Knock, knock... is this thing on? Happy Tuesday! It feels like weeks since I've shared a recipe and that's because life has been crazy busy {then again, what else is new?!}. So a recap... our Fourth of July celebration was fun and festive, complete with a delicious Southern Fried Chicken picnic in the park with the Baron's family. I'll be sharing those recipes I prepared for the picnic next week! Then for the long weekend, my boys and I had ourselves a little getaway to northwest Indiana for some beachside fun and berries. We spent some much needed time relaxing the Indiana Dunes where we had a field day playing in the water and sand. The next day was spent at a couple of U-Pick farms where I enjoyed picking all sorts of berries to bring home. I was in heaven among the black and red raspberry fields, tart cherry trees and blueberry bushes! So in honor of berry season, I'll be sharing some berry delicious recipes all this week. Take for example this Strawberry Mango Salad I made recently for the Hawaiian inspired luau party I hosted. Plump chopped strawberries and sweet diced mango top a bed of spring greens with toasted almonds, crumbled feta cheese and served with a poppyseed dressing on the side...

I love berries... and I really enjoyed spending a few hours picking them this past weekend. I plan on making a trek to the local U-Pick farms in Indiana each year just so I can stock up on fresh berries. I came home with a healthy loot of fruit to play with in my kitchen and I cannot wait! I would have started working with them as soon as I got home on Saturday evening but another reason why I was so busy was due to the big pharmacy exam I took last night. I spent Saturday night, all day Sunday and all day Monday up until my exam time last night studying. Thankfully I passed {woohoo!} and I can now finally relax a bit for some kitchen therapy to play with my berry stash.

Since it's the season for salad, berries are great to add to them for a burst of sweetness and freshness. For this salad, I just added strawberries and mangoes, along with toasted almonds, and feta cheese. In my mind, I really enjoy salads that involve a fruit, cheese, and nuts. It's a little sweet, salty, creamy and crunchy combo that makes it an all around good salad!