Dear Reader,

On my 30th birthday my husband planned a surprise birthday party for me. Not only was I totally surprised, he even managed to have me unknowingly do all the cooking--except for baking the birthday cake. Every other week a girlfriend and I were in a routine of cooking together for fun. My husband overheard us making plans to cook several Chinese dishes the next time we got together and our next cooking date just happened to be May 25th, the day before my
birthday.

"Surprise Birthday Party" May25th at 6:30 p.m. and on the menu were the Chinese dishes my girlfriend and I had made earlier in the day, including Potstickers, Braised Shrimp with Vegetables, Egg Foo Yung, Beef with Broccoli and Hot n' Sour Soup.

At 6 o'clock my husband was scurrying around the house tidying up, which I didn't find all that unusual because he usually helps out around the house. But when I noticed that he'd put fresh hand towels by the bathroom sink I thought he'd lost his mind, until the doorbell rang--"Surprise!" and there stood over a dozen friends with a cake, flowers and balloons.

Just writing about my favorite Chinese dishes is making me hungry so I think this week I'll make some Beef with Broccoli. Be sure to double the recipe so there are plenty of leftovers.

(From my Dear Reader Column, Monday, March 31, 2008)

Almost Beef with Broccoli

1 ½ pounds broccoli

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons cold water

¼ cup vegetable oil

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (not too thin)

1 medium onion, sliced thin

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup chicken broth

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

Cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces (about one inch). I don’t use the stems, they are too thick. But if you wanted to use them you could cut them lengthwise.

Mix cornstarch and water.

Heat oil in skillet (or wok) until hot. Cook and stir mushrooms, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Remove the mixture, set aside and stir-fry broccoli with salt for 3 minutes. Stir in broth and soy sauce. Heat to boiling and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 6 minutes, then add the mushrooms, onion and garlic that you had set aside.

Heat to boiling, stir in cornstarch mixture. Continually stir while cooking until mixture thickens.

Makes 6 servings, but I always double the recipe.

Enjoy with friends and please tell them about the book clubs.

Dear Reader,

Where's the Beef?

Hundreds of readers, like Beatrice were wondering.

"Dear Suzanne, how are you? I was reading your recipe in Monday's column, but interesting enough, your "Beef with Broccoli" recipe does not include "Beef." Is it an oversight? Or was I just imagining things? It will be great if you will include a finished product's photo with your recipes. That will give us something to try for. That's just my suggestion, I hope you don't mind. Have a great week. Hope to hear from you."--Beatrice

Where's the Beef?

I don't know, Beatrice, I'm still looking for it. Started looking for it at 6 a.m. Monday morning when my phone rang. The caller was Susan, on my staff. She knew I was up because I'd just sent her an email and Susan was wondering, "Suzanne, the Beef with Broccoli recipe you mentioned in today's column--there's no beef. Readers are wondering, 'Where's the Beef?'"

So I dug through my recipe file and I found the beef--clearly printed at the top of my recipe card, "Beef with Broccoli." But when I read through the rest of the recipe--no beef--what happened to the beef? And the bigger question, "Where's the beef been all these years?"

Amazing what you can convince people to believe. Been serving this recipe for 20 some years now, "Here, enjoy some of my Beef with Broccoli" and no one has ever questioned what was on their plate.

No one ever asked, "Suzanne, is this Beef with Broccoli or Beef with Mushrooms?"

"Of course it's Beef with Broccoli. Those mushrooms on your plate? They're a new fangled kind-of-beef. Vegetarian beef--came from a cow that had a real thing for mushrooms."

"Where's the Beef?" I'm still looking, Beatrice.

In the meantime trust me, it must be a great recipe because you're the first person who's ever asked "Where's the Beef?"

(From my Dear Reader Column Tuesday, April 1, 2008)