Today on the blog I’m sharing Laurentide’s most popular lemon honey salad dressing. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe. But first, here are some outtakes from our very lively salad event last month. The mask requirement had just been lifted, every seat in the house was taken, and boy, did we have a blast. Walter demonstrated three different salad dressings, I shared some salad secrets, and the two of us riffed off each other to the delight of an audience who seemed very appreciative of some live entertainment. Everyone got to sample three salads, assembled in the back of the shop by a crack team including my husband Gary, my son Atticus, and his partner Liz. Afterwards, during our pop-up farm market, we sold eggs, greens, and flowers.

Maybe you can see in these photos a glimpse of the love and respect that my son and I share for each other. But what the pics don’t capture is how much work we’ve put into our relationship — an absolute necessity when you live and work together on a farm. We are making decisions on a daily basis, and when we have trouble communicating because a problem from our past is clouding the issues of the present, then we are hobbled.

I saw a girlfriend recently who told me about a conversation she had with her adult kids about marijuana and how, after being raised in a culture that demonized it, she could not “flip a switch” and change her viewpoint. “It’s not going to happen overnight,” she warned them.

We are very different, Walter and I. My sister calls us Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, which I think the audience saw that quite clearly. And it’s funny. But it belies the reality that one day, many years ago, I realized I had my son wrong. I didn’t know who he was — his beliefs about the world and his role in it, the colors of his inner thoughts, the shadows that followed him even in the brightness of day. My own son. That was a painful moment, and I sat in a chair alone in his bedroom and I flipped a switch. I decided I would have to start over, I would have to be less sure of myself, I would have to shut up and listen, I would have to quit trying to teach and instead try to learn.

Have you experienced a moment like that? Where you looked and saw the truth staring at you in the face and you knew you couldn’t go back? But you also were not sure how to go forward either?

I imagine a farmer gone bust knows that moment.

ANYWAY. I digress.

It was a lovely event and a wonderful test run for what we hope will be in-person demonstrations at the farm and maybe on video.

Laurentide’s Lemon Honey Vinaigrette

In the heat of summer, nothing is better on arugula than this smooth and delicious dressing. It’s a thinner vinaigrette, which I like on our delicate greens. But add a little extra honey or honey mustard to thicken if you prefer.

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup Pinot Grigio

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon honey mustard

1/4 cup honey

salt to taste

Blend in blender for 1 minute.

It makes enough for a week in our house, maybe a month in yours!