sweetness

Today I spent some time shopping (butcher, grocery, wine) and extra time in the kitchen. I went on a bit of cleaning frenzy before we left for vacation, I loved that the kitchen was organized & clean when preparing for this evening. We are having a little dinner party with friends. I took my time chopping carrots, celery, tomatoes, strawberries, mango. On the menu for the evening: avocado/strawberry/parmesan salad, french bread, bbq chicken on the grill (the chicken has been marinating in chicken stock all day), grilled asparagus, German potato salad, celery/carrot/tomato salad (italian vinaigrette & parmesan), and for dessert, vanilla ice cream with macadamia nut cookies & mango. It's our first time using the grill this summer, we are really excited.

Before leaving for Hawaii, I read this sweet post by Jess over at Sweet Amandine. The ingredients for her salad followed me around, it's pretty much all I could think about. I held out for a few days and ended up making the salad the fourth day we were in Hawaii, for lunch. It was soooo good, which I had a feeling it would be. I'm dying to make it again, so happy I will this evening.