A "GO-TO" Salad for Summer

If you are busy... you need a "go to" recipe to prepare for your family or to bring to a picnic!    The home made caesar salad will get lots of compliments and will get eaten!  You won't bring anything home!

This is a recipe I discovered a few years ago and now it has become one of my signature salads!  YUMMY!!!   I hope you enjoy this fresh salad!  You can also add grilled chicken or shrimp to this dish for a great meal!

Keep your fridge stocked with Romaine Lettuce, Wedge of Parmesan Cheese.   Purchase a baguette of fresh bread and the rest is in the details!   Let's begin!

Let's start with the croutons!   Just purchase a baguette of bread at the market and cut it into crouton size  cubes and put in a gallon zip lock bag.   Drizzle olive oil and throw in a few tablespoons of minced garlic and a approximately a tablespoon or so of sea salt.  Feel free to add some pepper if you like too!    Toss the bread cubes to coat each piece and spread out on a baking sheet and broil to toast - turning lightly until perfect!     When croutons are cool, store in a fresh zip lock bag to use for the week.

Dressing:   

1 cup of Mayonnaise

1 Tbs of Lemon Juice ( or one half lemon squeezed)

1 tsp Worcestershire 

1 clove or Garlic minced ( or 1 tsp minced)

1 tsp Anchovy Paste

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

milk or half and half for consistency

You can store this in a plastic container to use as needed.

Cheese:  Shred your parmesan cheese and store in plastic container and use when needed.

Wash and simply CUT your romaine lettuce in  1' strips for easy eating....  add lettuce, croutons, cheese and toss with dressing for a fabulous and EASY caesar salad!   

BUSY as Usual

It has been a SUPER busy month!!!  Family first!   So the "busy bee" was busy being a mom first..... with confirmation and 8th grade promotion to a week in NYC with my daughters dance nationals... it was nuts!  Oh... and I have a son too!  :)  It just so happened that my daughter had lots of memorable events this month so it seemed to be a month consumed with her activities.   We are home for a short time before we leave for a week in Colorado to celebrate with my Sara Blaine for Willow House friends on a year of great accomplishments and a New Beginning for our new company!

I'm excited to be able to have a career that allows me to be home for my kids while allowing me to have something for me that is FUN and keeps me busy! After all, in just a few short years, I'll be an empty nester and I will definitely need to stay busy to keep my mind off of that!   

Speaking of family and flexibility.... we celebrated the birth of our newest nephew yesterday and went to visit him in the hospital, and while I won't post his photo to allow his parents to do all those honors, I wore my Bali Scroll Blue Quartz collection in honor of a new nephew! 

I had my pink Aubree Collection ready if it was a girl.... but Blue was definitely the color of the day yesterday!       I hope that you are embracing every moment of summer and enjoying the lazy and the busy days of summer!   It seems as if it will be a short summer.... at least for us in the North East since we lost so many school days to Hurricane Sandy but we are enjoying each day to its fullest!