Nappa Salad...

Basic recipe:
  - 1/2 cup oil (I used vegetable?)
  - 1/2 cup sugar
  - 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
  - Cole slaw (the bagged stuff)
  - 2 bags of the Oriental flavor Ramen noodles
  - 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  - 1/2 cup sunflower kernels
Mix all that stuff up in a plastic bowl (one with a lid) and then place in the refrigerator overnight. Put the sliced almonds and sunflower kernels in the toaster oven and toast til brown - make sure they don't burn, because it happens. When you're ready to serve, mix the almonds and sunflower kernels into the cole slaw mixture (this will give the salad a nice crunch).

Ok, everyone - hold onto your seats. I made Nappa Salad. From a recipe.

One of the things that's cool about cooking (so everyone says) is that you don't actually have to use a recipe. You can just throw things into a pot and go at it. That's one of the reasons I didn't do a baking blog. Can you imagine having to be that precise? No, thank you. I try to shy away from recipes, because I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. When something tells me two cups, I MUST have two cups. Not a little over, not a little under. Two cups exactly. If that means I have to do things over and over again, so be it. See why I don't like recipes?

Well, tonight was no different. Those measurements? They took awhile, but I finally got them. I'm standing on luck for that one. Now, notice above that it says to let it sit overnight. Yeah, not a chance. As this was a split decision in a grocery store, I did not have a chance to let it sit. My aunt informed me that was ok (I'll take her advice and hope for the best) - I just put it in the refrigerator and periodically shook the container to mix everything up. It turned out not so shabby if I do say so myself. Maybe I'm getting the hang of this after all....or maybe I just made something that consisted of dumping stuff in a bowl. It's one or the other.

Rate: 10
  - I'm a little bias, however. This is one of my favorite salads, and it's EXTREMELY hard to mess this up (even if you do have to use a recipe).