Salads with Ranch and Thousand Island made at home.

Fresh Herbs in Flower Pots.

This little blog needs subtitles as it was much too busy a day to leave out that Molly had her first bath.  As luck would have it I got two, the first one was with her!! 

I harvested homegrown herbs that lasted over the winter and are lovely this spring.

Brian got after the weed eater....since there is WAY more to do now three years after our disaster with the towns sewer department.

And he BBQ ed chicken for dinner over charcoal and I made up personal diner salads as side dishes for the great summer supper.

Brian loves radishes and me, not so much. I like avocado and Brian not so much. Brian is a black pepper freak, I like it but I am not nearly as over the top as he is. This explains the personal salads and there is no sense in making a huge bowl of salad that is not going to be as good left over than it is if made up fresh!!

Speaking of fresh, I was inspired by the fresh herbs and not wanting to make a trip to the store to make our dressings and they were way better than the bottled variety. It is easier to just open a bottle but it is more flavorful and CHEAPER in these times of $4.00 gas to just whip up things.

My version of homemade Ranch dressing:

5 t. parsley
2 t. chives
1 t. tarragon
2 t. lemon pepper
1/2 t salt
1/2 t. oregano
1 1/2 t. garlic powder

If you are using all dried herbs just combine them all and store them in an airtight container. I used partially fresh combined with dried so I store them in a jar in the freezer.

Attach these instructions:

Makes 1 pint.

1 C. Hellman's Mayonnaise
1 C. buttermilk
2 T. homemade Ranch mix

Combine and whisk together about an hour before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

* Note for dip substitute 1 C. sour cream, yogurt, or creme fresh for the buttermilk.

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing:

1/2 C. Hellman's Mayonnaise
1 T. ketchup or chili sauce
1 T. chopped pimiento stuffed olives
1 t. snipped chives
1 hard cooked egg, chopped fine
1/4 t. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
(optional thin with a bit of cream)

Stir everything together and store in the refrigerator until needed.

* Note the original version of this one appeared in my Betty Crocker Cookbook.
http://recettes.de/salads
http://recettes.de/salad dressings
http://recettes.de/ranch dressing
http://recettes.de/thousand island dressing