Last Updated on June 20, 2024 by Michelle

A mason jar full of this Italian Dressing is always in my fridge.

While this homemade Italian dressing is always–always–in my fridge these days, it’ didn’t used to be that way.

Scroll right to the end for the recipe for my favorite homemade Italian dressing.

Truth is, I never once contemplated making my own homemade Italian dressing until the day a double disappointment lead to this new joyous staple in my fridge. It’s now my boy-I-wish-I-had-realized-that-I-could-make-that-myself-sooner thing.

Truth is, there are many things I wish I had known sooner in life.

Blueberries, river rafting, and labradoodles. Giant, heavy pottery mugs and free-ranging hens… All things I wish I had invited into my life long before I did. Things I love now but never cared for in my youth.

Yesterday, amidst anger and disappointment, I discovered one more item for my long list of wish-I-had-realized-that-sooner things.

And I learned a lesson I seem to continually need to relearn.

What I discovered, and what I learned.

The discovery? Homemade Italian dressing. It’s is so easy and so delicious, it should have been a staple in my fridge for the past 20 years. Scroll down for the recipe.

The lesson? A 4:8 Attitude is always the best. Philippians 4:8 assures me that in every situation there is always something good, noble, and lovely. And when I focus on what is right, admirable, and praiseworthy, I am much better off, in every way.

I shouldn’t admit it.

My anger had started boiling up yesterday morning when I realized my mistake: the night before, while adding groceries to our freezer in the back hall of our farmhouse, I had laid out two large pork roasts temporarily. “Temporarily” turned into overnight, and the frozen meat turned soft. So what should have been the makings of two wonderful family-favorite meals had to now be cooked immediately or thrown away.

My anger escalated when I realized I didn’t have a key ingredient for the pork crock-pot meal I decided to double–there wasn’t a drop of Italian salad dressing in the house, and I needed three bottles of it. I realize this wouldn’t be a problem for many people, or for me in my “past life” of suburbia… just hop in the car and choose one of five grocery stores within a few miles of my home. But in my rural New England town, I have one country store. And what would be a meager expense at my go-to store in “the big city,” where I stock up on dressing, would cost five times as much at my little country store. Beyond that, well, I don’t even pass a traffic light for 11 miles from my home. Needless to say, big chain grocery stores aren’t too prevalent.

My anger overflowed when I perused the country store shelves to find they only held eight ounces of Italian dressing. I need six times that amount.

Maybe I shouldn’t admit it, but I slammed doors and yelled.

Not angry at anyone but myself.

Not yelling at anyone but myself.

But wasting my time and never once thinking about the good side to my defrosted pork dilemma–imagine if I didn’t go to the back hall that morning and the pork became warm trash.

Never once thinking about the lovely joys of rural life–sure the nearest salad dressing was 18 miles away, but just that morning I had enjoyed the morning rounds, tending to the animals .

I’d kayaked across the lake with my daughter and observed an aquatic dance of our loon pair.

I watched barn swallows, and tended to our garden.

Never once did I stop to think about just one aspect of my disappointment that was worthy of praise; but my disappointment would lead to a new joy, a new wish-I-had-realized-that-sooner thing.

A little experimenting led to a new deliciousness.

You see, while I fumed, my daughter was doing some online research, and she suggested we try to make our own marinade. A few minutes later, after combining things we had in the kitchen, I discovered my new favorite salad dressing.

It made delicious pulled pork. And for lunch, it was a perfect marinade for our grilled chicken sandwiches. And the joy kept coming; I discovered today that this dressing is perfect on a chicken mango salad as well.

I apologized to my daughters for my cranky outburst, praised the one for her 4:8 Attitude that gave me a new joy, thanked God for his continual provision and mercy even in the very midst of my selfish disappointment, and throughly enjoyed our lunch and dinner.

 

 

Some other links for you:

Homemade Vinaigrette, sweetened with Maple Syrup.

Herb Balsamic Vinaigrette

How to make real butter.

A review of my three favorite cookbooks of all time.

 

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Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

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