Good gracious almighty. If doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the mark of insanity, I am a special kind of crazy. You see, I thought maybe I could move an entire home’s worth of belongings and get them organized in one day. Three weeks later, my second bedroom still looks like a photography studio exploded inside.
I thought maybe I could leave town for the weekend and get back to work right away, but yesterday didn’t work out so well. The fire alarms went off in my new apartment building for the first time and I’m still recovering from the shock. I understand that fire alarms should be loud, but forget the defibrillator—these could bring a mummy back to life. My ears ache just thinking about it. And last week, I thought maybe I could just not sleep for a night to finish cookbook edits, which I managed to do—but I slept fourteen hours last night to catch up. Perhaps I should allow more time for recovery and extenuating circumstances, you say? Yeah yeah, I know, I know. (By the way, if you haven’t voted for the cover yet, you have just one day left!)
I’m also trying to make up for all the fresh, healthy food that I didn’t eat while my kitchen was in shambles. This green salad got me some bonus points in that area. It’s from a new cookbook called The Gourmet Kitchen by Jennifer Farley of Savory Simple, which offers a variety of gourmet recipes featuring fresh ingredients. You know me; I couldn’t help but tinker with this recipe. Jennifer’s original recipe was inspired by bacon-wrapped, blue cheese-stuffed dates, which I loved before I swore off the bacon. I still really enjoyed it without the two slices of freshly cooked, crumbled bacon. I also tweaked the amounts of walnuts and blue cheese (a little more walnuts, a little less cheese). This salad is a fun alternative to my favorite green salad. It would be a great addition to your holiday table, or your dinner table in general this time of year. With all the rich meals and holiday treats being passed around, it’s easy to forget the greens!
