• Recluse on January 27, 2011

  A great collection of reliable recipes that are completely attainable for almost any home cook. If I'm making a dish for the first time, I see if it's in this book first.

• curtisca on October 15, 2010

  The Vegetarian Baked Beans are nothing like baked beans, but it's a delicious casserole that is a great crowd-pleaser!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Barbecued chicken wings

  • Maefleur on March 25, 2025

    These were quite tasty! A little sweet, a little salty, a bit fruity, and just mildly spicy. You could add more hot sauce if you like spice (or a pinch of cayenne).

• Cream of carrot soup

  • IowanCorn on October 02, 2025

    A very creamy, very Autumn-y soup! I used half and half rather than full cream, but the soup didn't lack any mouthfeel over it. A very nice lunch. A good wheat bread goes well with it.

• Old-fashioned fish chowder

  • Globegal on April 27, 2016

    Like this enough to make it whenever the fish in the refrigerator REALLY needs to be eaten. It's pretty simple to make.

• Deviled crabs

  • louie734 on January 11, 2015

    Bastardized this for a twist on crab dip. Spiced up the cream sauce with extra mustard powder and tipped in a bunch of Old Bay, too. Added 2 T neufchâtel cheese to the cream sauce before adding the "crab" (used up a package of imitation crab). Baked in a small stoneware dish topped with plain old store-bought, unbuttered breadcrumbs. This was actually pretty nice with some crackers and breads. Felt decadent, and the celery flavor where onion usually would be was unusual and tasty. Would've loved to have served pickled celery with it.

• Sauteed scallops

  • dlavigne22 on May 18, 2026

    Sautéed them in a cast-iron pan, added melted butter and browned garlic to a warmed ramekin for serving the scallops. ?

• Deviled scallops

  • Shelmar on September 06, 2019

    Maybe the worst thing I've ever made. It wasn't the scallops.

• Creamed fish

  • Shelmar on September 06, 2019

    "with mushrooms" variation. Very good mushroom soup; reduce to 4T butter, increase to 2C fish.

• Pot roast

  • IowanCorn on January 30, 2026

    Easy to make, as long as you have the time to let it simmer on the stove. The sauce is extremely flavorful, with the tomato and onion well balanced. I did use V8 juice instead of plain tomato juice, which i think added to flavor. A good use of a tough piece of beef.

• Old-fashioned beef stew

  • BlytheSpirit on July 12, 2014

    This is a long time favorite recipe.

• Roast goose with potato stuffing

  • bching on December 24, 2020

    The goose came out of the oven looking gorgeous and festive but the stuffing was dreary glop. And it sounded like such a good idea--goose fat drizzled mash.

• Chicken or turkey and noodles

  • IowanCorn on November 28, 2022

    It was filling, it was tasty, it was a turkey hotdish, or a baked turkey noodle casserole. Definitely a comfort food, but I'm not sure it was worth the extra dishes.

• Grilled zucchini, eggplant, and peppers

  • PennyG on July 24, 2017

    I had all of the ingredients this recipe called for on hand (fresh from the Farmers Market!) and used the recipe instructions loosely (cut all of the veggies into bite-sized pieces and rather than make a dressing, I just sprinkled all of the dressing ingredients onto the veggies and mixed). The flavors were wonderful! I will use this as a template for future grilled veggie dishes.

• Polenta with sausage

  • JimCampbell on March 21, 2025

    A 4.0 out of 5. We had made this many times in the past, but have not made the dish in years. We were going through old recipe binders and found it again. A very good pasta sauce, which goes well with the polenta. The polenta recipe calls for a base sauce on another page. The sauce comes together quickly and simmers. The sauce recipe does not specifically state dried basil, but that's what we use, and we use generous tablespoons. The polenta recipe uses the base sauce to create it's sauce. The sauce and polenta are 1 - 1 1/2 hours, including prep. We made the sauce and polenta in the afternoon and refrigerated the polenta to help it firm up. This is not a weeknight, from scratch, recipe, but if made in the early afternoon or weekend, it's a great warm-up and serve meal.

• Baked rice

  • IowanCorn on June 23, 2025

    I made the version with pepper and ham, and it was bland. The bell peppers made the whole dish tasting sweeter than I like, and I was really missing any garlic, even with the onion. I also used brown rice, which added another half hour to the cooking. If I did do it again, I definitely add more herb/spice to it.

• Baked Spanish rice

  • Globegal on April 27, 2016

    Made 4-27-2016. Used brown rice and baked for 50 min rather than 30. Tastes ok. It seems a little oily. It called for 1/4 cup oil. Will try 1/8 cup next time. It's pretty simple to put together. Will try canned tomatoes next time. Froze leftovers. 5-30-16. Now reheating what I froze along with enchiladas. Don't notice it being oily ... only delicious. Like the chewiness of the brown rice.

• Sauternes rice

  • Globegal on April 27, 2016

    This is a decent recipe. Uses ingredients generally on hand. Better the next day.

• Ham and noodle casserole

  • boncie on December 17, 2022

    This is very good and easy to make.

• Winter vegetable cobbler

  • Solovyay on March 13, 2026

    Such a cozy, delicious cobbler. Not difficult to make, very tasty way to use up root veg

• Apple oat bran muffins

  • louie734 on November 09, 2014

    Was pretty skeptical about whether this would work out after mixing it up - it seemed incredibly wet. In fact, the muffins were finished on time and are tasty. There is no flour, only oat bran. Used a heaping 1/2 t of Penzey's baking spice blend instead of the 1 t cinnamon, which seemed like overkill. The 1 cup grated or fine chopped apple was like 2 apples - I used half grated, half chopped which gave it texture. These didn't rise much, and aren't particularly pretty, with a puddinglike texture to the bottom that is not unpleasant. A good healthy muffin. Would be good with some raisins or dates.

• Waffles

  • wester on October 10, 2021

    Just what we wanted for breakfast: very easy to make and not too sweet.

• Avocado with chicken stuffing

  • wester on September 25, 2018

    Cool, creamy and definitely retro. Just this side of bland - I think if I hadn't roasted the almonds (in the recipe just blanched) it would have crossed the line. Using the celery leaves instead of lettuce helps as well. And I think next time I want to add a bit of mustard, too.

• Chickpea salad

  • wester on December 31, 2009

    I don't have a clue why the radishes are in here. For the rest, nice but unremarkable.

• Chicken salad

  • wester on February 13, 2011

    Simple & nice. I liked the suggestion of adding some almonds as well, but I used a lot less than she suggests.

• Boston cupcakes

  • wester on September 03, 2010

    Lovely cupcakes, and the mace flavour is quite clear without being overwhelming. They needed 20 minutes in the oven.

• Peanut butter cookies

  • wester on March 08, 2010

    Very nice cookies, good peanut flavor. Mine needed a bit longer than the recipe stated. I might put a bit more salt in next time, to deepen the flavor.

• Almond tea cakes

  • wester on May 19, 2010

    Lovely moist subtle cakes. Not difficult to make either - I even blanched my own almonds using this cookbook. They are very sensitive to slight differences in oven temperature - I had to turn my muffin tin as soon as they had firmed up a little, because at that point the left cakes were already browing nicely and the right ones were still quite moist. And my oven is not that uneven. They break quite easily as well. Maybe they needed a minute more, because the browner ones held together better.

• Baked rhubarb

  • wester on September 03, 2010

    Easy and just that bit tastier than stewing. The amount given could have been larger. We can easily down twice that.

• Molasses cookies

  • wester on September 03, 2010

    I made the spiced version. The cookies are nicely crispy/chewy but it is very difficult to see whether they are done yet as they have a very dark color already. They spread a lot as well.

• Popovers

  • sgump on March 09, 2013

    Couldn't be simpler--and I love the cold oven approach. Substituted 1/3 of the flour with cornmeal, added about a tablespoon of granulated sugar, and used olive oil instead of melted butter. Made 12 nice-sized popovers in a muffin tin. They disappeared quickly!

• Banana nut bread

  • PennyG on March 25, 2025

    Perfect banana bread … a classic!

  • joeljkp on September 09, 2022

    This is my go-to banana nut bread, the one I make whenever I have three extra bananas that got a little too ripe. It always comes out great, with or without the nuts. And no butter involved - it doesn't need it.

  • IowanCorn on April 13, 2026

    A denser bread than most banana breads that I've made, but easily put together and tastes a lot of banana.

  • tracy_wsh44h on March 16, 2026

    Really good banana bread. I will reduce the cook time next time 5-10 minutes.

• Pumpkin bread

  • PennyG on October 16, 2023

    Excellent! Will be adding this to my Fall repertoire.

• Apple cobbler

  • PennyG on November 27, 2020

    We had a small Thanksgiving this year. It was nice with a smaller menu than usual. I decided to make this apple cobbler, rather than mess with a pie crust. Really easy to throw together. The “cobbler” portion was cakey rather than crusty, but it was really nice with some vanilla ice cream.

• Chewy peanut butter brownies

  • PennyG on September 18, 2023

    These were a HIT. Will definitely be adding to my repertoire!

• Gingersnaps

  • notalice on December 12, 2010

    crinkly/chewy/crisp - great classic recipe. double the ginger for an extra kick.

  • csb52058 on February 22, 2014

    This is my all-time favorite cookie recipe that I have been making since the early 1990's. It's easy and delicious!

• Strawberry jam

  • Sara on June 07, 2011

    Easy, delicious! Good for toast, ice cream, yogurt, bagels, waffles and pancakes.

• Lazy daisy cake

  • BlytheSpirit on February 11, 2012

    This is easy and delicious.

• Harvard beets

  • Globegal on July 19, 2014

    first made 7-19-14. Tasty. Thought it needed salt & pepper. Has clear and simple instructions. The book even has instructions for pressure cooking beets. On 8-12-14, tweaked it to give it just the right amount of sour for me: 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar, and 2 Tablespoons of water. This tweak makes this a 5-star recipe.

• Colonial bread

  • bching on January 24, 2016

    THE bread for ham sandwiches. Easy and delicious.

• Turkish pilaf

  • Grazer on December 18, 2018

    Amazing. Add a bit of garlic. Can sub cranberries for raisins. Make sure chicken stock is flavourful. Usually serve with curried chicken.

• Basic muffins

  • ashallen on October 26, 2020

    This basic recipe hasn't changed since my 1965 edition :). My older edition does mention the possibility of using an additional egg and up to 1/2 cup sugar, however, and omitting 2 tbsp from the 2 cups of flour if using all-purpose vs. pastry flour. It also has a variation called "orange muffins" which has disappeared from later editions that calls for mixing in 3/4 c diced candied orange peel. That's the variation I made, using homemade peel I'd packed in syrup that's very tender. I also used the extra egg, the 1/2 c sugar, and an extra 1/4 tsp salt since I thought all that orange peel might need some balancing out. I subtracted the 2 tbsp of flour. These were surprisingly good - the large amount of orange peel was really delicious. The basic cake part did its job supporting the peel and had a slightly springy (but not tough) texture. On its own, it'd be on the plain side, but it's a fine background for various add-ins or spreading with butter and jam.

• Cranberry-raisin pie

  • ashallen on November 23, 2019

    This was good, but not fabulous. I used cream sherry instead of Grand Marnier, but the stronger orange flavor that would have come from using an orange liqueur would have been good. Using a mixture of dark and light raisins and all or some brown sugar would probably add some more complexity to the flavor. And I think I would have liked the texture of the filling better if all or some of the fruit was chopped up before putting in the crust - it might have helped it meld together more.

• Sauteed okra

  • moonflowerstitch on October 05, 2021

    bacon grease instead of butter and bacon bits is good too

• Banana rice bran muffins

  • IowanCorn on February 24, 2026

    Easily made and a good muffin for brunch. I used oat bran instead of rice bran because that's what I had, and the flavor of the banana may have gotten buried under it, being only 1/2 cup - or one banana. They were crumbly, but not terribly so.

• Election cake

  • Solovyay on March 13, 2026

    Very tasty! Warm and hearty

• Sticky orange muffins

  • rdoose on April 24, 2026

    The oranges did not candy on the bottom of the muffins as they were supposed to. I am thinking they need to be baked on a lower rack in the oven. The zest was a little strong for me so I would reduce the amount.

• Applesauce cookies

  • IowanCorn on August 11, 2025

    It was a soft batter, and took up to the full 7 minutes to cook all the way through, but they made a soft tasty cookie which is worth repeating. I subbed out dried cranberries for the raisins, of which I used because my family is not overly fond of raisins. The cranberries made a good contrast with the applesauce.

• Chocolate chip cookies

  • blushresponse on February 02, 2025

    We used chopped walnuts. Soft and ideal on day one and sturdy on day two.

• Best-of-all pecan pie

  • Solovyay on March 13, 2026

    Great, simple pecan pie that tastes wonderful!