Notes about Recipes in this book

• Strawberry-basil scones

  • CookingwithJoy on April 07, 2026

    Mine turned out a little too wet and I thought they would be sweeter. Not really a fan.

• Egg & sausage casserole

  • averythingcooks on May 19, 2021

    This was a nice dinner served with a green salad. I cut it in 1/2 but used extra sausage and added some orange pepper to the onion & the last 2 cocktail sized tomatoes with the spinach. To adjust for this, I used 6 eggs (not 5) and an extra splash of milk. It was easy to prep early in the day and bake later that evening (start checking at 45 minutes for the smaller pan). I would do this (& maybe improvise a bit more with the veg) again.

• Southern Cali salad with farro

  • gamulholland on May 27, 2025

    I put shredded chicken on the side for the meat-eaters, but this salad didn’t need it—it was hearty enough on its own with the farro and grapes and goat cheese and Marcona almonds. We just used bag salad greens we had already, and it tasted fine— she mentions that you can use any kind of greens. My husband really enjoyed it (with some chicken thrown in). Memo to self to sprinkle the goat cheese on at the end, as directed, instead of throwing it in too early and mixing it in. Definitely a keeper.

• Pickle & potato salad

  • averythingcooks on September 14, 2023

    This dressing had a good flavor on its own, but we felt it lost some punch when mixed into the actual salad. This was easy to fix with more brine (actually from a jar of jalapenos this time) and I also added a scoop of some pickly hot pepper relish to my serving. I have some other similar recipes to try for comparison.

• Four-bean chili with skillet corn bread & all the fixins

  • averythingcooks on September 13, 2023

    In the headnote she suggests adding ground meat if desired so I made a 3 bean chili, replacing the chickpeas with a small amount of ground beef + a little fresh chorizo. With lots of big impact ground spices (including 3 for heat), this chili has lots of flavour and it is easy to heat up or down if needed. This time, I used my freshly made ground Fresno powder (with a lovely fruity heat) & ground New Mexico chiles for the "chili powder". I also added some sweet peppers with the aromatics and we enjoyed this with chopped onions, grated cheddar and a little sour cream. I will also try her skillet corn bread soon.

• Cowboy poutine

  • averythingcooks on May 07, 2020

    I just made the pulled pork part of this and it was really good. The dry rub is tasty and was adaptable to my current spice collection & our personal heat preferences. I suppose pulled pork isn't actually that hard to get right :) but this was a new version for us and it made for a good dinner beside coleslaw. The idea of the poutine looks great and may make an appearance soon as I now have containers of the pulled pork in the freezer.

• Spicy pork tenderloin with sun-dried tomato & fennel stuffing

  • averythingcooks on February 14, 2021

    I followed the recipe for the pork (and not stuffing this time) and we really enjoyed it. I had a 1 lb tenderloin and so scaled things back accordingly. The only thing I would say is that the finished pork seemed sweet “up front” but finished with a lovely hit of heat. We devoured it.

• Brady's favorite short-rib enchiladas

  • averythingcooks on July 27, 2021

    These were a fair bit of work (which I don't really mind & I spread over 2 days) but the final verdict was that they were AWESOME. I prepped the full amt of short ribs / sauce etc (planning for some freezing) and then set out to construct an 8 x 8 pan for the 2 of us. I used 1/2 of everything EXCEPT I did end up using the full amount of meat...perhaps my yield of shredded meat was lower than expected?? I also made my own enchilada sauce in place of a jar. Work? For sure. Worth it? Absolutely.

• Cauliflower "chorizo" tacos with Cuban-style black beans

  • mary_z01doa on March 31, 2026

    This is one of my favorite recipes! So much flavor.

• Charred wedge salad with Greek yogurt blue cheese dressing

  • averythingcooks on November 14, 2023

    I used this dressing on a simpler romaine salad served with steak sandwiches & we enjoyed it. The Greek yogurt, buttermilk & lemon juice together pack a pretty good "tang" and so I did add a little shot of honey & I finished it with some chives. With a generous amount of the cheese stirred in, it was creamy without being overly thick (a peeve of mine re: some blue cheese dressings) and I would make it again.

• Arugula, grape & ricotta pizza

  • CookingwithJoy on April 01, 2026

    Not bad! Not what I typically lean toward, so I would not make again. But a decent combination of flavors.

• From-scratch grilled pizza crust

  • averythingcooks on June 10, 2024

    A 1/2 recipe of this dough gave me a thin, barely 12" pizza which was the perfect size for last night. It won't become my go to but I did like the mix of white & whole wheat flours (and T couldn't detect anything different from our usual crusts). In this book, she presents it as a crust for grilling but it baked up crispy/chewy in the oven too.

• Cheese biscuit crackers

  • averythingcooks on May 08, 2024

    With Rice Krispies needing a use, I came here to try a 1/2 recipe. They are as advertised - crispy, cheesy, flaky & salty. I am clearly no good at estimating a 1" dough ball, so my 1st try (20 g each) ultimately were too big but tray #2 (10 g balls) gave me crackers that were smaller, thinner & better. I will likely make these again, with that "still not empty" mason jar in my pantry. Note that she does not give an expected # of crackers which would have been a big help when sizing these guys.

• Pimento cheese

  • averythingcooks on May 17, 2024

    The asiago is very good here adding another dimension of flavour. We were happy with this as written & then loved it after I diced/stirred in a spoonful of hot pickled peppers. This was good on crackers and excellent spread on toasted English muffins and then run under the broiler.

• Curried deviled eggs

  • mary_z01doa on April 05, 2026

    Really good! Loved the curry. Too many shallots, so I might try without the shallots.

• Honey-ginger chicken wings

  • averythingcooks on September 14, 2023

    Although I do not like chicken wings (can I be the only one?), I often go to wing recipes for the glazes to use with air fryer or grilled boneless, skinless thighs. This mixture has a good hit of sweet/tart/ gingery flavour that I liked, however, I then added a big squirt of sriracha and that made it really good. I marinated the thighs in part of the glaze for 4 hours & cooked them in the air fryer. The reserved marinade was heated to thicken it, then drizzled over the chicken and we both really enjoyed this.

• Vanilla bean bread pudding with bourbon-caramel sauce

  • Honeymorgn on February 12, 2024

    Made this with half brioche and half cinnamon bread. Also added cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg to the custard. The bread pudding was delicious, but the caramel sauce was bitter. In looking it up on the internet, it appears the sugar burned, but I followed the time on the recipe and I used an enamel cast iron pot. Perhaps I'd lower the heat next time.

• Naked carrot cake

  • mary_z01doa on April 05, 2026

    Easy to make and delicious! It was a hit with everyone, especially the carrot cake lovers. It does take some time but it’s totally worth it.

• Two Peas and Their Pod

  This cookbook is filled with lots of family friendly recipes…and if you are a Saved by the Bell fan, you just have to own this book because Kelly Kapowski!:)

  Full review