes in the evening and voila! You've got dinner. Perfect for those days when we are all about the garden and flower beds.. the last thing I want to do is slave over a hot oven or even a hot grill.. And so, I plopped my locally, humanely treated and raised, organic pork roast (Non Smithfield, I'll have ya'll know. *bastages*) into my crock pot with a lil chicken stock, a lil wine, some fresh herbies from my herbie gardens - dropped the lid on and forgot about it for 5.5 hours. When I came back in, the second - THE SECOND I touched it with a fork, it fell apart. Heaven. I pulled it with 2 forks, seasoned it a bit more with sea salt & cracked pepper and a big handful of chopped, fresh cilantro and diced green chilies. Another what? 3 minutes? sloppin the fixin's into cute lil bowls just like Kelly did - and we had dinner.. an amazingly tasty and filling dinner that didn't feel like we had just ingested an 80 lb. bag of mortar mix. I urge you to whip out your crockpots! Throw in your protein and some seasonings - and walk away people. Walk. Away. Go and enjoy your day.. don't stress over dinner.. let the pot O'crock do the work for you. hehee =) Huge thanks to Kelly for giving me the awesome idea (and courage to try it on my own).. now I can have Carnitas as good as what my favorite Mexican restaurant serves. Pork Carnitas 2-3 pound pork roast 2-3 c. chicken stock (veggie stock would work well too) 1/2 c. dry white wine - I used a Pino 1 handful each, fresh herbies - I used Thyme, Oregano and a sm. amount of Sage 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced 1 Spanish onion, sliced Sea salt & cracked, black pepper to taste 1 lime, juiced 1 large handful of fresh, chopped cilantro Fixin's Shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1 Avocado, diced Salsa or 1 tomato, diced (I went with Chi-Chi's new Garden Salsa YUM!) Shredded lettuce Diced green chili (I used the canned kind) Light Sour Cream (Daisy's - it's the best) Flour tortillas, home made or store bought Place the stock and wine in the crockpot. Rub the roast with the salt & pepper and garlic. Sprinkle the herbs on the roast and in the stock. Cover the roast in the sliced onion rings. Turn on high, place the lid on and let it go - ours took approximately 5.5 hours. Once the pork is fork tender, remove from crockpot, and shred with 2 forks or your hands, whichever you prefer. Add the fresh cilantro and the lime juice as well as more salt & pepper (if you so desire), mix and serve with warm tortillas and the rest of the fixin's. Ohh and I also made my favorite Banana-Banana Pudding, but this time I added a layer of butterscotch pudding over the banana pudding.. delish! :D And finally, I couldn't resist sharing with you, what a proud, proud woman I am.. Everyone.. meet Hubbs! Yesterday, he was kneeling on a particularly sticky tar & gravel roof, doing his thing.. well the heels of his work boots were covered in tar and when he'd shift back and sit on his heels, well yeah.. the tar got all over the seat of his pants. You'd think he'd come home and just take the tarred pants off and throw his shorts on.. but no, not my hubbs. Bless him. Instead he decided to take a plastic bag and lay it down where ever he was sitting. So each time he'd get up the bag would be stuck to his ass. After reminding him that he had a bag stuck to his ass about 40 times, I decided to keep my mouth shut and snap a picture instead. *evil grin* Step back, ladies!! He's ALL MINE. xoxo Just a reminder - we're a little over the half-way mark until the due date for submissions gets here! Your salad doesn't have to be just leafy - we're accepting any possible variation, as long as you can call it "salad". Potato salad, Seafood salad, Cole slaw, Broccoli-slaw, fruit salad, jello-salad, twigs & berries salad.. you get the idea. ;) Thanks! xoxo

A Quest for Thinner Thighs.. Hips.. Tummy.. Elbows.. ect.

About a month and a half ago, Kelly and I were discussing how miserable it is to be dieting and eating the same old salads over and over again. Granted, a salad is one of the most versatile recipes EVER. You can add almost ANYTHING to a salad. But.. well.. not so much speaking for Kel as I am for myself here, sometimes I just can't think of new and exciting ways to make a salad. For instance, take salad dressings. There are BILLIONS of salad dressing recipes out there and the salad dressing section of my grocery store is now almost half of a whole aisle. Gone are the days of Italian, French, 1000 Island, Catalina, Ranch and Bleu Cheese. Now we have vinaigrettes! We have emulsions! We have creamy, thin, sweet, savory, herby, thick.. Christ we even have Spritzers! Which, I'll have you all know, was invented by my own mom!! Yes it was.. she's been spritzing balsamic vinegar on her salads for YEARS! And all that time I was looking at her as if she had a third eye situated squarely between her brows. Now some other lucky spritzing bastard is a millionaire. Go figure. Where was I? Ahh yes.. salads and the varieties of them and their dressing. How's about those pasta types? The seafood salads! The macaroni salads! The potato salads! That green jiggly stuff each and every one of our Aunt Edna's use to make for every single family reunion EVER. Yep, you don't even need to have lettuce to make a salad. It's a beautiful thing! And so.. we realized that even though there are billions of salad recipes out there - we just didn't trust those cook bookery chefs nor our own grocery market shelves - we want our fellow foodie friends to turn us on to their favorite salads and dressings and what have you that can be called salad! Your opinions are what we count on! So - we're askin'.. can you hook us up? Pretty please? We're allowing almost a full month before we wrangle up everyone's submissions and put 'em all together for some one stop shopping! ('kay two - Kel and I will split the round up) June 25th is the deadline. Round up will be July 1st. There are no rules to which kind(s) of salads you wanna share - just as long as it can be called "salad". Post your recipe on your blog and send an e-mail to either Kelly or myself with the permalink and the subject: Salad Stravaganza! If you'd like to include a picture, we'd be extremely grateful, but it's not a requirement. =) Help my hips and thighs out, people! They're begging you! Many, many thanks! Kelly & Lisa xoxo