An Update & A Sweet and Simple Salad

Dear Friends,

May I just start by saying how much I've missed everyone. My last post was just before Christmas, which means I didn't get to wish you all a very happy and vibrant new year. I hope the start of 2012 has shown a lot of promise and reason to look ahead.

My new year has been dedicated to restoring my health, hence my absence. Ever since giving birth to the love and light of my life, my son Barrett, last July, I became increasingly ill. This affected my life drastically and limited what I could and could not do as I did my best to navigate being a Mom, wife and continuing to do the other things I love, like cooking, while being sick and enduring test after test in pursuit of a diagnosis.

I'm happy to say, I've adjusted and getting a lot better at managing to cook, document, keep pace with a highly active 7-month old, and slowly incorporate all of my old passions back into my life in spite of everything else.

This post was mostly about catching up, but I'm also including a quick and yummy salad.

Since I've been gone...

We celebrated our first Christmas together.

Barrett got to experience his first snow.

His first taste was carrot.

He loves his monkey and the quilt his "Gigi" made for him.

We took him to one of our favorite places, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

And he took his first ride in a swing.

I'll be back with new dishes, and more Milk, Sugar, Musings & Love(s) of my life soon. In the mean time...

Cranberry Walnut Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Mix of greens, your choice
Handful dried cranberries
Small handful of candied or lightly toasted walnuts
Chopped feta cheese
Top with pita chips

Raspberry Vinaigrette

I used this recipe and whisked in 4 raspberries.

Honey-Vinaigrette Dressing

Ingredients:

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup red wine or distilled white vinegar (I used the latter)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon red onion or shallot, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

In medium bowl, whisk together vinegar, honey and mustard. While continuing to whisk gently, add in oil slowly. Add in onion, whisk again. Repeat after adding salt and pepper. Whisk again gently just before serving over salad.