try a new recipe

i love trying new recipes
however, at the same time... if i find something good i will make it over and over and over

examples:
my granny's recipe for cookies : toll house cookies, works every time
stir fry with peanut sauce and rice noodles... my own concoction that i started making when we got married, and i'm sure one of these days michael will wish i had never come across it (meaning that when i don't know what to make... i make that!)

i received a whole bunch of cookbooks as wedding/shower gifts, and i spent some time flipping through them marking recipes that i would like to try
problem is, it's way quicker for me to go to my favorite cooking/baking website (http://www.cooks.com/) and search a topic and find a new exciting recipe on there!

i've begun making my own recipe book. a few years ago i typed out my mom's favorite recipes into a binder for her, and i have since recopied those recipes for myself, ripped recipes out of magazines, copied recipes out of books instead of buying them (only a couple times... sometimes i photocopied...) because i just want to have a book that is the best of the best.

and other times i take recipes and modify them, to make them my own
a couple months ago leah and i modified a recipe to make "leah and ashley's chocolately moist apple banana lite on the sugar muffins" altho i think we had a better name at the time. this name certainly is descriptive if nothing else!

so, i encourage you to try a new recipe, if it's bad, throw it out and try a new one! and if it's good, well... modify it and create things like "ashley's never fails perfectly peanut-y rice noodle stir fry"
mmm delicious

Here is one of my delicious finds: try it i dare you! (except mom, don't try it, it has feta!)
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Artichoke and Feta Hot Dip

1 can artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
8 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 cup mayo
½ c grated or shredded parmesan cheese
2 oz jar of diced pimientos drained
1 garlic clove crushed

Mix mayo, garlic and pimiento. Add drained and chopped artichoke hearts.
Preheat oven to 350.
Fold in the cheeses (they’ll melt thru the whole dish).
Transfer to 9” pie plate or 3 cup baking dish.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. After the top is browned and the cheese is melted and bubbly, carefully remove the dip from the oven.
Allow to set before serving.
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on a side note, right now it feels like michael and i are on vacation
we are in our jammies and came to sit outside on our front step. there aren't many street lights on our street so it is delightfully dim, we've seen a few people walking around and even someone driving by really slowly (we think maybe it's our new neighbour just checking out their place?)
michael is smoking a cigar (from cuba, if i close my eyes it actually smells like we are in cuba!)
and we are sipping deliciously dark coffee... mmm
also, since our internet is 'borrowed', it works better outside than inside! who knew?
i told michael that it felt like we were on vacation and he said that we should try always sort of feel like that, so true, a vacation that never ends!