Strawberry & Blue Cheese Spinach Salad

This spinach salad is an excellent example of something I like to make at home mainly because I can control the size of the blue cheese crumbles. Also, this salad needs strawberries of high caliber and I knew the strawberries I had on hand would fit the bill nicely. In a restaurant, I usually just hope for the best with fruit quality. Most of the time, it's passable, but not anything that could be classified as good.

The only component that requires some attention is the balsamic vinaigrette; my version is a bit of Dijon mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper whisked together furiously with a fork until emulsified (meaning everything has combined and the olive oil isn't a separate layer on top). A whisk probably works better, but I just use a fork.

If you want to get cute, you could throw in blueberries instead and call it a "blue" spinach salad. Just a thought!

Warm Herb and Jam Goat Cheese Spread

When I saw Joy the Baker's Warm Herb and Jam Goat Cheese Spread recipe, I was immediately intrigued by the flavors. It sounded like a fresh take on the cheese spread and I didn't want to forget about it. So, I put it at the top of my mental to-do list and boy, am I glad I carried through with it. It is fantastic for two reasons: the flavor combination is superb and it can be thrown together in two shakes of a lamb's tail (how delightful to have the chance to use that phrase).

I used cherry fruit spread with rosemary and thyme and it was a very pretty, very festive home run. The genius of it is that it takes all the flavors normally seen on a (goat) cheese plate and puts them in one bite. Also, perhaps even more exciting for all the hosts and hostesses out there, it's just one dish and one spoon for serving! Thank you to Joy for this game changer!