a SaLaD To QuieT THe MaSSeS :o)

I have been gently *cough* reminded by my RSF that it's been over a week since I blogged. She has been ill :o( and, in my extensive worry and overabundant concern for her wellbeing, I'm afraid I have let my blog slide. I hope she can forgive me. :o) (am super-glad that she is doing better, I might add) Let me also remind her of the NuMeRouS SCRaPBooK PaGeS I've completed :o) I realize she was on the 'brink' of a major health disaster and still managed to blog...I'd like to remind her that we can't ALL be perfect :o) I'm just thankful that I KNOW a perfect person ;o)

Tonight for dinner I have made a salad that quite frankly made me want to BLoG about it from the mountaintops :o) I found this particular recipe on one of my favorite recipe websites: allrecipes.com. This salad was quite spectacular, so much so that it CaTaPuLTeD Me into the 'blogosphere'. We've been trying to eat more veggies lately and it's turned me towards 'previously unexplored' territory.

This salad sounds a little different, but believe me (and the 102 reviews with an overall 5 star rating, no easy feat! Try getting 102 people to AGREE on ANYTHING. Congratulations Nora LaCroix! You did it! With a salad recipe! Amazing :o) Thanks for a great recipe!)

Without further ado...

Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppyseed DressingSUBMITTED BY: Nora LaCroix

"Wonderful salad for the holiday seasons. Great to serve for dinner at home or to take to a family gathering during the holidays. Originally submitted to ThanksgivingRecipe.com."



INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons diced onion
1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup cashews
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
1 pears - peeled, cored and diced
DIRECTIONS
In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running add oil in a slow steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth. Add poppy seeds and process just a few seconds more to mix.
In a large serving bow combine the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, cubed apple and cubed pear. Toss to mix then pour dressing over salad just before serving and toss to coat.


Please read the reviews before you start, I get a lot of great suggestions just by doing so.

I did make some small changes. I used walnuts instead of cashews. I definitely think cashews would have been just as good but I love cranberries with walnuts. I halved the recipe for the dressing and I still had some left over. I left the full amount of onion in and increased the sugar by a tablespoon because I did use RealLemon. I felt that the recipe had enough other ingredients to offset the strength of the juice. Generally if a recipe only calls for a small amount of lemon juice, then I use fresh lemons, especially if it's a finishing touch. However, when you see this amount of sugar and onion and oil, it'll be okay. If you want to use fresh, you might be able to tell a little bit. I could tell, but I don't feel it compromises the recipe in this case to use the bottled juice. For my swiss, I used a nicely aged Emmentaler Swiss cheese, a heartier cheese which stood up just fine to the cranberries, walnuts and lemon flavoring. It sounds like a lot of changes. When you're cooking, don't be afraid to change ingredients, adding, changing or taking away as you desire. If you are looking for a VERY SPECIAL salad, give this one a try! It's definitely going into my 'absolutely must make again favorite' cookbook.




'Whew!' I am BLoGGeD out! Just kidding. I realize I have DAYS of blogging to make up for... :o)

LiTTLe MeMoRieS, BiG iDeaS...

Today a good portion of my day was spent working on little peoples' scrapbooks. The kind that allows them to raid the 'stash'. I have to say, they have done a pretty good job and I'm posting pictures of some of the pages to show them off :o) We still need to add photos to the pages but you get the point :o)

I picked up the little albums at our local army-ish discount warehouse, aka Ollie's Bargain Outlet. I love Ollie's for many reasons and often find great deals :o) They had these cute little albums for a song and I decided to let the young 'uns have their go at scrappin'.

I would definitely recommend going there for your scrappin' needs and you may find me there, lost in an aisle, looking for the next BIG ONE! I apologize for the photos...I took them a little hurriedly so that I could post them before someone I know makes their 'trek' to Ollie's to search out THE DEALS.

I just wanted to mention that some of the shapes were cut at Beach Scrapbooks in Redmill Commons during a crop. They have some cool shapes there and you should give them or a scrapbook store in your area and inquire about crops. I also picked up some of the things at the dollar store, like character stickers and alphabet letters. You never know when they'll come in handy :o)
















Give your young 'un their own little show~n~tell book! Be ready to see their faces light up!

LoNG TiMe No BLoG...eVeRY GiRL NeeDS a VaCaTioN SoMeTiMe :O)

I know it's been a few days since my last entry but we were on a much needed vacation! Perfect timing before the summer rituals end and the fall rituals begin.
Now I'm back and refreshed and ready to BLoG!

We ventured back to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and took some amazing photos of some beautiful views! There's something about going to the mountains that I absolutely love. Every time I leave there I feel like I've left a piece of my heart behind in those mountains.

Here's a sample of those views...






The first photo is Clingman's Dome. It's the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. The bare spruce firs in the foreground were attacked by the Wooly Aphid in the late 19th century. It's an uphill hike to the dome so bring comfortable walking shoes and water for this excursion. The next photo is a partial shot of Laurel Falls. This wonder of nature is a short *cough* 1.3 mile hike UPHILL but the end result makes all the sweat worth it. Treat yourselves to dipping your feet in the refreshingly cold mountain spring water. We did and it was very refreshing! The last picture is one of the many beautiful views of the springs and rivers that flow alongside the windy roads through the mountains.

True to my form, I must include photos of some of my other favorite things! First a couple shots of the Old Mill Pottery. I love this pottery and it will eventually be the star of my dinner table :o) If I make the 'nice' list...




I also couldn't resist posting two photos from my favorite restaurants in Pigeon Forge. The first is a photo of the fritters with maple butter from the Old Mill Restaurant. Very delicious and just as good when you take them to go when you are unable to finish the ENTIRE meal! The other photos are from the Alamo Steakhouse, 'THe STeaK' ~an oak fired beautifully marbled ribeye steak and a baked sweet potato (my starch of choice) with butter and brown sugar! The other is a picture of my beautiful caesar salad, just look at all that cheese :o) My mouth is watering and it's 500+ miles to have it again
:o(





I hope you chose to visit this friendly area for yourselves and bring your camera for some AMAZING pictures of you and your family and the Great Smoky Mountains. For any scrapbookers out there*winking at my RSF*...there are shops after your own heart in Sevierville, TN, right up the Parkway from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Bring your wallet :o) You're gonna need it!

aLoHa & MaHaLo :o)

No, I have NOT been to Hawaii :o(, but one of my girlfriends just got back from a well deserved vacation! She's a schoolteacher and loves her job, could be why she's so great at it! I was able to spend a few hours with her tonight looking at her photos (beautiful ones at that!) and wishing I had gone :o)

I've known MaNDa, for a very long time and was thrilled when I found out she was going on a vacation to Oahu! I learned a great deal about Hawaii from her tonight and, aside from the beautiful tan and great photos, felt like I was there too!

She brought me back a couple of gifts that absolutely love and I had to share :o) A beautiful pink hibiscus sarong and a carved 'aloha' sign with turtles! I love turtles, long a symbol of longevity, wisdom, strength, patience and even fertility!

She even brought me back some sand, so different from our sand in Virginia Beach! I had to take a photo :o) I did leave it in the baggie she brought it in to photograph it, I didn't want to contaminate the sand with any non-Hawaiian particles :o) 100% pure Hawaiian Sunset Beach sand!






She also brought some Kona coffee for hubby(no blends here...100% Kona all the way, how did she know?) We brewed a pot and it was delish!

MaHaLo MaNDa! We missed you! Glad you are back :o)

To everyone else




HaNG LooSe!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_sign

DoWN a RoCKY RoaD oF DeCePTioN...

To satisfy the inner beast I had to provide something chocolate in addition to the Raspberry Lemon Cake. This next recipe was my attempt at that. I found it while scouting for a recipe to use with yet another boxed mix, this time a brownie one!

The link for this recipe can be found here http://www.homeschoolzone.com/cook/rrbbrownie.htm. Brownie Mix Rocky Road Bars

My family loved it and what a quick recipe for a seemingly gourmet brownie. While I love to sometimes spend a great deal of time whipping something up from scratch, I've become a big fan of those recipes that offer a quick fix for a dessert. Everything that tastes good doesn't have to take forever to prepare! You'll probably enjoy it more if it doesn't :o)

Here's a photo of the finished product. No complaints here from the peanut gallery :o) Hope you fair as well as I did :o)

iN THe MooD FoR BaKiNG...

How do I love thee...let me count the ways!!!

Well, today I decided to suprise hubby with some lovin' from the oven. I made 2 types of desserts and I wanted to share them with you.

The first was something I originally made for a recent birthday. White cake (mix ~ in the interests of time), with a seedless raspberry filling and lemon buttercream frosting. This is very simple to prepare and doesn't take a lot of time.

Prepare the white cake mix as directed. If you have a recipe to doctor the recipe, like the Cake Mix Doctor, that is fine too :o) Sometimes the little additions of sour cream and vanilla, make all the difference. I baked my mix in 3 greased and floured cake pans until they were cooked, per whatever test(ie. toothpick) you like. Let cool completely.

The seedless raspberry filling I purchased from a local cake supply place in Norfolk, VA called http://www.wineandcake.com/index.htm . You can find it at most any cake decorating place though. You can also use other fillings, to your taste, I just love raspberry. My container of seedless raspberry filling was enough for two recipes.

For the buttercream, you can use any recipe you like. Mine usually consists of confectioner's sugar, shortening, water(you can use milk but I prefer water for storage purposes) and most importantly...a little lemon oil (lemon extract can be substituted here). If you are using the lemon oil, use sparingly, you can always add, but difficult to take away. You can always add more of the other ingredients but may wind up with a ton of frosting! I purchased the lemon oil from my favorite store Williams Sonoma and it has lasted me a long time.

To assemble the cake, place the first layer on the cake plate. Put some of the buttercream in a small ziploc bag and cut the corner tip off. Twist the bag and squeeze a ring of frosting around the edge of the cake. This acts as a reservoir for the filling. You don't want it seeping out as you are assembling and frosting. Spread a layer of raspberry filling inside the ring and place a cake layer on top. Repeat with the ring and filling and place the last layer on top. Completely finish frosting the cake top and sides with remaining frosting.

Keep covered.

I'm including a picture of the finished cake. It's not perfect but it is delicious! No complaints here! I hope you try it or mix it up, make it your own! Stay tuned to tomorrow's post for the second dessert. It's not an original recipe, but a good 'quick!!! company's coming!' dessert.

aN iNTRoDuCTioN To a NeW aDDiCTioN...

FoR MY FRieND LeeNe...

Now whether or not she is really going to like me for doing it remains to be seen :o)

I introduced her to La Bella Italia, a little grocery/restaurant I've been going to for a couple of years now. I've already confessed my love for good bread and today I've decided to share that with her.

They have this country bread, soooooooo delicious! Baked fresh daily and how fresh it is! I love it dipped in a good olive oil or slightly toasted and a pat of european butter spread on it. (If any of you are lucky enough to have access to Costco~like me...thanks Trace!~you would be wise to try the Kirkland Toscano Olive Oil. Very reasonably priced, yet delicious as olive oils go.) You have to see this bread to believe it and of course I took a photo to prove it!



Look at the crust! Isn't that amazing! And the smell...incredible!

My friend did make a little purchase of her own...they have a beautiful collection of cookies and I suggested she try the pignoli cookies for sure. She bought a nice selection and I photographed it for all of you :o) The pignoli cookies are a great cookie for those of you that are lactose intolerant. There are nuts in this so be careful if you are allergic, please avoid.





Look for the Pignoli Cookies I recipe on allrecipes website. I love this website because I get feedback from other cooks who have made it. There's a great picture of one there too!

(By the way, I replaced the 'stock' photo I used for the mafaldine in an earlier post with one I took today. It was nagging at me...haha! Look forward to seeing something made with it very soon!)

Hope everyone had a great day! Until tomorrow...