Notes about Recipes in this book

• Instant mashed potato gnocchi

  • Shewi128 on February 12, 2022

    We made this with the tomato sauce and "al forno" with ricotta and mozzarella. We loved it, and it was way easier than normal gnocchi!

  • dbuhler on February 03, 2023

    These were good and definitely faster/easier than cooking and mashing potatoes, so top marks for that. The texture, for me, was a bit heavy/gluey, so I'm not sure if it was my error (not sure if I over kneaded, or possibly boiled to long) or not. I did use the recommended brand of potatoes and measured all ingredients by weight. I will definitely try these again. This time around I made them with the fontina cheese sauce from this same issue.

• Fontina cheese sauce

  • dbuhler on February 03, 2023

    This sauce tasted okay but not amazing. I don't find fontina to be an especially flavorful cheese, and the béchamel base for the sauce felt pasty despite me cooking the butter and flour until slightly golden. I also forgot to sauté the garlic and had to substitute some garlic powder. I will definitely try again with the fresh garlic and see if that improves the flavor.

• Seared scallops with citrus and avocado salad

  • anya_sf on January 20, 2024

    I used 3 oranges (no grapefruit) and 7 oz arugula; there was plenty of dressing. This was a quick, easy, delicious, light dinner; 3 of us nearly finished it.

• Sausage-stuffed acorn squash

  • anya_sf on December 04, 2021

    I roasted the squash a few hours ahead instead of microwaving it. Since the squash was already brown on top, I baked the filled squash long enough to heat everything through rather than broiling it. The filling was not overly sweet, so made a nice contrast to the sweet squash. Easy to make, tasty.

  • Shewi128 on November 10, 2023

    This was a decent and easy-to-make weeknight meal. We really liked the filling. However, all of our family decided that we don't like the flavor of acorn squash. It wasn't as noticeable when you eat it with the filling, but we didn't like the flavor on its own. Due to our discovery of not liking acorn squash, I won't make this again.

  • Acarroll on January 02, 2024

    The stuffing was tasty, I used 4 oz of chorizo which worked great because it basically melted into a sauce. Squash was bland (even though I worried I had overseasoned it). It's fine, not a make-ahead dish.

• Pear crisp with miso and almonds

  • Shewi128 on March 21, 2022

    I loved this. It was perfectly cooked. The flavors were well-balanced. I also used oats instead of almonds due to food allergies. The only thing I would do differently is use 1/8 tsp almond extract instead of 1/4 tsp as it was slightly overwhelming.

• Loaded s'mores cookies

  • Shewi128 on March 16, 2022

    The cookie recipe is a keeper. I've even modified the fillings with dried fruit and other things. These were really good.

  • anya_sf on March 24, 2022

    My family really liked these. The cookies that ended up with more marshmallows around the edges didn't look as pretty.

• Palace Diner lemon-buttermilk pancakes

  • Shewi128 on March 16, 2022

    These were easy and good. The lemon flavor was nice and light.

• Instant Pot coconut-red curry braised short ribs

  • jenmacgregor18 on July 23, 2022

    I made a few changes for what I had on hand and to increase the veggies. Reduced the beef down to a pound and subbed chuck roast, cut into 1/4 thick pieces. Added 1/2 a sliced onion and a couple of kaffir lime leaves. Used the entire can of coconut milk, as I didn't want any leftover. Then after beef was cooked, removed it to cool so I could cut into bite sized pieces. I added 1 bell pepper, sliced and 1 chopped chayote to the broth. Cooked on sauté function. Used a bit of cornstarch to thicken, then added some chopped basil to finish. Very good. Beef was tender and the curry good flavor. I think that I would omit or reduce the lime juice next time. Although I made a few changes, the overall method works well and we liked it. Not too spicy. I might even add a bit of cayenne for us.

  • fred_twbdh5 on March 11, 2026

    A go to easy recipe for weeknights in our house.