I received "Yum & Yummer" for Christmas from a childhood friend.  This was the third cookbook written by Greta Podleski I had received from this friend, so I knew that the recipes would be fun and yummy to cook/bake.
As I flipped through the cookbook, I started to tag recipes that I wanted to try.  Which one should go first????
"Italian Turkey Sausage, Tomato, & White Bean Soup with Kale" won the draw. 
How many have already noticed that the name of my recipe doesn't match the cookbook title?  Yes I started improvising out of the gate, couldn't find Italian turkey sausage, but found Hemplers hot Italian sausage which has no preservatives instead.  I'm not a fan of kale, so baby spinach was added instead.
This has become a favourite after the first batch.

  

1. In a large soup pot over medium high, cook and stir sausage until lightly browned, breaking up any large pieces
2. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic.  Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Add Italian seasoning and mix well.
4. Add broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring soup to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Discard bay leaf
6. Add beans and spinach, simmer for 5 more minutes.

   From: Yum and Yummer cookbook by Greta Podleski.

Hmm what do you do with all the egg whites left from making multiple recipes of creme brulee?  You make angel food cake! 
I dug out my mum's recipe from her dog earred, butter stained notebook cookbook.  Thought not in the instructions - I did remember that you don't let any fat near your beaters, spatula or bowls, or it will not rise!
I couldn't read how long and at what temperature to cook the cake.  The internet came to the rescue - Betty Crocker's version was almost the same as mum's. 
Made the original version, then someone suggested - wouldn't lemon taste great in this cake.  So the next couple versions had lemon added.  Let's just say the lemon was a bit hit.

We were out for dinner enjoying the creme brulee at a local restaurant.  My friend and I, as we savored the creme brulee, started discussing, "how hard can it be to make" and "wouldn't it be fun to make it for Christmas dinner"!
Thus began my month long pursuit of perfecting creme brulee!
I found a straight forward recipe on the web, but after the first time had to make some adjustments. Soon mum's rejoinder "I followed the recipe except for . . . ." was heard when I described my process to friends. 
By the end of December, I had bought a cooking torch to make the nice crisp crust; bought more little bowls; also admitted why I had so many little ones already (Costco sells creme brulee); experimented with lemon and chocolate variations and became very popular with friends when there were left overs to take home.