BY JASMINE MATTSON-WOLFF

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”- Virginia Woolf

Let me ask you something: what is better than the realization that a certain meal, that’s super easy to make, will have your taste buds experiencing an exceptional taste-orgasm? Well, probably like two other things could be better… but for now, as most of us reading this are college students or hard working members of the community of Juneau, we are going to keep this taste-orgasm realization at the top of the list.

Food is essential for our survival – well prepared and tasty food is essential for our morale. So with this issue of the Whalesong, I’d like to share with you a recipe that is particularly easy to prepare and will make your taste buds melt with pleasure. The one I’d like to share with you is an Alfredo sauce recipe that I found on Pinterest a couple weeks ago and got to try – it turned out great! I came to find out that it is 100% better if eaten the night that it is prepared vs. saving leftovers due to the butter content in the dish (when it gets chilled down and reheated the entire dish is transformed again into this funky, less-appealing meal). Anyway, that’s a little insight as to why we are talking about food in this article and without further ado, here’s the recipe! Enjoy!

Alfredo Sauce:

½ cup butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 ½ cups cream (or milk)

1 cup fresh Parmesan, grated

4 oz. cream cheese, cut into small cubes

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Add cream cheese and whisk with butter mixture till fully incorporated (it’ll look kinda strange and globby, that’s okay though, don’t fret).

3. Add in the cream a little at a time while whisking. Heat until the mixture bubbles, but isn’t boiling.

4. Using a spoon (something other than a whisk really; I tried using one and wow, that was not a good idea) mix in the Parmesan cheese until it’s all melted and incorporated.

5. Salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your favorite [cooked] pasta, and enjoy!

Is your Alfredo too thick? Add some more cream or milk to thin it down. Is it too thin? Add some extra cream cheese to thicken it up. I would also suggest taking and cutting up pieces of your favorite cut of chicken, pan searing it with some cut up onion, then add to your Alfredo and pasta. Super easy vegetable tip: asparagus! Let’s say you fried up some chicken pieces for your sauce. Take that same pan you used to cook the chicken, probably with some grease and flavor left in there, and throw your asparagus in over medium heat. Add some cracked pepper and sauté it for a few minutes on each side until they are cooked to the tenderness you prefer. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over them to finish it off and ta-da! You’ve just created a wonderful Chicken Alfredo dish, with some lovely sautéed asparagus on the side.