Those who know me know I love to cook and to eat. Few things make me happier than starting a big pot of soup, or lying in the tub reading a cookbook. Sheer bliss: a happy dinner party for my friends, preferably one that takes me two days of prep and involves a huge number of my beautiful Granada dishes. There’s a reason I spent 3 years designing my new kitchen! (See right.)

So here are some recipes that friends have asked me to post. There’s no rhyme or reason to this list--it’s just stuff I’ve made for friends (sometimes sick friends) who later asked for me the recipes. (I make a lot of stuff from cookbooks, too, but these are the recipes for which I can’t just point you to a cookbook.)

One note: I’m allergic to milk proteins, so all the following recipes are dairy-free. In the rare recipe where I use margarine, you can substitute butter. Same deal with soy milk and cow milk. Generally I avoid doing non-dairy substitutions by simply avoiding dishes that call for dairy, because non-dairy substitutes don’t taste as good as dairy. And I like food that tastes great.

Platskis (Polish crêpes)

Pink chicken salad

Sousa salad dressing

Roasted beets with lemon and dill

Macaroons with three sauces (plus fondu option)

My mother’s chicken soup

Kluski as my mother taught me

Fried kluski with onions and bacon

Committee brownies