Delicious Dish: Pear Beet Spinach Salad

Yesterday I was putting paint on a palette for my 3 year old. It was our first time painting together. He insisted on running his paint brush through all the colors at once to create these lovely multicolored brush strokes. (I won't lie, I did cringe as the palette lost separate definitive colors). As I type this, I realize that I love Thanksgiving because of the wonderful palette of flavors, especially in the side dishes. The sides are what provide all the color and beauty in the meal. As you are putting your menu together or deciding what to bring to a gathering, think color!

This pear, beet and spinach salad will be a great first course for your eyes and tummy. It is my favorite go - to fall salad because it is so simple.

Pear Beet Spinach Salad

2 lbs. Spinach
8-10 Beets
1 Pear
4 oz Goat Cheese
1 cup Walnuts

Dressing:
1/2 c. High quality white wine vinegar
1/2 c. Olive Oil
1 Shallot
Salt (1-2 Tbs.)
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the walnuts single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast them in the oven till they smell nutty 8-10 minutes. While the nuts are roasting, prep the beets.

Cut the stems off, but do not peel. Then wrap them individually in tin foil and place them on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, till you can insert a fork easily and pull it out. Cool and then peel the skin off and slice 1/8-1/4" thick. While the beets are roasting, prep the salad dressing.

I like to use a pint sized canning jar for the dressing. I also like my dressings to be heavier on the vinegar, but that is where you can adjust to your personal preference. I probably do a 2:3 ratio olive oil to vinegar. First mince the shallot (like you would garlic), then sprinkle a generous amount of salt over it and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, let it sit for 5, then add the olive oil and a dash of black pepper, shake vigorously. If you would like to keep the emulsion better, then whiz it in the blender with a few of your walnuts. Taste and add salt or vinegar as needed.

Next slice the pears. I think all kitchens should have a mandolin. I have a very simple OXO that does the trick for simple things. It slices everything the exact same thickness.

After that, if you really want to get festive you can use your favorite shaped cookie cutter to add the perfect holiday touch.

I recommend dressing any salad, just before you serve it. Toss the spinach with the dressing, then use that as a bed to display the beets, pears, goat cheese and walnuts.

There are several nice variations you can do with this salad: pomegranate instead of beets, gorgonzola instead of goat cheese, or arugula instead of spinach.

Cheers to savoring the harvest with friends and family, 

Elizabeth

Pretty in Print: Incorporating books into your Thanksgiving Table Decor

The holidays are coming up and that means hosting lots dinner parties for families and friends!  I love

hosting dinners for my loved ones, and I love decorating the table for the occasion.

I hardly ever do a holiday tablescape without using my vintage books, they make decorating so 

easy and so fast.  They are great for creating different heights, and quickly give structure to all my table decorations.

I got all of my beautiful vintage books from one of our beautiful local used book stores called Pioneer Book.  They are located on Center Street in Provo and they have such a wonderful selection of 

classic, vintage books.  I would highly recommend stopping in their cute store to have a look at their vast collection. 

When I started thinking about what kind of tablescape I wanted to do for this post, I looked at my books and noticed I didn't have a ton of orange books to create a traditional,

fall thanksgiving table.  But I did have quite a few blue books and I love using blue and orange together, it is such a popular color combo right now.  So, I would suggest when you are thinking 

about how to dress up your table for the up coming holidays, think of mixing things up a little bit.  Choose surprising color combinations, go with something a little less traditional.  Your guests 

are bound to love what ever you come up with and will be impressed with your creativity.

Recreating this look would take you minutes, and wouldn't cost you very much either.  Use books you already have around the house, if you don't have any or enough books in the color 

combo you are wanting, take a  look at this tutorial I did on Book Wrapping.

If you don't have fake fall foliage and pumpkins, right now is the BEST time to stock up because all the stores have majorly discounted all of their fall decor to make room for Christmas.  I love to get faux fall foliage and pumpkins from Michaels and Hobby Lobby.  I also like to get a few stems from Pottery Barn, they have sales on their fall items around this time of year as well. 

I am obsessed with blue and white porcelain, thus it is frequently featured in my posts.  I find it to be 

so timeless and elegant.  Hobby Lobby has an excellent selection of pretty blue and white porcelain, I have purchased quite a few of their items.  You can also find amazing deals and unique pieces in antique stores, for those of you that love to go antiquing like me!

If you aren't into blue and white as much as I am, you could supplement your decor with beautiful 

hand folded books.  I did a tutorial on Book Folding a couple of months ago, check it out!  

These beauties would look great with any color combination or any seasonal decorations you already have!

For the place settings I used white wooden chargers from Pier One Imports and my mom's collection of Blue Willow China.  For place cards I wanted to tie back into the books and reading element of the decor, so, we created our own script of Thanks and Thank You and printed it off in the typewriter font and cut it into the individual cards  You could also use pages from old books.

For the centerpiece I wanted to create something that would be easy and affordable.  I didn't want to go out and buy any extra decorations that I would then have to find a place to store with no

guarantees that I would use it ever again.  So I simply used apples and oranges, mixed in a few fall leaves to break up the composition and threw in a couple of gold pumpkins that can easily be found when you are shopping for your faux fall leaves and pumpkins.  I arranged them all on a platter then used a cake stand to give it a little additional height.

I hope this post has inspired you to create something fun and unique for your Thanksgiving table this year. I would love to see a recreation on this blue and orange theme or any other creative decor you come up with using books.  

Post your pictures to instagram and, as always, make sure to tag @deliciousreads so I can see all of your gorgeous holiday decor! 

Thanks for reading

and happy decorating!

xoxo

Kate