Here’s a sad story… my computer crashed. I will admit that I should have known it was coming considering it was eight years old and seriously slow. I mean, so slow I could click on an icon, walk away, take a shower, make lunch, and go pick up the dry cleaning only to come back to find my ancient dinosaur still deep in the process of thinking. So, I solely take the blame for not backing up some important things such as… ah… wedding pictures. Yea. I don’t really want to talk about that.

What I DO want to talk about is pickled beets. Pickled beets will take your mind off anything! In fact, when they put them on the salad bar at work, my friends and I practically threw a party.

It’s a wonderful thing to stain your salad purple. But homemade pickled beets not only stain your salad, they stain your fingers, your sink, your cutting boards…so I recommend you wear gloves and get moving on this refreshing afternoon delight.

For the Recipe, click here:

Pickled Beet, Orange, and Goat Cheese Salad

I am hooked on barley. It is such a versatile and satisfying, chewy little grain. This fresh salad sparked when I came upon these cute clementines that looked almost too perfect to eat. Clementines remind me of my childhood and the single orange ball I would find at the toe of my Christmas stocking every year. Once we pulled everything out, my brothers and I would sit and eat our clementines while admiring our loot. Something about them just makes me happy.

So for a lunch date with my friend Jamie, I marinated and grilled some beautiful salmon to go with this spring salad. It was a perfect lazy lunch on the porch accompanied by sunshine and Monty contentedly munching on his favorite stuffed beaver.

For the Recipes, click here:

Orange and Maple Glazed Salmon

Clementine, Barley, and Spinach Salad with Cinnamon Citrus Dressing

Sometimes when I’m standing in line at Starbucks (sorry New Englanders, Dunkin’ Donuts in Vegas are a very rare thing) I ogle the flaky, size of your fist, sparkly scones and it takes all my willpower to resist. If the coffee wasn’t 5 bucks by itself, maybe I would just say “throw one in”, but the overpriced latte usually makes me feel guilty enough.

So I am left to make them myself and thank goodness cause these are a whole lot healthier than anything Starbucks would serve up anyway. They also make the house smell like “vacation” in the words of Ivan, which is a wonderful thing in itself.

Slather these with your favorite jam or some softened butter and pat yourself on the back for not allowing Starbucks to rip you off for a simple baked good.

For the Recipe, click here:

Orange and Raisin Cream Scones