Summer Berry Fruit Salad With Honey Lime Glaze

An easy Fruit Salad recipe for your next party or picnic. Summer Berry Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Glaze is a a favorite berry fruit salad with glaze. 

We make it frequently with whatever berries and fruit are at their prime.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Mother's Day. Colt and the kids sneaked out of the house early in the morning to run to the store and surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet they assembled. It has to be one of the prettiest bouquets I've ever received!

They were a little disappointed to come home and find me awake because the dogs had a dog fight over a bone outside my bedroom door. I still don't know why they were choosing to fight over it because their was a larger bone in the other room, crazy dogs! 

Then they assembled a picnic including this favorite Summer Berry Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Glaze and took me to a favorite park next to a lake to enjoy the gorgeous weather we've been having. 

This fruit salad happens to be a summer time favorite with sweet raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, black grapes, peaches and seedless clementine oranges tossed with lime-honey dressing.

The lime and honey make the flavors of the fruit pop and will leave your taste buds tingling for more.

Here's how to make this easy Fruit Salad recipe:

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Onion Rings

Colt's pretty much the Onion Ring connoisseur around our house. 

Whenever we go out to eat if Onion Rings are on the menu he's ordering them. So I know when he says these are the best, he knows what he's talking about.

He built his case as follows:

1.  It's all about the light and crunchy seasoned coating- this is accomplished using panko bread crumbs. 
2. Nice thick slices of sweet white onion- we find Walla Walla or Vidalia Onions perfect for this.
3.  Not overly greasy in a heavy soggy shell - two huge pet peeves when ordering Onion Rings. 

I have to agree with him on all these points. There's really only 1 other place in our area that even come close to these little mouthfuls of heaven, making it well worth learning how to make Homemade Onion Rings! 

Here's how to make fried Onion Rings from scratch:

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Homemade Beef Stock

I didn't get a really good photo of just this hearty Homemade Beef Stock because it's part of the French Onion Soup recipe I'll be posting on Monday but as I was working on the recipe I decided it would just be easier if I shared my recipe for Homemade Beef Stock as a separate post since I received some flack over using Beef Broth in my Beef Stroganoff and not including my recipe some time ago.

I do use high quality store bought Beef Stock on occasion but nothing can compare to Homemade Beef Stock for it's hearty richness and silky texture from the bones.

Some recipes just aren't the same without Homemade Beef Stock like French Onion Soup. It's actually rather easy to make other then the long simmer and can be frozen for future use.

I will usually ask the butcher for meaty neck bones and find roasting the bones with the veggies prior to simmering makes for a glorious stock. 

The meat from the neck bones is similar to chuck meat in that it is tender and juicy so after simmering the stock for 3-4 hours and straining the veggies I remove the meat off the bones to freeze it for my next batch of Crockpot Beef Vegetable Barley Soup or even Taco Soup in place of the hamburger.

The only warning I have is after making Homemade Beef Stock is it will be hard to use anything else! 

Ok now that I've talked your ear off here's how to make Homemade Beef Stock:

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Basic Potato Salad

I'm so excited to be having Michelle from The Complete Savorist guest hosting on the blog today with an a tasty recipe for Basic Potato Salad! I can't wait to try it! 

She has a gorgeous blog with tons of delicious recipes! Please make sure to take a minute to stop by her blog and say hi! 

Hi everyone, I’m Michelle from The Complete Savorist and am really excited to be here with you today.

Thank you Serena for the opportunity to share a recipe with you.

How many of you have a potato salad recipe? Most of you I bet. I have many.

My parents divorced when I was young, so I don’t have just two recipes, one from the maternal grandma and one from the paternal grandma, but over six different potato salad recipes.

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Bakery-Style Double Chocolate Muffins

I've been in love with muffins lately. A muffin and a cuppa coffee or tea and I'm good to go.

Add a little chocolate to the mix and I think I've made it to heaven.

It feels a little naughty having chocolate for breakfast but I think that's what makes it so fun!

These muffins are chocolaty but have a  light texture and the coffee helps intensify the chocolate flavor. 

These are defiantly a perfect Double Chocolate Muffin in my book!

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Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins With Streusel

Delicious Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins With Streusel.. Can life get any better then these? I think not.

I'm not sure there is any better way to start the day than with Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins With Streusel and a spot of coffee or tea. 

These muffins have a wonderful texture with pop in your mouth blueberries and a crunchy oat streusel.

I can't tell you these are the ultimate in healthiness but I will tell you they are totally delicious and the oatmeal adds a fabulous texture to the muffins!  

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Sesame Garlic Ginger Lime Dipping Sauce Or Marinade

I love Thai food, actually any Asian food for that matter. I love the salty and the sweet mixture of the food. I love how fresh and healthy the ingredients are. This dipping sauce made an excellent accompaniment to fresh springs rolls. It also makes a fantastic marinade for meat. It is a excellent balance of salty with just a touch of sweet with wonderful undertones of garlic, ginger and lime.

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Colts Famous Super Fluffy Half Whole Wheat Pancakes

 My sweet husband made me pancake's Sunday morning! Shh..Don't tell the kids or the picky eater's in the house these have whole wheat, they'll never know! These are light and fluffy! Just like when you go out to eat! He also has adjust his recipe over the years to use part greek yogurt and whole wheat pastry flour ( not regular whole wheat must be pastry to make a softer crumb) to make some super tasty pancakes and healthier pancakes! I mean they aren't truly healthy but they are better then what they could be and no one will be able to tell the difference! I really am so picky about pancakes.I almost never eat pancakes unless they are nice and fluffy with real maple syrup or a good blueberry sauce. Something about flat little disks of rubber never appeal to my taste buds but these hit the spot right on! The most important trick to fluffy pancakes is making sure the baking powder is super fresh! Tally ho on to pancakes we go....

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Kale With Zucchini

This is a staple way we cook leafy greens in our house. Our kids love it and the hubby too. Speaking of hubby he is actually the one who concocted this mix over the summer when we had an abundance of zucchini from the garden. We are trying to eat healthier now the holidays are over and get back in to shape. I have been playing dance party 3 with the kids all week on the wii and let me tell you I feel the effects! Hopefully my post's will be back in the swing of things shortly, it seemed the holidays creeped up on us this year and left our house hold super busy. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I am so thankful for everyone who stops by and reads my blog! You all are so wonderful!

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Roasted Pumpkin Puree

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Puree with roasted pumpkins. There is nothing to compare. 

My Aunt Sonya for as long as I can remember makes all of her pumpkin pies and cheesecake with homemade puree, she uses a particular type of squash she prefers but I always forget the name so I just use good ole sugar pie pumpkins. 

I will have to email her and ask again and see if I can tell a difference.. She's always been such a foodie and an amazing inspiration! 

Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree is so much more creamy and will work cup for cup for canned pumpkin. I like to make extra and freeze it for later when the pumpkins are on sale. 

This is a pre op for Pumpkin Pie and hopefully my hubby's favorite No Bake Pumpkin Cheese Cake. I can't wait to share my favorites!

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Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread! Another great use of the over abundance of zucchini this time of year! This loaf was almost devoured by hungry cranky munchkins before I remembered to take a picture, they had just came home from school.I love to make a few loaves at a time and if they last past a day I wrap one up and freeze it for later. This loaf has a nice complex fall flavor with plenty of cinnamon,  a hint of vanilla and a bit of nutmeg! I also have started freezing shredded zucchini for later already pre measured to the amount needed to make 2 loaves later.

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