Snowed In: Day 5

Guys, I have not been to work since Thursday. We're supposed to get another 6-12" tonight. I don't think I'm going to drive my car again until spring.

Anyway, two more recipes from my experimentation:

I decided to take my brand-new immersion blender out for a spin and made Potato-Leek Soup. (The immersion blender is a godsend for pureed soups - all that pureeing in batches in the regular blender is a pain, plus the immersion blender - my parents call it a "boat motor" - is much easier to clean.) I'd never eaten leeks before, and given the ratio of leeks to potatoes, I was a little worried whether I'd like it, but it came out very tasty indeed. Even though there's only one potato in there, it definitely tastes potatoey. The recipe recommends the soup be served chilled, but it tastes just as good hot.

I also tried Orzo and Snap Pea Salad, which was my first... well, I wouldn't say failure, but it sure wasn't a success. I still have leftovers sitting in my fridge, almost a month later, because I don't want to eat them. I didn't have orzos, so I used the slightly smaller risos (pasta the size of grains of rice) instead. I also halved the amount of vegetables, which seemed to be plenty. Not sure if that's because of the smaller pasta.

I wasn't sure whether this should be served hot or cold, but it seemed to taste best hot, right off the stove. The salad came out bland (I even added extra Parmesan cheese and some garlic), but the snap peas and squash still had a nice crunch. Unfortunately, they got soggy in the refrigerator, so the leftovers weren't nearly as good - and this recipe made a lot (about 12 cups), so I had a good bit left over. I felt bad throwing it out, so I tried to come up with a sauce to mix in to make it less bland - first this lemon dill yogurt sauce, which was painfully gross, then a lemon vinaigrette, which wasn't bad, but I think it suffered from using concentrated lemon juice instead of the fresh stuff. I wouldn't make this dish again.