Improvisational Recipes
Guest Blog By: Midge
I love improvising with recipes although when one is baking it is always best to exactly follow the directions. In the past, I have written about my chocolate chip cookies tasting more like chocolate chip bread. But, enough said about that!
On Independence Day, we had a small get together at our home and in a spontaneous, crazy move I ended up buying two heads of broccoli because I had a hankering for broccoli salad. There must be something very green about summer because most of my recent blogs have had a very veggie theme!!! (Check out broccoli, bok choy, artichokes, and zucchini!)
When I got home, I quickly searched the internet for a great broccoli salad recipe and found Paula Deen’s Broccoli Salad Recipe but I soon realized, with dread, that I did not have some of the necessary ingredients. Our local store closed early for the holiday so, in enters improvisation! Surprisingly, I did not ruin the whole side dish and it actually tasted pretty great!
I used some of the basic ingredients from the website and then modified it. I doubled the amount of broccoli, mayo, and shredded cheese. I kept the vinegar, bacon and sugar at the same amount as the recipe. Since I was lacking her other ingredients (which sound yummy!), I instead added two bunches of diced green onions. The result was fantastic!
Check out the recipe at the website listed above… I think I need to make another trip to the store to get the suggested missing ingredients! Who knew that the little girl who tried to hide broccoli in her napkin would be craving it now!
What is your favorite way to serve broccoli? What are your favorite side dishes for the holidays?
Check out some past blogs about a few of my early baking mistakes… If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach I might be in trouble! and You did what to my pan?
Have you seen the latest step by step recipe in the July 2012 Molly Green Magazine? It is all about COOKIES! I think we need a cookie challenge next month, what do you think? Can I make it past my one horrific cookie experience and actually make a cookie that tastes like a real cookie??
http://econobusters.com/molly_green_magazine_christmas_in_july/
I substitute in recipes all the time. A typical mealtime conversation at our house: “Is this a recipe or did you make it up?” “It’s a recipe, except…”
My family generally encourages the experiments since they are successful more than they’re not!
Molly says: I’ve found the more I experiment, the more creative my meals become as well!