I'm not Linda, but I have her recipe. I thought I'd go ahead and share it with you so you could make it Right Away, just in case she doesn't see this by the time you need Blue Cheese Dressing. It's the best I've ever had. I'm going to go ahead and post the ''story'' she had to go with it, so you know of her true culinary genius. ''Funny....I had a salad for lunch with my blue cheese dressing. The story goes is that there was a restaurant in Tiffin, Iowa where lots of people went after an Iowa game, and their blue cheese salad dressing was legendary. Their salads were enormous....they stood a leaf of iceberg lettuce up at the back of a salad bowl and filled that bowl full of chopped greens and dumped on easily half a cup of blue cheese dressing, made with Maytag Blue of course!!. Every time I went there I tasted the dressing and wrote down something I noticed about the dressing...Mayo based....sweet and sour, thin enough to coat every leaf, parsley...and a "bite"....horseradish. Finally my DH and friends said! That's IT!....here's the recipe...I recommend doubling it....or quadrupling!'' DonnÂs Delight 4 oz Maytag blue crumbled 1 cup of mayo ( I use Kraft) 3 oz ( about 1/3 cup) milk or cream 2 tsps sugar 2 tsps dried parsley 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice 1 ½ Tablespoons cider vinegar 1 Tablespoon fresh grated onion 2 Tsp Lee and Perrins worchestershire 1 tsp horseradish ½ tspoon garlic powder. Mix gently so as to leave some lumps, and serve over a green salad or on sliced tomatoes or cukes and onions or as a dip for raw veggies. Serves about 6 to 8

This one is Ann's, I had in my folder to try! Pear Salad with Spicy Candied Walnuts (Ann T) 1/2 cup candied spiced walnuts (see recipe) 1 cup Zinfandel dressing (see recipe) 1/2 cup high-quality blue cheese, crumbled 1/2 pound assorted baby greens (arugula, baby frisee, baby lolla rossa) or mesclun mix Make candied spiced walnuts and Zinfandel dressing first. After the pears have been poached, cut them into quarters and slice each quarter into four slices. Fan the slices, forming a half moon, and place in the center of a plate. Toss the greens with enough of the dressing to coat the greens. Using too much will wilt the greens. Place the tossed greens in the crescent of the pear. Sprinkle with crumbled cheese and candied walnuts. Drizzle some of the remaining dressing around the perimeter of the greens. This salad could also be presented family-style with all the ingredients simply tossed together in a bowl and served on a platter. Makes 8 servings. ZINFANDEL DRESSING: 1 1/2 cups Zinfandel (divided) 1/2 cup sugar 1 cinnamon stick, about 3 inches long 20 turns fresh ground pepper (about 1 teaspoon) 2 tablespoons kosher salt 2 Anjou pears, peeled and cored 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar 1/2 cup canola oil Combine 3/4 cup Zinfandel, sugar, cinnamon stick, pepper and salt in a small pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer very slowly until the liquid thickens and becomes similar to a syrup. This will take 1 to 11/2 hours. If mixture reduces too fast, it will become bitter. Dressing can be done in advance to this point, then refrigerated. When ready to complete, add pears and return syrup to a simmer. Spoon liquid over them or turn them frequently. Pears are done when they are soft and easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes. Remove pears from the syrup and store in a covered container. Reserve the poaching liquid to finish the vinaigrette. Combine remaining 3/4 cup wine and reserved Zinfandel syrup and bring to a simmer. Reduce mixture by two-thirds. You should end up with about one-third cup. It should be thick and syrupy. Transfer mixture into a stainless steel bowl and whisk in mustard and vinegar. While continuously whisking, very slowly stream in canola oil. If this step is done too fast, the oil will not emulsify. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate. SPICY CANDIED WALNUTS: 1 cup sugar (divided) 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup walnut halves 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon black pepper Combine 1/2 cup sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Reduce to a simmer and add walnuts. Mix spices and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a medium stainless steel bowl. When walnuts have begun to soften, after about 8 minutes, strain them out of the liquid and transfer them immediately to the spice mixture. Shake them around in the bowl until they have been completely covered with the mix. Sift them out of the spice blend, saving the spices for making this dish again or for another use. Transfer nuts to an airtight container, but do not refrigerate.

Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Funky, You can use any preserve in that first dressing, as a variation. I don't think the red pepper jelly is terribly sweet; and I suppose one could easily adjust it if they did. I am a fanatic about how a salad is dressed --- 90% of the time I feel they are overdressed. If you dress very lightly and toss, to me the dressing is rarely too sweet because the dressing doesn;t over power. The only bottled dressing I buy is Ken's 1000 Island. My son likes it, and he knows how to make it from mayo, ketchup and relish, but TBH it tastes about the same. I do buy ranch packets, mainly to make dip. Other than that, I make my own. It lasts fairly long and to me it tastes a zillion times better. I have tried all of the fancy bottled ones, and they just don't cut it for me. As far as going bad ..I mean, the vinaigrette has vinegar ... a preservative. And the dairy based ones; you can usually smell if they have turned. I make half batches. FWIW:The "shelf life" of salad dressings varies somewhat. Generally, vinaigrettes can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Dairy-based dressings, like buttermilk, and dressings made with fresh ingredients, like chopped onion, fresh herbs, tomato sauce and chopped hard-cooked egg, will keep up to 1 week.