strawberries, salads, & sisters!

So on a semi-regular basis(daily) Kristin Boden and I check in with Bethany Dillon via her blog. Several weeks ago Bethany blogged about a Summer Strawberry Salad...yes please! And, tonight we made it...we even had a little Bethany playing via grooveshark in the background. As a side note, you should check out grooveshark! Recently someone shared with me about the beauty of grooveshark-all the music you want all the time, for free! It's a great thing!
Here are some cooking/food pics!:

Here is the recipe from Bethany's blog:
Summery Strawberry Salad

serves: 5 people (or 2 if those two are Shane & me)

1 container of pre-washed baby spinach
couple handfuls of ripe strawberries, washed and quartered
half of a Granny Smith apple, chopped into bite-size pieces
half to a whole handful (depending on how much you like gorgonzola) of crumbled gorgonzola cheese ** if you don’t like gorgonzola, feta or bleu cheese would work fine! I’m just a fan of gorgonzola’s strong flavor and richness
a GENEROUS handful (let’s make it one and a half) of walnuts and/or pecans (I prefer walnuts), toasted (if you like) and chopped
Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette (most groceries carry the brand – look for a pretty glass bottle with a picture of a strawberry on front)
To toast the walnuts or pecans:
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Lightly coat the bottom of a glass baking dish (any size) with a couple tablespoons of melted butter or oil (walnut, vegetable, olive, any kind you have around).
3) Coarsely chop the walnuts and/or pecans, pour into baking dish and toss to evenly coat with butter/oil.
4) Sprinkle a couple teaspoons of sugar (sugar in the raw or organic sugar work great) on top, half a teaspoon of salt, and a LIGHT dusting of fresh ground black pepper. Toss again to coat.
5) Place in the oven until you begin to smell the nuts toasting, about 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn! (although I LOVE things burned. Seriously, I do.)
For the salad:
1) Take toasted nuts out of the oven, place on a plate to cool.
2) In a tall bowl, throw baby spinach, quartered strawberries, chopped apples, crumbled gorgonzola, and COOLED (or it will melt the cheese) walnuts/pecans.
3) Add the amount of vinaigrette you want, and then toss!
4) Put on a plate. Grab a fork. Go outside on your deck or backyard, find a sunny spot, and enjoy.

*We added chicken to it! We just cut up chicken into bite sized pieces and then browned it in a skillet with the help a little olive oil. After it was cooked all the way through we added just enough Strawberry Salad dressing to give the chicken a light glaze! It was great.

Thankful for:
Yummy salads!
Good music!
But mostly I am thankful for the sister I have in Kristin!
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17