Thousand Island Dressing (Page 173)

RECIPE #805

• Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 -- 8pm
• Location: Bloomington, IN
• Kitchen: MY APARTMENT!
• Dining Companion: Matty
• Recipe Rating: B+
  

Matty and I were in Bloomington for one day last week, and I needed to get some cooking done so I wouldn't get terribly behind in my project during all this travel. We were short on time though so I picked a menu based exclusively on the criterion of how long the recipes would take. This salad dressing was quick, quick, quick so it made the list. Let me just pause for a second and say how great it was to be cooking in my own kitchen again. I love my kitchen! We had one minor cooking disaster (more on that when we get to that recipe) but I didn't even care -- it was just so great to be cooking at home with all my own equipment, and complete knowledge of where everything is. After being away from home for three and a half months now, I am starting to get a little homesick! I will be back home in less than two weeks though, and then I am not traveling again until the middle of September!

Anyway, I was home for a day last week and I made this Thousand Island dressing. My dad liked Thousand Island a lot when I was a kid, and it always seemed disgusting to me. The pinkish-orange color in conjunction with the gloopy texture made it something I generally avoided. So I wasn't particularly excited about making this recipe. But actually, it was pretty good. The directions were super simple: blend mayo, chili sauce, shallots, white wine vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a blender, then add veggie oil in a steady stream and blend some more. Total preparation time: 10 minutes. The dressing had a well balanced flavor and a texture that was less gloopy than I remember. The Book suggested serving it on iceberg lettuce, so we threw together a quick salad of lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers, and it was the perfect base for this creamy dressing. When I asked Matty for his grade he commented, "Well I like it, but I wouldn't serve it to company. It's a little trashy don' t you think?" That made me laugh. He's right though -- I wouldn't serve this to company either. This dressing is mainly composed of mayonnaise, and there is something a little bit "trashy" about dressing your salad with mayo. That said, we both enjoyed it well enough, and if I needed Thousand Island dressing for some reason this is certainly the recipe I would use.

This recipe isn't online.

Yesterday we had a big day -- Sam ate his first solid food! Mmm.... rice cereal! Actually, saying that he ate it might be a stretch. I think some of it probably ended up in his mouth, but he
seemed generally a little confused about what to do with it. He kept spitting it out, and wiping it all over himself. It was hysterical. In fact, I laughed so hard I started crying. It has been a while since I have done that (well, not so long... there was a very funny incident at the conference dinner at Haynes' birthday conference and I certainly cried then, but that's another story...). Anyway, Sam is a riot. He's hysterical, and he was incredibly cute trying to eat his solid foods. The rice cereal didn't go over so well, but Brian mashed up some banana for him and he liked that much better. Apparently he has a good palate because that rice cereal smelled pretty foul!