Hello hello friends! Sorry this post is a little late but my life got a little crazy this past week and so I did not get this salad dressing posted as soon as I would have liked. Hubby and I went to Lowes this weekend to get a soaker hose for my herb garden that is just about dead from this crazy heat. That is when we saw it! The 16 foot by 4 foot beauty that is “The Ultra Frame Pool” Ahhh!! I have never had a pool but in this weather you can either stay cooped up in the house blaring the AC and praying for fall or you can get out in the lake or a pool and work on your tan and enjoy the water! I thought I was going to have to beg Hubby to consider buying a pool but before I could conjure up my best puppy dog face and convincing pool proposal he was already putting the battery controlled fish and water footballs in the cart!! WOO HOO! Only little did I know it would take two days to fill this beast of a pool so we did not get to enjoy the pool until Monday night. That is also the night that Hubby had a double header softball game. We swam a little bit then got ready to go to the field. Upon arriving is when I got the dreaded news, “hey Heather can you run back to your house and get your shoes we need you to fill in we are short players” OH HOLY HECK! I have not even played softball in about 6 years and my mind was still in the pool (with the glass of wine I was so very much enjoying) now I have to get into sports mode! With a crowd of people watching! So needless to say that today I am very sore everywhere (including my arm pits!!) And that is why I am a bit slow at getting this salad dressing posted.

Remember the other day when I posted my Signature Salad? I told you that I buy my salad dressing but sometimes I make it too! So I thought I would share the recipe I use for basil balsamic vinaigrette so you could run home and try it out and tell me what you think!! Sometimes I change it up and add a little more of this or that because it really is very flexible and you just have to taste it along the way while creating it to know what you want more of and what appeals to your palate! I like the tanginess with the sweetness from the pecans and the zing from the strawberries!  I have even made a Raspberry version (which I am sure will be posted soon!) It is really nice making your own dressings and getting to customize the flavors and knowing exactly what is in it instead of reading the ingredients and seeing ingredients you have never even heard of let alone try to pronounce! Here it is!

Heather’s Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (you want a good quality fruity oil since you are not cooking this)
• 4.5 teaspoons Balsamic vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon Basil (I used fresh but if I do not have fresh I have used dry and that works too)
• 1/8 teaspoon Garlic Powder (Or you can mince fresh garlic)
• 1 teaspoon Honey (If you like it more sweet and less tangy you might want 2 teaspoons)
• Salt and pepper to taste

I pour the EVOO into a bowl or container or a large measuring cup. Then add the balsamic vinegar while whisking so that the two emulsify and then I put everything else in the measuring cup and whisk it up!

Pour it into your dressing container and seal the lid tight and shake it up some more.

Slap a label on the bottle and you are good to go! Just be sure to shake well before using!

If you need an idea of what to put this dressing on I recomend THIS!! YUMMY!