Old Fashioned Goodness From My Kitchen

I'm just an old fashioned girl. A few years ago, I got into canning, and after taking last year off to focus on gestating a new person, I'm happy to report that I'm back in business. This weekend, I made some strawberry jam. I'm looking forward to many more canning adventures this year, so stay tuned for more updates from the kitchen.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies

Complete with fresh homemade strawberry jam.

As a kid, I fondly remember my grandmother and mother canning jams, apple butter, tomatoes, and many other tasty treats. It's amazing that with all the food technology in the world, I tend to think simpler is better when it comes to food: organic over food grown with a veritable chemistry lab behind every seed; preparation that focuses on a few good things together (e.g., a salad with good fresh lettuce and a light dressing is better than a ton of bland vegetables drowned in dressing); and changing ingredients with what's in season as much as possible.

Homemade salad dressings are one of my favorite things. Spending money on jars of dressing only to have most if it go bad in my fridge drives me absolutely crazy. Making your own dressing is EASY -- think oil and vinegar with a few goodies -- and creativity is more often rewarded than punished when it comes to the salad. Like putting blue cheese and walnuts in your salad? Try putting them in a basic vinaigrette instead of on your salad.

There are other important benefits to making your own salad dressing. First, you make a little bit, which can still last you a while and give you just the right amount of dressing you need. Second, it's generally healthier for you for a number of reasons including the fact that you tend to need less dressing to flavor your salad. Finally, you can use homemade salad dressing for more than just salads. Sandwiches and burgers love a good dressing.

Ok, enough talk, here's a picture and recipe for a creamy herb dressing that I made this weekend.

Creamy Salad Dressing with Herbs

I didn't really measure the ingredient proportions on my creamy salad dressing recipe, so the following recipe is a rough estimate. Obviously, make yours to taste. I put my dressing in a container so it could be used for a few salads over about a week.

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• A few pinches each of any fresh herb combination. I tend to like 3 herbs that compliment each other. In the dressing photographed above, I used fresh flat leaf parsley (way better than the curly leaf when it comes to flavor), basil, and mint.
• A tablespoon or two of light mayo (you can also use Greek yogurt for a slightly more tangy flavor)
• Salt and pepper
  

Combine all ingredients and whisk together with a fork or small whisk. Enjoy!