the perfect fall salad

It's the most wonderful time of the year... fall! I don't even know what that Christmas song is talking about. Autumn makes me feel the warm fuzzies like nothing else. When September hits, I only last a few days into the month before I start busting out the fall decor, looking up fall recipes on Pinterest, and dreaming about wearing booties and cozy scarves. Yeah, I'm pretty basic and easy to please.

One time my sister told me, "Whitney, you're so funny. You always talk about how much you hate cooking, but then you have so much fun making beautiful meals!"

It's so true! I really do have a love/hate relationship with cooking. I love making delicious, special, unique meals for the people who are most important to me. I hate the cleanup, lack of counter space, and those adorable grumbles from my kids, because once again, they don't like what I've made for dinner. Sigh. Ah well, autumn is the perfect excuse to do just that! Last night I made butternut squash soup and this gorgeous autumn salad with a maple dressing, of which I may have had four helpings (and only one of my kids complained!). It's simple and delicious and contains all the flavors of autumn. The dressing is adapted slightly from a recipe I found on The Yummy Life.

I made the salad by combining the following ingredients. You can use as much of each as you want. Just go with your instinct!

To make the salad:

• Chopped greens (I love romaine & spinach)
• Walnuts
• Cranberries
• Goat cheese
• Sliced apples or pears

For the dressing, combine in a blender:

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Drizzle over your salad and enjoy!