Gorgeous freshly picked strawberries...

Thank you for the supportive comments and e-mails we have received over the past couple of days! We are humbled and will do our best to continue on with this creative outlet for as long as we are able to. We'll keep taking names (please use that post if you would like to enter the drawing) until Wednesday and will post the winner of the cookbook on Friday!

Jeff and I recently headed over to a local farm that had the most beautiful strawberries we have seen in a long time!

Due to the late start this year, the ruby berries were extraordinarily sweet, big and oh so juicy. Once we arrived at the farm, we grabbed our picking box and hopped on the only way to travel to the many rows flowing with the berries - by tractor! As you can see, we were not the only one with the idea to get outside and have fun pickin' strawberries.

Even though I thought I had picked over my row with my now red-stained hands, as I was walking back to finish up our box, I couldn't resist snagging a few unseen berries that glimmered in the sun, even though my hands were already full!

See! Can't even think of holding anymore now!

It took us less less than 45 minutes to achieve this heaping box of berries - the net weight? 15 pounds!

Once we were done, we walked around the farm a bit to check out the sights. They had a little area full of different animals that the kids could feed (and Jeff too...) and even though he was happy with feeding the animals, I think he was a little disappointed that he was too big to fit into the little cow train they were giving rides in! Hee hee!

We missed this sign heading in, but I think it says it all, especially when going picking for fresh strawberries.

By the time we had gotten home, I think my belly needed a break, but my taste buds said otherwise! So, while I should have worked some of them into a dessert, we wanted to go a different, slightly savory direction, and prepared this Strawberry Spring Salad as a side to dinner.

Use your favorite greens - we decided on a crisp red romaine we picked up from the market on the way home. Because we wanted the berries to shine, the generous dressing for this salad is fairly light, yet has enough tang to keep your attention. To balance the bite from the white wine vinegar, a drizzle of honey is added, along with a little olive oil. To top off the dressed salad, toasted pine nuts are sprinked over to lend a buttery crunch. The fresh berries were kept in quarters for some heft - this gave you something juicy and a little more substantial to sink your teeth into against the greens. As an afterthought, I think both of us would have loved a few crumbles of creamy goat cheese scattered on top to add a little richness and spunk to round the salad out.

Recipes

Strawberry Spring Salad