Homemade Salsa

Re-post today, because this is one of our family's summer essentials, and I just happen to be making a behemoth batch of it today! The Geologist requires plenty of salsa for football season, but we usually just barely run out after the Superbowl, so hopefully this batch will last a little longer. :)

Essential tips for making homemade salsa:

First: Wear gloves. Don't be a hero, you are slicing up jalapenos, and I don't care how tough you are, NOTHING gets jalapenos off your fingers. I tried it all, lemon, rubbing alcohol, baking soda, dish soap... Nuthin. You WILL put your finger in your eye. Or use it to put on lip balm and have spicy lips. Just wear the gloves. 

Second: If there is any possible way for you to move your food processor outside for the chopping of toxic veggies, do it! Extension cord, outdoor plug, whatever. It helps SO much!

Third: At some point you will have to cook this concoction, even if just for a few minutes. Make sure all of your doors and windows are open, all fans are on first, you are simmering tear gas. You will run from your kitchen, eyes streaming, seeking shelter from the fumes! Ventilation, people!

Fourth: Keep ventilating as long as possible. All night if you can. Your whole house will smell like salsa. Which is kinda fun while you're making it, not so much when you wake up the next morning... and your pancakes taste like salsa... Took me 48 hours to get the salsa smell out of my house!

Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar Potatoes with Goat Cheese

*singing* All byyyyy myyyyyyself... 

My parents and sister have whisked The Geologist off on a backpacking trip for the next three days. I love being outdoors, and I love being in the mountains, but backpacking has never really sounded like fun to me. I have the joint issues of someone twice my age, am just a teeny bit lazy, and like really yummy food too much to limit myself to tuna and oatmeal for a weekend! Just one of the reasons The Geologist is my parents' favorite child. :) There was a decent amount of rain in the forecast, so I hope they stay dry! I, on the other hand, will be enjoying these slightly cooler summer days as much as I can with those two boys of mine. Scootering at the skate park, backyard pool, neighborhood pool, movies in the oh-so-cool basement, perhaps a burger date! And some yummy hash for dinner with these leftover potatoes. Yum!

Chicken & Asparagus Stir Fry with Honey Ginger Sauce

It's raaaaaaaining!!!! I am a HAPPY girl!! Love love love my Colorado summer rainstorms. And my beautiful windows!

Speaking of rainstorms, we had a pretty crazy storm here a few days ago. 60 mph winds, golf-ball sized hail just north of us that luckily ran out right before the storm hit us, and the most insane, constant lightning I have ever seen! I got a video, but it's kinda long. My parents, on the other hand, captured this incredible picture of our storm from about 60 miles away...

Yup, that's us! Sixty miles away, under that giant, towering thunderhead. It was scary. But kind of cool and exciting too! 

I have an announcement. I am on a mission to discover the best classic chocolate layer cake recipe EVER. Rich, moist, fudgy cake topped with perfect chocolate frosting. Now accepting applicants, now testing recipes! I shall report my findings along the way. Up first next week: the most ridiculously DARK chocolate cake I've found. Not sure if it really qualifies, but it's so worth blogging on it's own merit. Until then, friends! 

Simple Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Well folks, this weekend got full FAST, so I'm way behind! Lucky you, you get three posts in one day! Thank goodness I was smart and didn't plan any recipes this week that I hadn't already made, so it shouldn't take long to whip them out. 

It's been an interesting week, weather-wise. The week started out with highs in the 80's, so we ratcheted our giant window air-conditioner up to our bedroom, chained it in place, and had a lovely cool breeze through the house. That lasted about two days... then the nights started getting colder, and colder... and we now have the equivalent of a giant grate filling our window, letting that air straight in to our bedroom. Which wasn't a big deal until it dropped below freezing last night... and will be lower tomorrow... and looking like snow Sunday. Supposed to continue through Monday night. Oops. Think maybe we jumped the gun just a hair? Thank heavens for cozy sock and lots of extra blankets!

Spaghetti Carbonara and Roasted Balsamic Asparagus

Children are incredible. Is there anyone else in the world that can take you from "who in the heck ARE you and where did you COME FROM!?" to a warm, gooey pile of parent-ly mush in 2.7 seconds quite like children? They don't even have to be yours! I've heard the same sentiments from teachers, babysitters, relatives, anyone who has the care of children on a regular basis. They can be the most incredible, insightful, caring, genius little people, then morph into sticky, screeching, lunatics over whether or not they got to push the buttons on the microwave. Everything comes in phases. If your kids are in the middle of one, hang on, ride it out, it will pass. But relish the peaceful times in between, when you recognize that loving little toddler you once knew, because the phases don't ever seem to end. They just change.

"Candy Sale: Available in prices of dimes, nickles, and pennies"

My little Stephen has been in what we like to call "The Brainless Stage". My parents refer to it as "Being Eight". Whichever. It's like his brain just leaked out of his head one night about a year ago, and he woke up with a blank stare and a complete disregard for the world around him. He's a brilliant kid, really, but even going through his homework was a struggle. Every. Single. Night. His hands had a mind of their own, and would just wander around aimlessly, sticking themselves in your food, breaking things for no reason, picking up every piece of produce in the store... Generally making us want to tear our hair out and trade him for cheap patio furniture. But somehow, over the past week or so, my Stephen has re-emerged! He's helpful, and sensitive, and grateful, and brilliant again! He has spent hours on catch-up homework from our trip to DC every night this week, with no complaints. He cares again! This is my Stephen. The kid I remember. This is the stuff that makes being a Mom the only job I have ever wanted.

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Color schemes are so intimidating!!! I'm trying to plan out my sitting room, it's the trickiest. The couch pillows have green and blue in them, and I've decided on super pale blue for the walls. 

I don't want to go green, because the couch is a very in-between color (grey-green-light taupe) and I don't want to bring out more green in it, I'd rather bring out the grey-taupe. But then what do I do for the carpet/rug? More blue? Or is that too matchy-matchy? Grey? Brown, or is that too much brown?? I don't want it all one color, or even two, but I have no idea what colors work together! 

This, to me, is too matchy. Not what I'm going for.

I love this, but is there too much going on? It would let me add touches of red, which are my favorite... What do you think?? I'm starting from scratch here, any advice would be welcome!!

What do you think?? I'm starting from scratch here, any advice would be welcome!! Help me decorate my house! My next step is a rug, so I need to decide what colors are good options. Help!!

Roasted Cauliflower with Lime & Spices

Jeez louise, it is COLD! It's been a long time since I've seen single digit temperatures! Feels fantastic. Winter should feel like winter, don't you think?? The snow is falling thick and soft, slowly building... Not sure if we'll get all the way up to 15 inches, but it's definitely a Winter Wonderland! I'll take pictures tomorrow. :)

Homemade Salsa

Essential tips for making homemade salsa:

First: Wear gloves. Don't be a hero, you are slicing up jalapenos, and I don't care how tough you are, NOTHING gets jalapenos off your fingers. I tried it all, lemon, rubbing alcohol, baking soda, dish soap... Nuthin. You WILL put your finger in your eye. Or use it to put on lip balm and have spicy lips. Just wear the gloves. 

Second: If there is any possible way for you to move your food processor outside for the chopping of toxic veggies, do it! Extension cord, outdoor plug, whatever. It helps SO much!

Third: At some point you will have to cook this concoction, even if just for a few minutes. Make sure all of your doors and windows are open, all fans are on first, you are simmering tear gas. You will run from your kitchen, eyes streaming, seeking shelter from the fumes! Ventilation, people!

Fourth Keep ventilating as long as possible. All night if you can. Your whole house will smell like salsa. Which is kinda fun while you're making it, not so much when you wake up the next morning... and your pancakes taste like salsa... Took me 48 hours to get the salsa smell out of my house!

PS- Due to my laziness, I am out of recipes to post! So I'm going to take next week off, build up another pile to share and be ahead of the game. See you in a week!

Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad

Wishes DO come true!! I woke up to a suspiciously chilly house and a cloudy sky... turned the air conditioner off and it still wouldn't warm up... Checked the weather: The high today is only in the 70's! And it's supposed to be rainy and cooler all week!! *Happy Dance* A rainy week, hooray!! Oh my goodness, I'm so excited!! It's about time.

Now, when I started planning Blueberry Week, I felt a little guilty for giving you a whole week of sweet treats... it's been a while since I've done that... Luckily, I had this amazing salad at a friend's house way back at Easter, and have been looking for an excuse to make it ever since. Oh, and it just happened to have blueberries in it! Score!!

Chicken Gyro Salad

You know what's awesome? Figuring out how to connect your computer to your TV so you can watch the last season of Doctor Who from iTunes. Even more awesome? Using that connection to play Bollywood music videos on your TV for your boys all morning! We've been having a gleeful Bollywood dance party! Speaking of which, I need to have another Bollywood night... too bad most of my friends are on vacation! Maybe I can pull one together with whoever is still around... it's not for everyone, that's for sure! But I usually manage to find a friend or two to convert. :)

Sometimes I come up with new recipes, follow others exactly, tweak them a bit, but this is the first time I've re-used one! Remember those awesome Chicken Gyros from a few months ago? When we started trying to eat a little healthier around here, we turned it into a salad! And it was a HUGE hit! By far the boys's favorite salad of all time. They were even excited! And guess what, it's totally healthy!

Grilled Mustard-y Brussels Sprouts

Ah, summer. Both kids at home. Some days are all sparkly and idyllic (like yesterday), some, not so much (like today). Not awful, just kinda... wearing. It's one of those days when all I want to do is listen to Maroon 5 and watch interviews with Benedict Cumberbatch. Oh wait, that IS what I did today! HA! Hee hee, I love that my spell check cannot handle Benedict's last name... giggle... Don't worry, I did a few useful things today, like work out (training to do a pull-up!! woohoo!!) and take the kids to the pool, and do some laundry, so I'm allowed a little me-time drenched in silliness. 

Ahem! Back to the point here. Food, right? Yep. Food is yummy. 

Oven-Roasted Cauliflower

I never knew you could do interesting things with cauliflower! Silly me. Of course you can! When Mom and I went shopping for healthy things, we found four different colors of cauliflower! Green, orange, purple, and the usual white. I had never noticed such a thing! In a fit of veggie overload, we bought a head of each. We boiled the green and topped it with shredded cheese (which is how I'm used to eating cauliflower) and roasted the other two. The orange turned yellow after roasting, and the purple got darker! They each had subtly different flavors, and I'm definitely a fan of the roasting method. The boys weren't thrilled with the cauliflower, but oh well. I've got years to convert them!

Sweet & Spicy Cucumbers

I may have mentioned this before, but I didn't truly discover my love of cooking until I got married. I knew how to cook, but I wasn't obsessed yet. I hadn't reached my current state, where the last thing I think of when I go to bed, and the first thing when I wake up, is food. (Maybe not always, but often!) Maybe it was the challenge. When we were first married, The Geologist gave me a pretty extensive list of vegetables he would not eat. I was determined to convert him. And guess what?? I've checked almost every item off that list.

Thai Chicken Noodle Salad

My hubby loves me. He takes care of me through all my medical mishaps, takes care of my boys, picks up my slack, and puts up with my silliness. Take last night for example. With a half-numb face and mouth full of gauze, there was no way I could eat this salad. So he taste-tested it for me. Not only that, he let me dress up his bowl, even with lovely, photogenic scallions (which he HATES). I picked them off, but still. He's a good husband. I love him too.

This is NOT the richest, most filling meal in the world. But if you're looking for something light, refreshing, and tasty, this is it! I can't wait to try it this summer and grill the chicken!

Thai Chicken Noodle Salad
Printable Recipe

For the chicken:
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 Tb fish sauce
6-7 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
4 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2-1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 tsp curry powder
Juice of one lime
2/3 cup coconut milk

For the salad:

thin rice noodles (vermicelli) prepared according to package instructions (check if they're don enough for you, we liked them soaked longer)

limes

cucumbers

carrots

scallions

basil

chopped peanuts

Slice the chicken breast across grain into chunks, 3-4 per chicken breast. Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Toss chicken in marinade in a bowl or ziploc bag, making sure all pieces are well coated. Marinate the meat for at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Get all your toppings ready for your salad. Chop nuts and basil, dice scallions, slice cucumbers, and peel carrots. We liked "carrot ribbons"; I just peeled the carrot then used the peeler to slice the carrot into ribbons. Have sliced limes for squeezing over the salad. Of course, all these toppings are optional.

Cook the chicken (reserve the marinade!!) on a rack in a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes, or thread onto skewers and grill. Let rest a few minutes before serving. Collect all juices on the foil from under the chicken, and add to a small saucepan with leftover marinade  bring to a simmer on medium heat for a few minutes, until it thickens into a sauce. Serve over the salad!

Top individual servings of noodles (warm or chilled) with veggies, chicken, and sauce. Enjoy!

Okay, so it's not quite as pretty as the picture that inspired me, but I'm pretty happy with it!! And boy, my new camera is seriously helping my dinner pictures, huh?? :)

This is seriously yummy. I didn't have nuts or basil to put on it, sorry. But they'd be awesome. And I didn't show you the sauce, because we discovered and created it halfway through dinner. It's okay, you'll be glad we did! The sauce takes it over the top!

The chicken is creamy and coconutty and packed with spices and a bit of tang from the lime, a hint of heat (or a kick!!) and the contrast with the crisp, cool veggies is the kind of combo I cannot get enough of. I took little, itty-bitty tastes. I picked the wrong meal to make the night I couldn't eat!!

Thank goodness there were leftovers! :)

Shared at Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits

Lemon Garlic Brussels Sprouts

I have learned that I love Brussels sprouts! And I always knew I loved asparagus. Aren't those supposed to be the two most hated vegetables? Spinach probably makes the list too... Unfortunately The Geologist isn't quite as forgiving as I am. He absolutely loved the Brussels sprouts with bacon, we've had it half a dozen times and it's his favorite thing... until the sprouts are no longer "in season". Then it's a no-go. I can tell the difference, but I don't mind it. Hey, at least he likes them for a few months a year!

Sorry for not posting yesterday, the day kinda got away from me. Wednesday night was heart-breaking; I realized I had an infection in my jaw. I had to go to the tech rehearsal for my very first choir concert, which is tonight, knowing there was no way I'd be singing in it. It was awful. We aren't having a rehearsal between this and next week's concert, so I had to go to learn all the logistics and things... but it was miserable. The very faint silver lining was that I got to listen to the choir... when you're singing in one, it's kind of hard to really hear how it sounds, all together... and we are fantastic.  I'm so lucky to be part of this choir, and I hope I can sing next week! I might go to the concert tonight just to listen. Anyway, the point of all that was yesterday I had to find a doc who would see me (mine wasn't in the office) and give me antibiotics, was recovering from the emotional exhaustion of the night before, making phone calls to prepare for the move, then go to adoption training. Brussels sprouts slipped my mind. So I'm posting 2 today, because this is honestly too yummy to skip!!

Lemon Garlic Brussels Sprouts (adapted from Daydream Kitchen)
Printable Recipe

about 2 lbs Brussel sprouts
2 Tb olive oil

2 Tb butter (you can skip the butter and use more oil, but I like the flavor)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
grated sharp, nutty cheese, like Gruyere, Parmesan, or Asiago
salt and pepper

Prepare the sprouts by trimming off the ends and peeling off the outer layer of leaves. Cut each one in half.

Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sprouts to the pan and saute for about 7-8 minutes on each side until the outer part is a caramelized brown and the inside is soft and fully cooked. Add the garlic half way through the cooking. Reduce the heat to low and add the lemon zest, juice, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and taste. Adjust seasoning if needed. Add the cheese on top and serve.

I never knew there were so many delicious ways to cook this under-appreciated veggie! Honestly, I like this one even better than the bacon one, but that's the light-and-lemon lover in me. 

These are delicious!! Tons of flavor, the sharp garlic and tangy lemon with the nutty cheese... Cheese and sprouts, who knew?? I could eat the whole batch myself, they're that good. I'll be back later today, with the BEST banana bread I have EVER had. And that's saying something!

Braised Short Ribs & Potato Parsnip Mash

Thank you for your lovely comments yesterday! It's nice to be missed. :) It's also very nice to be back in the swing of things! I'm sorry for posting so late today, there was supposed to be a cake to post, but it needs a do-over, so you had to wait till I was done with dinner! And oh, what a dinner it was. I'm still stuffed. I can't remember the last time I allowed myself to be this full!! Remember that gorgeous Chicken Casserole with White Wine a few weeks ago? This is another from that same culinary master, my dear friend Mary from Inside a British Mum's Kitchen, one of my first blogging friends ever!! If you haven't stopped by to look at all her fabulous recipes, perhaps this one will convince you. Every recipe of hers that I've tried has been positively mouthwatering. Go, take a peek, you won't regret it!!

Braised Short Ribs & Potato Parsnip Mash (adapted from Inside a British Mum's Kitchen)
Printable Recipe

4-5 lbs of bone in beef short ribs, trimmed of excess fat
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper (I like to use kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper)
1 teaspoon of cumin (ish)
1 onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced/pressed
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
¼ cup of Dijon mustard

about a teaspoon of fresh thyme
1/4 cup of soy sauce
¼ cup of red wine
32 oz beef stock/broth
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Trim any excess fat off your ribs (I took off all the thick outside layers) and sprinkle them generously with salt, pepper, and a bit of cumin.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large Dutch Oven or oven-safe pot on medium high heat.

Adding in a single layer, brown the ribs until they have a nice crust, turning with tongs to brown each side.  You'll probably need to work in batches, so remove browned ribs to a plate and cover with foil while you do the rest. Cover them all with foil till a bit later. Lower heat to medium.

Saute the onions and carrots for about 5-8 minutes, till softened. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds-1 minute. Add the sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, wine, thyme and mustard, stirring to thoroughly combine

Place the ribs back into the pot. Gently pour the beef stock over everything. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover with a tight fitting lid. (If you don't have an oven-safe pot, you can do all this in a regular pot or saucepan, pour veggies and sauce into a deep baking/casserole dish with a lid, then place ribs in, cover with broth, lid, and place in oven)

Place in the oven and bake for approximately 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bones. Remove from the oven, spoon the ribs out of the pot and place on a warm serving platter and cover with foil.

Skim off any fat from the sauce in the pot. (I was impatient and didn't skim mine as much as I should have)

In a small bowl mix the butter and the cornstarch to a paste. Add a tablespoon of the sauce to the cornstarch mixture and combine well. Add this back to the sauce. Stir thoroughly and simmer for 5 minutes.

You can serve this all separately  you can serve all together on top of mashed veggies, we poured the gravy over the ribs and spooned them out onto the mash on our plates.

 

Potato Parsnip Mash

6-7 large red potatoes (or about 4 large baking potatoes like Russets)

4-5 parsnips

1 stick (8 Tb) butter

1/3 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and parsnips and cut into 1 inch or smaller chunks. Bring a pot of water (with a generous pinch of salt) to a boil. Add the veggies and cook until very tender. Drain, add the butter, cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Mash until fluffy (I just use my mixer), adding more salt and pepper as needed (and perhaps a bit more cream, if you use big veggies!)

I'm not sure if I've ever had parsnips before this. If I have, I've forgotten! But it was definitely the first time all three of my boys had tried them. And They. Were. AMAZING!!! Creamy and rich, with a bit of sweetness, I am officially a fan!! Only one of the boys didn't like them, but he's the picky one anyway. 

If you can't tell just by LOOKING, this is a very hearty meal!! Since the Geologist and I have been trying to eat lighter lately, we agreed this would make a perfect meal for company. Or when the boys approach teenager-hood and hoover everything in sight. This would fill them RIGHT up!! 5 lbs was a bit much for our little family (we've got enough leftovers for 2 more meals!) so you may want to adjust for your family size!

Filling or not, we loved it. The beefy, deeply flavored, gorgeous sauce, amazingly tender beef, sweet and savory carrots (they soak up that sauce, after all!) and the slightly sweet, creamy veggie mash. Heaven. I think we all agreed the parsnips were a revelation, but I can't imagine separating these two, they're just so delicious together!!

I can usually take or leave carrots in a dish like this, but I found myself looking for one in every bite, they turn out so yummy! For our first beef meal in weeks, we sure picked a winner!

Shared at Tasty Tuesdays and Wow Us Wednesdays

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

I GOT IN I GOT IN!!!! I am now, officially, the newest member of the Colorado Mormon Chorale!! I sang a whole verse of a hymn, acapella, and stayed in PERFECT tune, I didn't totally bomb my sight-reading, and the conductor loves my voice! When he welcomed me to the choir I literally jumped up and down. It's a fantastic choir, smaller than I was expecting, but SO good! They're awesome!!  Hooray!!

In other news, Bracken and I have declared war on the mutant squirrel. We both keep an eye on it, and when it ventures on to our porch, I throw open the door and release the snarling beast!! She really has it in for that squirrel. And we learned last night not to cry wolf, because she was watching the door all tense for a LONG time... She takes her mission seriously. After all, it's going after her food!

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon (adapted from The English Kitchen)
Printable Recipe

4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
1 pound fresh brussels sprouts
1/4 red onion, diced small (or a shallot or two)
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 Tb butter
salt and pepper

First, prepare your sprouts. Rinse, cut off the ends and cut into slices, removing outside leaves.

Heat a pan on medium-high heat.  Add bacon, and cook till it starts to get crispy. Add onion and butter, and cook till onion is softened. Add sprouts and thyme, and cook till the edges just start to brown. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, and serve!

When I saw a stalk of fresh brussels sprouts in the grocery store, I just had to get them. The Geologist was determined to hate them, and the boys weren't too thrilled either. But what the heck, I wanted some. So I cooked them, served them up...

And they were a MAJOR hit!! The Geologist had THIRDS! In fact, it was our favorite part of dinner that night! AND they were just as yummy as leftovers. I reheated them in a pan instead of the microwave.

I converted my husband to brussels sprouts! Success!! The original recipe has pancetta, so if you can get it cheaper than I can, try it! The rich, salty bacon is the perfect companion to these little beauties. These sprouts have none of their notorious bitterness, they're tender, and fresh, and delicious. The boys thought they tasted like broccoli. I just thought they were plain yummy!

Carrots with Sage and Lemon Butter

Sometimes, I am a paragon of organization. Okay, make that occasionally. But speaking in blog terms, sometimes I have every recipe photographed, typed up, and ready to go the week before I post it. Then all I have to do is think of something fun to write in my intro, and we're good to go! Other weeks... like this one... I plan to share things with you that I haven't made yet, but plan to make in time to post them! That usually doesn't turn out so well for me. Like this poor carrot recipe. We were supposed to make them Monday. Then one way or another, it kept getting delayed... until here I am, finally, posting them at 9:00 at night after making them for dinner. Hey, it still counts, right??

Carrots with Sage and Lemon Butter (inspired by The English Kitchen)
Printable Recipe

1 pound of carrots, peeled and sliced
2 Tb butter
zest from 1 lemon
4-6 sage leaves, chopped
salt & pepper

Place carrots in a pot with lightly salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook till tender, but not mushy, about 5-8 minutes.

While your carrots are cooking, melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium-medium low heat, and add the lemon zest and sage. Let it simmer while the carrots cook, and be careful not to let it burn! A little bit of browning is fine. *Note: Marie crushes her sage and lemon zest together with a mortar and pestle, but I don't have one. If you do, go for it!*

When your carrots are done, drain them, and drizzle the butter mixture over them. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, and toss to coat all the carrots, then serve, garnished with a little more zest if you'd like :)

I would like to apologize in advance for any pictures taken of dinner-type-food from now until the sun doesn't set until... well... after dinner!! The light in here isn't awesome. These carrots would have looked so pretty outside in the sun!! Oh well. They're still yummy.

They really are!! I thought they would be richer, more overpowering, but they turned out light and herby. Yes, I am aware that isn't a word.

The buttery-ness of the... well, butter... I can't think of a better word than "buttery"... the brightness of lemon and savory-ness of sage, together with the sweet and tender carrot, this is a winner!! We all loved them. It may have butter, but it's still a vegetable! It counts!!

Butter Lettuce Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Well, I think The Geologist's post yesterday takes care of my Small and Wonderful Things, don't you? I'm glad he likes me so much. I'm pretty fond of him too. :) I'm so proud, he actually quoted Bollywood!! But he is SERIOUSLY in the doghouse for posting that last picture. Ugh.

The concert was glorious!! Fantastic!! A once-in-a-lifetime experience. I gave a little more than I should have in rehearsals, so my voice was kinda raw, and not as perfect as I might have wished, but I kept up pretty well! I nailed and held those ridiculously high notes almost all the way through, and gave it everything I had left. One song kind of fizzled, but we were just underscoring the narrator so it didn't really matter. When we finished with "Angels We Have Heard On High" (very high!!) we were louder, more powerful, and more awesome than we had ever been. Like the angels really were with us. I got down off the stand, shaking, and burst into tears. One of the handbell ladies tried to see if I was okay, and I told her I was just too happy!! It's hard to find the words to express what it meant to me, but the one that comes to mind is transcendent. And the best part is, I get to do most of it again on Monday!! Half of us are singing with the bells and orchestra for their concert! So I will rest my voice this weekend, so I can really blow the roof of that place!

The chapel was decorated with dozens of poinsettias, and they said we could take one home for a small donation...

I hadn't realized how HUGE they were!!

Butter Lettuce Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing (inspired by The English Kitchen)
Printable Recipe

2 small heads of butter lettuce, washed, trimmed, and torn into pieces
1/2 English Cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 large carrot, shredded (or grated)

1 apple, cored and diced

For the dressing:
3 Tb extra virgin olive oil
2 Tb apple cider vinegar
1 Tb liquid honey
2 Tb Dijon mustard or to taste (grainy or smooth, it's up to you)
a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Combine vegetables and chill. Whisk dressing together, and drizzle over salad right before serving!

My boys all love apples in their salad, and I have never been a fan till now! Somehow they go so well with that honey-mustard dressing!

This is a very light and refreshing salad, no strong flavors really. Of course, the fun thing about salads is that you can do just about anything with them, so be creative! This is just my version :) I think next time I'd add my marinated onions, and perhaps some cheese!

I'm really having fun with this whole salad thing!!