Mango and Berry Salad

I live in a house that is smarter than I am.

I can set the alarm, lock and unlock doors, adjust the thermostat, decide between TV and music from the same remote, turn lights on and off, cook dinner, wash dishes, knit sweaters, pack a suitcase, give the dog a bath and have a mani pedi without ever leaving the couch. (Okay, so maybe I exaggerated slightly on a few things our system can do…sometimes the music app won’t work.). Our system even notifies us when things aren’t working…like a low battery or an AC unit that needs to be serviced.

But this morning, it just decided to torture us.

As we sat watching the news, a message popped up on the TV screen that our washer had a leak and moisture was detected.  This was accompanied by an alarm symbol, I guess to impress upon us exactly how urgent this news was and an option to cancel the message.  (Is is ever really a good idea to just randomly cancel an alarm?)

So many thoughts going through my head…

1.  I didn’t know our TV even talked to our washer.  When did they become best friends?  Do they get together with the refrigerator when we leave the house and party?
2. When did our decade old washer get smart enough to talk to the TV?  It has no wifi, bluetooth or touch screen.  It has six  buttons and two dials.  Period.  It doesn’t even have an automatic detergent dispenser.  Is it using telepathy?  Morse code? Homing pigeon?
3. I have had lights burn out, batteries die, water pouring through my ceiling  from my bathroom, but my TV never bothered to tell me about any of that until it was way too late. Is it finally taking pity on me or just playing some kind of sick, twisted game with me?  Maybe I shouldn’t have watched that Hitchcock marathon recently.  I may have given it ideas.

Either way, we have been driving ourselves crazy all morning trying to figure out what is going on.  We finally rebooted the TV and haven’t seen the message since, so either all is good, or my next blog entry will be written from a rowboat.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups spring mix lettuce
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1/2 cup cubed mango
• 1/3 cup sliced red onions

Dressing:

• 1/2 teaspoon dried mint or 1  1/2 teaspoons fresh mint, minced
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons agave, honey or sweetener of choice

Directions:

1. Place the lettuce on a plate or in a bowl and add the berries and onions on top.
2. In a small container with a tight lid or in a bowl, using a whisk, combine the ingredients for the dressing.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve immediately.

Enjoy!