A (Not-So) Chance Meeting

Recipe: Strawberry-Citrus Salad

Well, now, that wasn't half bad! *sure it took me almost a week to write about it but don't be fooled into thinking that it was a result of being scarred by the experience No wonder so many look to the internet to meet people these days!

We were so thrilled to host Abby and her husband, Brad, on the tail-end of their road-trip up here to our neck of the woods. I'll admit to being a bit nervous as the time of our meeting approached... though we thankfully avoided the awkward "I'll be the one wearing the red rose" by agreeing to brunch together at our house. A bit of a selfish move, of course... as I'm more uneasy picking a restaurant to dine at with a group than feeding people from our own kitchen (quality of food, notwithstanding).

I was so intrigued, and a little humbled - if I'm honest - to realize how much Abby and I actually didn't know about each other (or moreso, each other's spouses (after all, even here, Chris rarely gets a mention, let alone the spotlight)) after kinda, sorta, almost "knowing" each other for well over two years. But what better situation for great conversation; earlier in the week, in anticipation for the big meeting, Abby and I admitted to each other that we loved meeting new people and making new friends... even, in our case, friends who will likely never live within a few hundred miles of each other.

And friends we did make. (Abby, we hope you agree) With or without the delicious Moravian sugar cake and spice cookies that our gracious guests brought us, the afternoon went off without a hitch.

In large part, I believe I owe the event-less-ness of the morning to this beyond beautiful (I can say that - it's not my recipe) fruit salad that rounded out our meal (more on the rest of what we ate later). The fact that it has four ingredients, including brown sugar, had me sold from the start, but when I (effortlessly, I must add) tossed it together Sunday morning in about 3.5 seconds and looked at the brightly colored creation before me... it blew my mind (and even looked halfway decent in an iPhone picture!).

Suffice it to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the morning with our new friends. As someone once said (you might know her), " ... the internet is filled with great people… and you don’t have to look very far to find them". (you can read all my disclaimers to that statement here... or not, but you know... proceed at your own risk)