Day 12, A Bit of Everything.

My diary entries when I was about 9 years old are a source of amusement to Swen, Bonnie, and Madeline.  I would earnestly write for a couple of days, then there would be long expanses of time without entries.  Apparently these empty pages bothered me, maybe because I wasn't being true to my Diary.  So I would go back to the empty pages and write "Not much happened today" on each day's page.

But now I am SOoo much more mature. So I will try to write everything I have cooked from Rosie's Cookbook since Day 11.  And encapsulate it all on Day 12. But first, the Asparagus Salad recipe, because it was so good and Bonnie and Mary asked for it.
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Asparagus Salad recipe, p28 from Rosie O'Daley:

28 asparagus spears (2 bundles), trimmed
1/2 C plain nonfat yogurt (use low or regular yogurt)
1 T crumbled blue cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 C freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 T snipped fresh chives
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 C chopped fennel leaves (the feathery ends) (imagine, they don't sell feathery fennel at Winco.  I used some fennel seeds in the sauce)

  Bring water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer.  Fit the basket into the steamer.  Steam the asparagus over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes, until bright green and tender.  Remove the steamer from the heat and let the asparagus cool.
  Combine the yogurt and blue cheese in a small saucepan.  Warm over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, whisking constantly, just until the blue cheese has melted.  Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice, chives, and garlic.
  Arrange the asparagus in the center of a serving plate and ring with the tomato wedges.  Drizzle the yogurt dressing over the asparagus.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garnish with the fennel leaves.
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Curried Mushroom Soup, p18.  The picture in the cookbook looks so tempting, a yellow, lush, thick-looking soup with bits of mushrooms floating on top.  My attempt was a green soup, probably green from the leeks.  And composed of mushrooms - LOTS of mushrooms, with some thin broth filling in the void spaces of ALL THOSE MUSHROOMS.  I would look around for a different mushroom soup to make.

Grilled Chicken Salad, p.25  I suspect this recipe was good, in it's day.  Like many of these recipes, it was dated - can't hold up to the test of time. The salad dressing probably needed more pizzazz, and maybe some olive oil would have helped. Don't need to belabor this - the recipes were written with idea that all fat was bad.

Asparagus Salad, p. 28  KA-ching!  Rosie hit the jackpot on this recipe.  **** 4-star rating. I loved it and am making it again this week.  Perfect timing since fresh asparagus is appearing in the grocery stores. The blue cheese, yogurt, and lemon juice add the perfect zest to the asparagus. I only stopped eating the asparagus because, sigh, they were gone. Let me know if you want me to include the recipe.

Spinach Salad in Fresh Orange Dressing with Pine Nuts, p30.  **2 or 3 star.  Here I am in trouble, this is what comes of not writing about the recipe right away.  I put a star by the recipe in the book, so I must have liked it.  Ah, as I read the recipe it is coming back to me.  It WAS good - the shallots/green onions, garlic, balsamic and sherry vinegars, splash of olive oil, and juice from the oranges are warmed in a saute pan and then poured over the spinach salad, topped with orange segments and roasted pine nuts.  Very tasty.

Spinach Fettucini with Ginger Chicken, p.54.  Very fresh in my mind, since we had this dish tonight.  Ingredients are fresh, but, like the Grilled chicken salad, the recipe is dated.  It is a lot of work for a recipe that doesn't satisfy the senses or the stomach.

Pasta in White Clam Sauce, p. 63.  Another recipe I will not be repeating - not a bad recipe, just not worth trying it again. I would search the internet for a different clam sauce recipe the next time I want to have a dish like this.