A Purple Dress for Molly & a Strawberry Salad recipe for you!

I had a wonderful time with my company! We laughed and shared stories and I got to show off my new floors for the first time! They loved them and I STILL do too! I was going to try and get my floor post done, but it’s already Thursday…so maybe next week.

This post will mostly be about showing you I do remember how to sew! Did you think I had forgotten? The good thing about sewing…it’s like riding a bike or typing…it comes right back to you as soon as you start.

This is another one of those “imagination” dresses, though. My day was full, my early evening was full, my late evening was even busier, so my sewing didn’t start until 10:30…but I got a little bit done. I chose Molly for the next doll to get a new dress. I am waiting on some fabric from Australia to make Felicity a new dress, but it hasn’t arrived yet. So Molly was the chosen one…

She wanted something sort of “Fallish” but not brown or orange…(those were too drab for her gray eyes!) so she picked out this pretty purple.

She wanted the lace up at the neck area, but I’m not sure it looks enough like the 40’s so it might be exchanged for a little Peter Pan collar. I gathered up the skirt piece and draped the sleeves over her arms, but I’m not sure you can imagine this one yet. There are little half inch tucks down the front bodice; copied from a 40’s pattern I saw when I was looking for ideas.

I wish I had more to show you on Molly’s dress, but at least it’s a start.

Now I have a recipe I’d like to share with you. I served it today and I’ve made it for years, but it got a really big thumbs up from my company. They were taking pictures of my recipe with their phones… I guess that’s a pretty good sign they liked it. It’s a lettuce salad with strawberries and cheese and toasted walnuts and it IS DELICIOUS! The dressing can be used for other salads too. I forgot to take a pretty picture of it when it was full and colorful in the bowl. This is what was left over and I had it for supper. You can “sort of” see what it looks like.

Here’s the recipe and after I show it I’ll tell you how I did it…

I have a Nutri Bullet, but you could easily put the ingredients in a shaker bottle or a small blender or just stir them up in a bowl.

I used the minced garlic out of the jar…about a teaspoon.

I used apple cider vinegar instead of the red wine vinegar…

The directions say to mix the first “7” ingredients, so I’m assuming they are counting “salt” and “pepper” as 2 ingredients… I put a line where the dressing ingredients stop.

I used a bag of romaine lettuce, plus about 1/3 of another bag.

I sliced up fresh strawberries.

Sargento cheese used to make the cheese listed in the recipe, but I haven’t been able to find that combination for a few years, so I just bought a brick of cheddar and one of Monterey Jack and chopped them up with my knife.

The toasted walnuts are easy to do… if you have a toaster oven, set it on “toast” and spread them out on a pan… toast them for about 3 minutes. You can also spread them out in a pan and toast them on the stove. It really gives them a crunch, that you can’t get from them right out of the bag.

I made up my dressing and refrigerated it over night. I also chopped up my cheeses and put them in a baggie. The strawberries were sliced and put in a container and refrigerated too. Then about an hour before my lunch, I dumped the lettuce in the bowl, added the cheese, strawberries and toasted walnuts. Then I poured the dressing over the salad… Toss it with some salad tongs and it’s ready to be served. It is really a WONDERFUL salad. I hope you’ll give it a try.

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

10 thoughts on “A Purple Dress for Molly & a Strawberry Salad recipe for you!”

  1. Charlotte Trayer

    Your salad sounds and looks really yummy, Jeanne!! I love adding fruit to a “green” salad–adds a whole different range of flavors!

    Love that purple fabric, and I can certainly envision how it’ll turn out for Molly. When I first got my Molly (about 20 years ago, I think), one of the first things I made for her was a lavender dress with a big white collar (from an old Burda doll clothes pattern–I’ve used it and used it!), and I put it on her. Molly was Not happy! She informed me that lavender was My color, not hers (she prefers red), and she didn’t plan on ever wearing that dress again!! LOL And she didn’t, either! She does, however, now own a number of things that are red, or have red in them! Her “modern day” sister, April (a #21, as I recall), however, loves lavender, and was very happy to have that dress that Molly rejected!

    1. Hi Charlotte,
      I love fruit and nuts in my salads too. I’m not just saying it, but seriously this salad is spectacular!
      I remember your Molly isn’t a big lavender fan…maybe my Molly dress will change her mind….maybe not!
      Thanks Charlotte
      Blessings, Jeanne

  2. Like Charlotte, I love the fabric, and I love the lace. It goes so well with the lacy pattern on the clover leaves. The lace and tucks would make Molly feel very grown up.

    I did a Google search for 40s dresses with lace. The big problem is always the question of what survived. Regular clothes were worn until they wore out. Evening and wedding dresses survived. The number of new clothes permitted was limited, so making clothes became more popular. In England rationing was worse. Lady Pamela Hicks says that when her father, Lord Mountbatten, was made Viceroy of India, she and her mother had a bad time with clothes because even though they represented the British government, the buying restriction on clothing was not lifted, and their English wartime dresses were not suitable for Indian weather. However, they were allowed fabric, so they were able to have some dresses made.

    I imagine that if someone had scraps of lace left from a party dress or a wedding dress, it could have easily been used for dresses like the one you are making. Looking at vintage pattern pictures, I see a fair number of V-necks or square necks, and a lot of small pointed collars on blouses worn under collarless jackets. No collars, less fabric needed. Patch pockets became popular — they used only one extra layer of fabric. Skirts tended to be variations on the A-line — narrow A-lines, slightly gathered A-lines, slightly wider A-lines — and they were shorter to save fabric, but I think patterns tend to show children’s dresses as shorter than they were. There was lots of making do or reusing. So Molly’s lace would be justified if it was taken from an older garment or scraps of a new special dress.

    I did even see one dark print dress with a yoke like Molly’s. The search turned up a lot of pale dresses because they were wedding or formal dresses. Most of the lace dresses were lace from top to bottom but they didn’t look like something a middle-class person would have.

    1. Hi Marilyn,
      Once again, you have showered us with information that I’m SURE none of us know before. Thank you.
      Maybe I’ll have to incorporate the lace being taken from one of mothers old dresses into my story line.
      Thanks for your research….
      Blessings, Jeanne

  3. Glad you enjoyed your company! And your salad sounds like it was a hit! I’m copying it down for sure. Thank you for sharing it.

    Molly’s dress is beautiful already. Love the design and color of the material. I also like how you pleated the bodice. The lace is very pretty but it sounds like you are changing it?
    It’ll be fun seeing Molly’s dress come together.
    *I did pick up on material coming from Australia for Felicity! How exciting!
    Have a wonderful day!

    1. Thanks Paula,
      The salad was such a hit, it could have been the only thing I served and they would have been happy. It is my go-to salad for company.

      I’m not certain I’ll change the lace but I was debating about it…. I’m glad you are liking Molly’s dress. She does too.
      I didn’t realize it took so long to get something from Australia. ..but I guess it does.
      Thank you, Paula,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  4. Oh, she’s at it again! The purple dress is such a fun color. Molly looks quite pleased.
    That salad is picture perfect. Sending the recipe to daughter Lainey. She will love it.
    And big news, another LD is coming to our house and not to visit. Got the email from Magalie that the newby #3 will be finished and heading our way very soon. She will be named after my maternal grandmother Margaret Estelle, born 1894.
    Very interesting history from Marilyn.
    Have to head to the other house. Drywall people are putting up the new wall today. Yay!

    1. So, I was thinking, I wonder what the salad would be like with candied walnuts? They have them in a salad at Coppola Winery here, and they are so good. They are in small bits so they don’t overwhelm the salad. So what else did you serve? Dessert? Just a curious foodie.

  5. Today’s blog is right down my alley, Jeanne! Oh, I love the purple on Molly! Purple is great for a fall color, and gives a much needed contrast to the usual orange, gold and brown. That dress for Molly could be for a special occasion like church or Thanksgiving, which is coming up soon. I think with the lace, it is too fancy for school, but it would be just fine for something special. As usual, Marilyn knows her stuff, and it makes a lot of sense that the lace could have been from another dress. I just love it, and hope the change, if you have one, doesn’t take away the lace.

    Yum, that Strawberry Salad sounds wonderful! It would probably be too fancy for an ordinary dinner, but it looks like it would be wonderful to make it for a special occasion or to share. My sister is coming over for lunch next week, and I think I might be making this to serve with a bowl of soup. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

  6. So happy that you enjoyed your company and got to show off your hard work on your floors.
    Molly’s purple dress is very pretty on her. I like the little tucks, such a sweet touch. The lace is very nice, perhaps a white peter pan collar on top of it.
    Wow, Felicity is getting dress fabric from Australia?!! I can’t wait to see that.
    The strawberry salad looks delicious. Thank you for the recipe. I like fruit added into green salads. A friend of mine made a strawberry salad for a get together. Hers has mixed lettuce greens, strawberries, pecans and a poppyseed dressing.

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