Recipes

We are going to a 4th of July party on Tuesday. The party is a neighborhood tradition.  It is very low-key and fun.  Most people come up from the beach just before the party starts so it is very casual.

It is potluck.  My assignment was a main dish or large salad.  At first, I heard that I had a dessert assignment.  Desserts are not my forte.

The first assignment sent me running to my recipe file.  I have lots of cookbooks if necessary but I prefer to offer something tried and true.  I actually have two recipe files, one from Paris and one from the US.  They have some redundancy, probably 50%.  Since this is the 4th of July, I hit the US file first.

The file is a trip down memory lane.  I can remember when, where and for who I made each dish.  I often write on them to note the date, any changes I made to the recipe and if it worked out or not.  Many of the pages are stained and tattered.

Finding the dessert recipe wasn't hard.  It is the recipe from Terry's Mom for a "14 Carat Carrot Cake".  Nice.  The cake is delicious and very large so I knew this would work.  My mother-in-law was a good cook and baker and she always made a homemade cake for Sunday dinner when we were guests.  I put the recipe on the counter so that I could buy the ingredients. Then, I heard back from the hostess/organizer that my assignement is now salad.

Back to the file for my Mom's "Palm Valley Chinese Chicken Salad".  Again a time-honored winner. Every time I've made this I've been asked for the recipe.  My Mom used to scour the LA Times Thursday Food section (it doesn't exist anymore) for interesting new recipes.  The salad is going to the party and I think it will be a hit.

The most fun part of this exercise was the recipe research.  I thought happy thoughts about my Mom and Jean, my Mother-in-Law and I miss them both.  I'm lucky to have all their recipes.