Notes about Recipes in this book

• Saint Lucia buns (Lussekatter)

  • anya_sf on December 11, 2020

    I've never toasted saffron before and fear I nearly burnt it - waited for the threads to darken, but at that point they also smelled off. Used them anyway since they're too expensive to waste, steeped 30 minutes, then strained them out. That worked, but next time I wouldn't wait for the color to change. The dough was fairly stiff and I didn't even add a full 5 cups of flour; it took over 2 hrs to rise (granted, my kitchen is cool). I shaped the buns, chilled overnight, then proofed and baked the next morning. Didn't brush with butter (never done that before), just the egg wash. The buns were fairly traditional, perhaps slightly dry (next time I'll add less flour). I did enjoy the sprinkling of sugar on top.

• Corn muffins (and corn bread)

  • emiliang on October 18, 2013

    Our go-to recipe for corn bread. Especially good with stone-ground corn meal.

• Pumpkin-cranberry muffins

  • anya_sf on December 08, 2020

    Moist and tender even when made with white whole wheat flour. Not overly sweet. I doubled the cranberries and would do so again as there weren't many.

• Seasoned flank steak (summer)

  • swiand on August 18, 2025

    We were intimidated by the odd list of ingredients, but the family loved this.

• Swedish meatballs

  • JimCampbell on February 23, 2026

    A 2.5 out of 5. The gravy did not have any flavor additives. It was flour, butter, a little Dijon, and stock. The meatball recipe called for a number of warm spices. We did not have ground cardamom, but went with everything else. Overall the dish did not seem to have much if any depth. If we were to make the recipe again we would certainly up the quantities for the spices in the meatballs, and likely add some of those spices to the gravy to re-enforce the warm flavors.

• Beef, wild rice, and winter vegetable soup

  • anya_sf on December 16, 2022

    The head note says this recipe was designed to use whatever roots the cook had stored, so I used a sweet potato, a turnip, some carrots, and celery. The broth was part homemade beef stock, part reduced sodium beef Better than Bouillon. I had more beef (3 cooked short ribs) which I added with the stock, since I figured they could handle more simmering. The result was a richly-flavored, hearty-not-heavy, delicious soup.

• Yellow split pea soup

  • Gio on January 22, 2016

    Pg. 151, Full of flavor, slightly spicy (in a good way), hearty. My adjustments were: subbed turkey stock for chicken stock and did not use turnips, added parsnips instead. Additionally, I halved the recipe for two people. In doing that I miscalculated and did not use enough stock, but that's easily corrected. I will say that even though I decided to soak the peas for a few hours before cooking the soup could have used more than the 1 hour cook time. Again, easy to correct.

• Hmong market soup

  • cahunter925 on November 06, 2015

    Easy to make. Hardest part is chopping and sauting onions and matchstick carrots. Rest of other ingredients are in most cupboards. Yummy!

  • Gio on January 15, 2016

    Pg. 151-152. Absolutely wonderful soup with excellent flavor heightened by all the great ingredients. Spicy, peanuty, chickeny, enticing aroma, satisfying. I even loved the color. Definitely a recipe to revisit.

• Thresher's beef stew (with onions, beer, and blue cheese)

  • anya_sf on April 19, 2021

    Using chuck (what I usually use for stew), the meat took 2.5 hours to get nice and tender rather than 1.5. I simmered it in a 325 F oven to avoid having to babysit the stove. Recipe doesn't say what to do with the cooked bacon; I added it to the stew (why wouldn't you?). Dried thyme worked fine. The stew was really tasty over buttermilk mashed potatoes. Blue cheese was an unusual but flavorful topping.

• Baked walleye with asparagus and fiddlehead ferns

  • emiliang on May 12, 2013

    A simple and delicious spring recipe. Didn't find ferns but I did find some ramps, so I used them instead of the chives. Cooking time was longer than indicated in the recipe, around 23-25 minutes.

• North Shore lunch

  • emiliang on February 22, 2015

    Even better (and easier) with fillets than with whole fish. Great with whitefish or other freshwater fish, as well.

• Pan-fried trout with smoky bacon, hazelnuts, and lemon-sage butter

  • Gio on December 31, 2015

    Pg. 216. This recipe created an exceptionally delicious finished dish. I used Pollock fillets, and clarified butter, but otherwise adhered to the recipe as written. Everything came together beautifully with distinct flavors. I loved every bite.

• Fresh succotash salad with wilted greens

  • emiliang on February 27, 2013

    This was a pretty tasty and vibrant side dish, even though I used frozen corn and frozen lima beans rather than fresh. Might try it again, maybe using peas instead of the limas. The mint didn't come through, though. Maybe double the amount next time.

• Summer tomato, potato, and eggplant bake

  • emiliang on August 22, 2013

    Great for when you have a bunch of summer produce but you're tired of ratatouilles. Added some dried thyme and some white wine vinegar. White wine would also work. Next time, I would peel the tomatoes before adding them to the pan.

• Basic wild rice

  • Gio on December 31, 2015

    Pg. 275. The ratio of wild rice to water was just perfect for us. Well cooked, not too soft but not crunchy. After reading the Pilaf recipe I decided to add chopped dried Turkish apricots to the rice. The combination was great. Lovely earthy flavor that went well with the suggested main of Pan-Fried Fish with Smoky Bacon, et al.

• Old-fashioned apple butter

  • jimandtammyfaye on May 28, 2023

    An overstock of apples brought me to this recipe, even though I typically wouldn't think of making apple butter until the cooler months. Perfectly spiced and delightfully sweet, this recipe will be one I return to several times a year. I used apples I had on hand: Ambrosia, Pink Lady, and Autumn Glory. I used my immersion blender to smooth out large chunks of apple at the end. Next time, I'll cut the apples into eighths so they will break down more during the cooking process.

• German spice cookies (Lebkucken)

  • anya_sf on December 14, 2020

    Never again. After storing the dough (in the fridge) 2 days, it was still super sticky and slack. I tried rolling it out with lots of flour, but just couldn't cut shapes. I kneaded a bunch more flour into the dough and tried again, but as soon as I cut the dough, it would stick back together, and the cookies wouldn't retain any shape whatsoever. I managed to cut about 1/2 the dough into random weird rectangular-ish pieces and baked them anyway. They needed an extra 3 minutes to bake. The glaze needed double the juice to become spreadable. The flavor and texture of the few misshapen cookies I managed to bake were actually decent.