I just got a plea for help from a man in search of good, creamy blue cheese dressing. Here's his missive:

Suzanne:

I went out to dinner at Loretta's Restaurant in Essex Junction a month or so ago, ordered a salad and asked for blue cheese dressing. Imagine my surprise when they told me they don't have it because they make all their salad dressings on premises and haven't found a decent dressing recipe. I worked for years in a restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA - I was the prep cook - and we had a killer blue cheese recipe that I made gallons upon gallons of. My regret is that I didn't take the recipe with me when I left, though I do remember it included a sour cream base, black pepper, dill and a lot of fresh blue cheese. Wondering if you can find a good one (or two) for me - I'll pass it along to Loretta's if it's any good.....

Thanks,
Rick in Colchester

After looking through several cookbooks, I noticed that the versions in the 1997 edition of the Joy of Cooking and the 1990 edition of the New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne are almost exactly the same (and sound more interesting than most other versions).

Here's what's in the The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker. At the end, the first variation is based on the NYT Cookbook's recipe.

Creamy Blue-Cheese Dressing                            About 2 cups

Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth:
1 c. mayonnaise [they're calling for homemade, but I bet store-bought would be OK]
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of ground red pepper, or to taste

Add and process to the desired consistency:
4 ounces blue cheese [in the recipe's intro, they recommend Roquefort or another "good quality" cheese]

Taste and adjust the seasonings. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate.

Variations:

1) Lose the Worcestershire, add 2 tablespoons of chopped onions, use half lemon juice and half white wine vinegar (1 tablespoon each)
2) Add chopped chives instead of onions
3) Increase the amount of blue cheese to taste

Good luck, Rick!