Pasta with Creamy Gorgonzola Sauce p. 525

This dish reminds of one of my standard meals at our favorite restaurant. Only without the chicken. The sauce is very easy, yet makes the meal.

Start by melting butter. Meanwhile mix crumbled gorgonzola cheese (the good stuff, don't skimp here) with milk. When the butter is melted add in the milk/cheese mixture. Stir this until its a nice creamy sauce. A few lumps are okay, but I found that as I stirred I tried to mash cheese lumps against the side of the pan and this worked well.

Once your pasta is cooked and your sauce done combine the two adding some Parmesan cheese as a final garnish.

One variation is to add arugula and cherry tomatoes. I'm not a huge fan of arugula, but it was tasty. Other things I thought of to add in include: frozen peas, chopped asparagus, and cooked chicken.

Egg Drop Soup p. 127

Ever since I was sick around Christmas when I was a young girl egg drop soup has been a comfort food to me. I didn't realize how easy it was to prepare until a few weeks ago.

Start with around 4 cups of stock (I used chicken stock)and bring it to a simmer. Meanwhile in a separate bowl beat 4 eggs together. When the water begins simmering add in the eggs and stir until the eggs are cooked (just a couple of minutes). Garnish with cilantro, soy sauce, etc. You will need to season with salt and pepper to taste. This makes two good size servings or four small servings.



I fell in love with how easy and delicious this soup was that I've made it several times since. My absolute favorite though was when I mixed in a cup of cooked, shredded chicken and leftover cooked leeks.



Words cannot describe to you how amazing it was. Definitely my favorite thing I'd ever made. Seriously. And it only took five minutes max.

Stuffed Mushrooms p. 113

I do not believe I'd ever had a stuffed mushroom. It seems like its a traditional appetizer at parties and such, but somehow I had missed it.

Several weeks ago I hosted a small gathering at my house and decided it was high time I try a stuffed mushroom.



They were fairly easy to prepare and turned out being a tasty snack. Great for a cocktail party or other gathering.

Curried Deviled Eggs p. 85

Oppsy. Its been a while. I didn't realize how long its been until I sat down with my book to look at the pages I've been meaning to post and realized that this one was made at Easter. EASTER! Yikes.

Deviled eggs is one of the staples, at least in my opinion, of an Easter meal. Something about eggs, I don't know for sure. But I wanted to try a variation, as there are mutliple good ones offered in How to Cook Everything. I'd also been craving some curry around this time as well.

Curried deviled eggs substituted yogurt for mayo (another reason for using this recipe to get rid of the large container of yogurt going bad in my fridge). Instead of mustard, use curry powder and garnish with cilantro.



They turned out very pretty, but I still prefer a traditional deviled egg for flavor.

Cooking without a book: Potatoes au Gratin

For dinner last night I wanted to make potatoes au gratin. My mom made these occasionally while I was growing up, but I had never made it myself. So I called for the recipe. There isn't one. So I used my best judgement and threw it together.

I sliced 4 large potatoes. I'd place one potato (sliced) down, add some salt and pepper, add a few dots of butter, a handful of cheddar cheese, and light drizzle of heavy cream. Repeat until all potatoes are used. I topped it off with a lot of cheese. Put it in the oven for about 50 minutes to an hour at 350.

The result: probably one of the most fattening foods you can possibly eat... but worth every calorie. The whole meal I proclaimed my love for potatoes and made my husband jealous, it was worth it though.

The beauty of cooking without a recipe is you can do whatever you want! Tweaking it to you and your family's preferences. I added a shallot to my casserole. It added a nice flavor without totally repulsing my onion-phobic husband. You can change the vegetable, the cheese, the seasonings to whatever you heart desires.