Park Day

Disneyland opened today way back in 1955! =) We’ll be celebrating this one in August when we head down to LA, so for today, we settled for a plain old park, which still offered lots of adventure! Cooper particularly enjoyed the bunnies. And I’m cherishing these moments while Cooper wants me to experience everything with him. Here’s a picture of him pointing to the ramp he wants me to come and climb with him. Doesn’t it just make your heart melt? I also tried a new recipe I thought I’d share. It’s different, very…zingy? Ryan enjoyed it. Here goes:

Butter Lettuce Salad

with Walnuts & Grapes

Ingredients

• 3  cups  walnut halves (9 oz.)
• 1/3  cup  plus 1 tablespoon walnut oil
• 2  tablespoons  sugar
• About 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4  cup  Champagne vinegar
• 1/4  cup  minced shallots
• 2  tablespoons  Dijon mustard
• About 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
• 1  pound  butter lettuce, rinsed, crisped, and torn into bite-size pieces
• 3  cups  rinsed and stemmed red seedless grapes, halved
• 1  cup  finely slivered red onion, rinsed and drained
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh tarragon

Preparation

1. In a 10- by 15-inch baking pan, mix walnuts with 1 tablespoon oil, the sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; spread level. Bake in a 350° oven, stirring occasionally, until nuts are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool.

2. In a large bowl, mix vinegar, shallots, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in 1/3 cup oil until vinaigrette is emulsified. Add lettuce, grapes, red onion, tarragon, and sugared walnuts; mix gently to coat, adding more salt and pepper to taste.

And to be honest…we always have our salads with chicken, so here’s how we really ate it, also yummy: