Wednesday Kitchen - Summer Salad

Here on Wednesday Kitchen with the JET Team, I've been pondering... who wants to cook in this heat?!

In the summer months we do a lot of grilling outside, and we eat a lot of salads. We often get up early and head out to the farms for fresh pickings. My daughter and I were very happy with our strawberry pickings this year - they were so good and there were so many! We also picked spinach and other vegetables - they just taste so fresh and good :)

Here is an easy summer salad we made with a spinach & salad mix, strawberries & blueberries. My daughter made the dressing for us, as she makes delicious dressings. We're trying to eat light and healthy, and we enjoyed this salad a lot.

There's no recipe to follow, just throw the following ingredients together!

Ingredients

• ½ cup of olive oil, or oil to your liking
• ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tablespoon minced onion
• ¼ cup of distilled white vinegar
• Fresh spinach & salad mix
• Strawberries cleaned and sliced
• ¼ cup almonds
• Blueberries (optional)

For a more substantial meal, adding some grilled chicken will complement the salad well. Enjoy!

Michele

Whats on My Bench

Welcome to another edition of Whats on My Bench with the JET Team. This week Brooke, of BrookeJewelry, takes us behind the scenes in her workshop...

Currently on my bench is a fun request from a family member, for a custom sterling silver necklace. It is a sweet sixteen birthday gift, made with a stone found on the beach by the birthday girl and her grandfather when she was a pre-schooler. I love making jewelry but when I know the story behind a custom piece, and that it is being given as a gift for a special occasion, that really inspires me and gets my creativity flowing.

I decided the best way to attach the odd shaped stone was to drill a hole in it. The instructions I found for drilling a hole in stone included the advice, "be patient", and boy were they right! Depending on the hardness of the stone, this step can take quite a while.

After drilling the hole I began assembling the chain, and seeing how it looked with different chain links added in for interest. Once I had the size and placement of the links decided I soldered them closed, polished the links and added a hammered texture. I also added some brass accents by making a link with brass and wire wrapping the faceted turquoise bead to the chain with brass.

I wasn't sure how I wanted to close the necklace - in the back with a simple clasp, or with a toggle - or to bring some more interest to the front with a handmade toggle and ring closure. In the end as you can see I thought it would be nice to add that pretty toggle to the front AND make the necklace adjustable by adding another ring for the toggle to go through.

The birthday girl's grandparents love it, and I hope she does too. And I now have a new design to shape and adapt to new projects! I have some meteorite pendants that I think are going to look great with a design similar to this.

A wonderful story behind the stone, Brooke, and a gorgeous design too - the birthday girl is sure to love her beautiful necklace!