A good recipe is never carved in stone

A good recipe is never carved in stone.

You may not have all the ingredients right now.

You may be more in the mood for Chinese-style than Tex-Mex-style right now.

Or, you may have the next, big, (still undiscovered,) 'thing,' in mind.

A recipe is a starting point.

It should be altered, depending on; oh hell, you really don't want me trying to give you a list of, 'possible,' reasons why a recipe should be altered.

What do you have in your cabinets?

What are you in the mood for?

What sounds good with this starting idea?

Etc...etc...etc...

Take for example, the following recipe:

Cheeseburger Soup

· 1 lb hamburger

· ¾ cup chopped onion

· ¾ cup shredded carrots

· ¾ cup diced celery

· 3 tbsp butter or oil

· 3 cups chicken broth

· ¼ cup flour

· 8 oz Velveeta Cheese

· 1 ½ cup milk

· 1 tsp basil

· ¼ cup sour cream

· Salt and pepper to taste

· Optional: 4 cups diced potatoes

Brown hamburger, drain and set aside.

Sauté onion, carrots, celery and basil in same pan about 5 minutes.

Stir in flour and then add broth, potatoes, and beef.

Cover, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese melts.

Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

Serve

This is the base, original recipe. Personally, I only used Velveeta once, then switched to shredded Cheddar, (I like sharp or extra sharp, ) or sometimes I throw in Pepper Jack.