Domestic diva

Thursday night I decided to make a salad with our stir fry. You know, being the healthy housewife and all. So I decided to get a little creative, and try to find a recipe I had had recently. At Andy's birthday party, our pastor's wife had brought this salad that was INCREDIBLE. It became my most favorite thing at the party--and I ate my weight in it. So I set out to try to find the recipe for the dressing....

In retrospect, I could have probably just grabbed my phone, scanned down to her name and pressed send. But that would have been too easy.

So I found the salad. And I made it. And it was just as good as I remember it.

So here's the recipe:
Salad:
1 head lettuce (I used romaine mixed with some mesclun in our garden)
Bacon (I used real bacon bits....I don't really like cooking raw bacon...it's too messy and gross)
Green onions (I used three...it was kind of a lot. Two may have been better)
Chow mein noodles on top, for crunch

Dressing
8T vinegar (I used white wine)
8T sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 c. oil (I used vegetable)

Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for two minutes. Your house will smell like death after you boil vinegar. Hope that your husband doesn't come home an hour early just as you finish making the house smell like death. It might make him fussy. Refrigerate four hours to overnight. Dress salad with dressing just before serving. And enjoy!

We weren't alone for dinner that night. On Thursday's Andy's little brother from the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program comes over. His 16th birthday was the very next day, and I wanted to make sure that it was special somehow. I really want everyone who comes into our house to feel special--and especially on their birthday! I love birthdays...and I love making people feel special on their birthday. So when the boys went off to play a game, I headed back to the kitchen to find something to make into a birthday treat. I found a sheet of frozen puff pastry and a bag of frozen peaches...and ran with it.

I thawed the puff pastry (in the microwave....not the way you're supposed to. I didn't have 40 mins) and cut it into 9 squares...then baked it according to directions.

While the puff pastry was baking, I put the peaches in a saucepan with a little bit of water, a few tablespoons of sugar, and a quick shake of cinnamon (great measurements, I know)

Then I boiled that together until the peaches were warm and soft, and the other stuff had turned into a syrup.

Then I pulled out the puff pastry, topped it with peaches and syrup and served it with a candle. A birthday pastry, if you will. And it was tasty. If only we had spray whipped cream....it would have been perfect.