Once Around the Bowl

Family Cookbooks are Lame
But not mine!!!!!!!!!!!

My mom, Linda, and I have been talking about putting together a cookbook for quite a while now so I'm starting here with a blog to gauge interest and to have some fun.  My mother is the best cook in the world.  I'm sure your mom/dad/chef friend/grandparent/aunt/uncle/cousin/sister/brother or even you yourself are also great cooks.  However, my mom is better.  Truth. 

The challenge is that we live far away AND that her methods of cooking are more art than science.  The people who have asked her for recipes, and that's pretty much everyone who has ever eaten something she's made, are frequently baffled and disappointed when they go home and it whatever they make doesn't turn out like my mother's. 
Here are some common reponses my mom gives when receiving these complaints:
"It's not Rocket Science."
"Well you make it ten thousand times and I'm sure yours will be excellent as well."
"Make it how you like it.  I don't know how much <insert spice> is right for you.  I make it how I like it."

My reply to that last one is always "I like it how you make it!  How much <insert spice> do you use?"

Sigh.

See where I'm going with this?  My mom is an artist who can't be tamed.  Well I am going to attemp the impossible, dream the impossible dream, and try to bottle magic.  Or at the very least, get it down on (virtual) paper.

End of Summer Salad

 

One of the dishes that gets the most OOOhs and AAAhs is her Hot Salad.  For our fancy yet-to-be-written cook book we're going to call it "End of Summer Salad". Yes....OOOh and AAAh indeed!  The dressing is nothing but oil, water, and magic.  When asked how much oil to use, the answer is:

 Once Around the Bowl!