Notes about Recipes in this site

• Blue cheese, hazelnut, and honey polenta

  • jzanger on January 12, 2013

    Everything about this sounds great, but the sum of its parts was not particularly enjoyable to me. I did have to substitute pecans for hazelnuts, but I can't imagine that would have changed anything. I just don't like blue cheese on polenta I guess.

• Tuna, kale, and egg salad

  • Laura on September 01, 2014

    This recipe seemed like a light, summer meal, and it was. I changed it slightly by making a dressing of the EVOO, lemon juice, and rice vinegar, rather than adding small amounts of these in the process of building the salad. I added the dressing to the kale before adding the rest of the ingredients. I did omit the sunflower seeds. We liked it. I'd make it again.

  • RuthGo on August 31, 2014

    I thought this was delicious. True to form, I made some changes. I had bought collard greens instead of kale, so I cooked the collards first in water before starting. I also didn't have green onions, I used red onion instead. I left out the sunflower seeds. And finally, since I was just making it for me, I mixed in the second egg instead of just scattering it on top. The combination of olive oil, lemon, rice vinegar and capers made this delicious. I think you could also make it without the greens if you wanted something closer to a traditional tuna salad. Definitely recommended.

  • jhallen on April 07, 2021

    This was a good combination but I swapped leftover chicken for the tuna (because I hate canned tuna) and swapped tofu for the egg (because I hate egg in a salad). Very tasty. The ingredient list in the recipe includes celery but I don’t actually see celery reference in the step instructions in the recipe - can only assume it’s meant to be added with the scallions? I omitted the celery since not mentioned again.

• Tuna pasta salad with spinach and radishes

  • SheilaS on June 21, 2022

    Found this take on a classic tuna mac salad because I was out of celery on a hot, hot day and it worked very well. I upped the mustard quite a bit and used ~ 1/3 yogurt in the dressing.

• One-skillet dark and stormy banana bread

  • Emily Hope on October 19, 2016

    We loved the flavor of this banana bread/gingerbread hybrid--it leans more towards gingerbread, with a back note of banana. Great with some salted butter on top. I followed her instructions to slightly underbake it, but I'm mystified as to why anyone would want their cake doughy in the middle... next time I'll give it a couple of extra minutes in the oven. I'm also going to try reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup, as it was a little sweeter than we like. I used dark brown sugar instead of muscovado as that's what I had on hand.

• No-chop one-pot chicken meatballs and rice dinner

  • Emily Hope on March 25, 2022

    The meatballs themselves were OK, but we found the rice to be pretty bland. I made a yogurt-garlic sauce to perk things up. Probably not a repeat for us.

• Oatmeal cookie pancakes

  • franniepie on September 12, 2022

    One of my favorite pancake recipes. Really tastes like an oatmeal raisin cookie.

• Brennan's New Orleans shrimp Creole

  • zorra on January 05, 2018

    So grateful to find this old favorite online when I didn't have my ancient Brennan's cookbook at hand. I tamper with tradition & increase the vegetables significantly. Instead of her vegetable broth I make a quick one with the shrimp peels, bay leaf & onion. No jalapeno. An easy dish everyone enjoys.

  • meggan on January 18, 2018

    Easy and tasty. I wonder if file powder might work in place of the cornstarch?

• How to make palmiers

  • Astrid5555 on December 05, 2014

    Quick and easy!

• Oatmeal blueberry applesauce muffins

  • eliza on October 22, 2019

    These were very nice muffins. I subbed in soured milk for the buttermilk. For me these were just a bit too sweet so I would reduce sugar slightly next time. Also the baking time is a bit short in my oven so I would bake 18-20 minutes next time. They are best fresh and also freeze well. Definitely a repeat recipe.

  • alisonkc on January 21, 2014

    I make these all the time, they are such a great mid-day snack (and they freeze beautifully, so I usually double the batch.) I usually make them as written, but I've also used apples or cranberries instead of blueberries, or done half fruit/half nuts. Sometimes in the winter I put in spice cake spices. I almost always sub lowfat or fat free plain yogurt for the buttermilk.

• Kale, avocado, tangerine, and sesame salad

  • southerncooker on November 08, 2020

    Very good. Made as part of daughter's birthday supper.

• Dark chocolate, pistachio & smoked sea salt cookies

  • Grywhp on November 30, 2018

    Yum. I made these to try some smoked sea salt I got as a gift and was pleasantly surprised how well the flavors combined. I think the pistachios are key.

• Carrot coconut red curry soup

  • willinzuri on November 14, 2017

    what a great soup! Really nicely balanced with red thai paste, coconut milk, ginger, onion and carrots. I much preferred the blended version.

  • AmandaC on October 08, 2022

    Delicious soup. I used around 600g carrots and threw in a generous handful of red lentils to add a bit more protein and thicken it up. I'll use the leftovers to make a curry noodle soup with lots of extras.

• Mushroom and brussels sprout hash

  • Krisage on November 24, 2019

    Used yellow onion in lieu of shallots. Tasty!

• Apple walnut flax seed bread

  • aeader on May 09, 2015

    This bread is wonderful. I use butter as I like the flavor better than oil in breads/muffins. I used extra ground flax seed and left out the walnuts. I also grated all the apples instead of grating some and chopping some.

• Oatmeal walnut cocoa nib cookies

  • nadiam1000 on December 12, 2016

    I had some organic cocoa nibs and thought they would work well in CC cookies. I used milk chocolate chips in place of semi-sweet (although the cookie base is sweet enough to use semi sweet). This is a great variation on chocolate chip cookies - the cocoa nibs add an interesting crunch and chocolate flavor and I love oatmeal in cookies. I will be making again, next time with my go to 60% dark chips from Ghirardelli.

• Hot buttered rum and cider

  • meggan on December 17, 2012

    I used Kraken spiced rum and this was good. I also subbed in juniper berries for cloves.

• Mocha rum cake

  • meggan on December 27, 2017

    Delicious and moist. I served with rummy whipped cream and skipped the glaze. Also reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup with no ill effects.

• Roasted cauliflower, beet, and farro winter salad

  • meggan on February 23, 2015

    I could use a little more spice. Also, I would top the salad with the crunchy cauliflower. It gets a little damp otherwise.

  • wkhull on March 03, 2021

    I used romaine for the salad greens. Would highly recommend using spinach or chard type instead, so not slimy when reheating. Makes great frittata the next day.

• Dark chocolate Guinness brownies

  • meggan on March 24, 2022

    Rich and chewy - like my soul.

• New Orleans style BBQ shrimp

  • meggan on September 24, 2021

    The recipe calls for confusing amounts of butter (in one place 1/4 cup plus 5 tablespoons and in another one stick plus 5 tablespoons). I erred on the side of more butter for the sake of taste rather than trips to the cardiologist. Of course it was good but there was a lot of sauce which makes me think the lesser amount was the right one.

• Olive and feta Irish soda bread

  • meggan on February 13, 2021

    I overcooked a little but this is a tasty soda bread.

• One-pot marry me chicken

  • meggan on March 10, 2022

    Mine did not look as lovely as the photo but tasted great. There is a lot of transferring things in and out of the oven which seems unnecessary.

  • hirsheys on March 29, 2022

    I found this easy, cozy, and very yummy. An excellent weeknight meal. It does take a bit of in and out of the oven, but it's not difficult at all and it's more than the sum of it's parts. Seems adaptable, too. I didn't thicken and didn't feel the need to. (Used gin as my deglazing liquid, but anything would be good I think.) I put the olives in before it went in the oven, and I would again. Served with rice.

• Salty pretzel vanilla caramel corn

  • hirsheys on November 15, 2019

    Tasty, but not sure I need to make again.

• Grilled ham, cheese, pickle, and potato chip sandwich

  • Bloominanglophile on April 01, 2020

    Just made these for lunch, but served them on bagels since we are running low on bread. Not bad--kinda taste like a twist on a Cuban sandwich, with a different mustard, cheese, bread, no pork, and the addition of potato chips.

• Cranberry orange almond oatmeal

  • Bloominanglophile on March 03, 2014

    Just made this for breakfast this morning. I am always looking for ways to jazz up a bowl of porridge--this one is quite nice! If you don't want to cool your oatmeal by adding cold milk, then nuke it a bit before adding to the bowl. I ate it with the orange I used for the zest for a healthy, filling breakfast.

• Gingerbread ricciarelli (Cewhewy Italian almond flour cookies)

  • Bloominanglophile on December 22, 2021

    Need to change this to "chewy" instead of "cewhewy"!

• Whole wheat garlic knots

  • chawkins on February 15, 2014

    Very easy to make. you can just pat and stretch the dough to size without using a rolling pin. The dough is basically a whole wheat pizza crust dough. I used dried parsley instead of fresh.

• Baked polenta with tomato and basil

  • cassiemcgannon on February 13, 2013

    I only made the polenta, not the sauce. Much easier and less messy than making polenta on the stove - will be doing this again.

• Chocolate espresso sandwich cookies

  • Aleese1219 on April 29, 2014

    The filling doesn't work as is! After it cools, mix the ganache with some powdered sugar until it firms up!

• Summer tomato pie

  • pennyvr on February 12, 2017

    The resulting tart mix was really wet when cooked and made the pastry soggy. I admit I used shop-bought pastry but I'm not sure how home-made would be better. It was reasonably easy and tasted good but the texture is off-putting.

  • ldtrieb on July 28, 2018

    Used David Lebowitz press in tart crust

• Sesame kale salad with roasted almonds

  • hillsboroks on May 14, 2020

    This salad is a lovely change of pace for kale salad and pairs nicely with Asian flavored meals.

• Jalapeño and cheddar cheese muffins

  • dmass on March 18, 2015

    Very tasty and moist. I didn't have pickled jalapeno's so I used frozen (from our garden last year). Fresh would probably work fine too.

• Black raspberry muffins

  • dmass on July 10, 2013

    These are delicious muffins if you don't mind the seeds from the black raspberries. I use fresh berries from our garden. They turn out delicious every time. They are best eaten within a day as they get a little soft on the top. Not sure if this is due to how I store them or not. I usually store them in a container.

• The best chocolate buttercream frosting

  • MiChal.626 on May 12, 2015

    This makes A LOT of frosting.

• Tiny strawberry cream scones

  • julesamomof2 on April 24, 2019

    I made these for Easter brunch and they were great. Not too sweet and plenty moist. If I make them again I would add more strawberries, maybe 1.5x the amount.

• Turkey sloppy Joes with buttery buns

  • Zosia on April 19, 2019

    This review is for the filling only. This recipe would work with any ground meat as the flavour comes from all of the add-ins; this allows for easy adjustment of heat and sweetness levels. My chili powder was mild so I added extra hot sauce and omitted the sugar and reduced the barbecue sauce for less sweetness.

• Strawberry watermelon lime juice

  • Zosia on July 05, 2019

    Perfect for a hot summer day. No need for a juicer; I pureed the fruit in my food processor and put the mixture through a sieve. It didn't take very long and was quite effective.

• Cranberry cornmeal scones

  • Zosia on November 27, 2016

    A delicious vehicle for leftover cranberry sauce that uses a great technique to ensure a tender and flaky scone. Since I was juicing an orange for the glaze, I added its zest (grated) to the scone. Next time, I think I'll start with frozen butter as it seemed to warm up rather quickly, and I'll make only one-third the glaze as there was far too much.

• Warm molasses milk

  • bching on April 24, 2017

    When you've had enough coffee . . . this drink provides warm comfort. I make it one serving at a time in the mug, in the microwave and omit the honey but add 2 tsp more of the molasses. If you have a speculaas spice blend on hand, use that instead of the cinnamon and mulling spices to make this drink even easier and just as tasty!

• Spicy chickpea salad

  • alisonkc on May 30, 2014

    This is great for a party, and also great in pitas. If I'm bringing it to a BBQ, I'll double the amount so I have some leftovers. I've made this several times, but this most recent time it was particularly good. We used more lemon zest (1 TB) and more salt (sea salt - about 1/2 TB), which definitely contributed. I think I've usually de-seeded the entire jalapeno for this, but this time I only did half, and it gave it a nice little kick.

• Nectarine and cream cobbler

  • vikingcook on August 29, 2016

    This was easy but one tablespoon baking powder is too much! My husband loved it & couldn't taste the leavening but I sure could......bitter aftertaste! Why so much baking powder?

• Peanut butter banana bread

  • joyous on May 28, 2017

    Good flavor but the crumb was a bit dense for my taste. The picture is pretty spot on. Didn't add flaxseeds.

• Buttermilk pie crust

  • stef on December 09, 2019

    This made a very nice flakey dough. I made it in the food processor

• Sourdough pancakes

  • KIGirl on September 15, 2014

    Having just become a sourdough starter novice I was keen to find a sourdough pancake recipe for all my excess starter. Most that I found required 3 or more eggs - I thought that was a bit excessive. This one requires 1 only and has made around 12 15cm+ diameter pancakes. It is one of the lightest airiest pancakes I have ever tasted Definitely recommended.

• Black eyed peas with cornbread dumplings

  • katenolan on January 02, 2022

    This is definitely a keeper even though my dumplings disintegrated a bit. You can use other small white beans in place of black-eyed peas. 1/1/22

• Maple blueberry scones

  • joanhuguet on July 04, 2016

    Just perfect. I omitted the nutmeg because I'm out, and increased the maple syrup by half again for a slightly sweeter scone. The butter-to-flour ratio was higher than my go-to scone recipe, making them quite rich and lighter than most scones.

• Candied pecan biscotti

  • maryhodgeisme on November 13, 2022

    Baked these for my office and they were a huge hit! The candied pecans are brilliant.

• Weekday oatmeal and everything cookies

  • maryhodgeisme on August 01, 2020

    Great with white chocolate chips, golden raisins, and almonds.

• Vegan carrot jalapeño soup

  • Frogcake on November 29, 2016

    This was very delicious! The jalapeños provided quite the nip that we enjoyed. We all had colds and this was the perfect remedy.

• Oatmeal cookies with candied ginger and walnuts

  • Frogcake on March 09, 2019

    There’s a ton of oatmeal in these cookies! I followed the recipe as written and found that the dough was drier than I expected for a cookie dough. So I took some corrective measures and added two tablespoons of canola. I also tasted the dough and added a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla. Having made those changes, I added three tablespoons of coconut and replaced the walnuts with equal amounts of sunflower seeds and pine nuts (didn’t have any walnuts or candied ginger). Then, I went out on a limb and added a tablespoon or two of black sesame seeds and some grated orange rind. Surprisingly, the cinnamon and orange flavours are complementary. Well, this turned out to be a fabulous tasting oatmeal cookie!

• Pumpkin and butternut squash soup

  • Frogcake on December 30, 2016

    A flavourful , elegant soup. I added a drizzle of honey in place of sugar, and served it with a swirl of creme fraiche and sprinkle of roasted chopped hazelnuts.

• Apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies

  • Frogcake on February 18, 2017

    Great cookie recipe! We loved the Apple morsels in these oatmeal gems. Would not change a thing. Recommend baking for ten minutes if you prefer chewy cookies. Otherwise, these are just the right sweetness and perfect amount of cinnamon for our palettes.

• One-pot lamb and spinach meatballs with orzo

  • clcorbi on October 09, 2017

    WOW, this recipe did not work at all. I don't think this was edited before being published. We followed the instructions exactly as written, using ground lamb. I chopped my thawed spinach finely before incorporating into the ground meat mixture. The meatballs rolled up all right, but they absolutely would not stay together when I tried to brown them. They immediately began crumbling back into ground meat. I tried to salvage the rest of the meat by adding another beaten egg and a few more breadcrumbs, but even with all the extra egg they still barely held. I'm not exactly sure what the issue was, but I'm guessing that the proportion of spinach and other add-ins was just too high for the amount of ground meat. Also, no amount of salt was given for the meatball mixture, so I added what I thought was a fair amount, and they were still quite bland. As was the orzo. I would strongly suggest skipping this recipe unless you are willing to adapt it quite a bit.

• Mardi Gras king cake

  • amandacooks on February 10, 2017

    We really enjoyed this king cake. I made a half recipe (using 3 egg yolks), making a single log into a circle instead of twisting two logs together. I sprayed the outside of a half-pint canning jar with cooking spray and set it in the center so the hole wouldn't close up when the cake baked. A half-recipe was just the right amount for our small family (about 6-7 servings) and easy enough to make that we may have another one before the end of Mardi Gras season. It took a little less time to bake, about 25 minutes.

• Lemon poppy seed pancakes

  • Maaseelulu on March 25, 2017

    I cut this one in half since I am only feeding 2 people. I also used whole wheat flour, which could have stood for more buttermilk, but it turned out great regardless.

• Hot chocolate popovers

  • HalfSmoke on January 05, 2018

    Oh my! Rather than muffin pans we made 6 in a regular popover pan. They turned out great at the same temp and time.

• Vanilla bean sweet potato waffles

  • HalfSmoke on February 20, 2017

    Love this recipe. Not a crisp waffle, but full of warm Fall flavors. Top with some toasted, chopped walnuts and real maple syrup.

• Rosemary lime cocktail

  • anya_sf on May 23, 2020

    The recipe doesn't provide measurements. Wanting a lighter drink, I went with the juice of 1 lime, 1 oz rosemary syrup, 1 oz vodka, topped off with sparkling water. I enjoyed it quite a bit. You could increase the vodka for a stronger drink.

  • anya_sf on May 24, 2020

    Made this again (still have more rosemary syrup to use up) with 3/4 oz syrup and 1 1/2 oz vodka and liked that even better.

• Avocado orange salad

  • anya_sf on January 01, 2021

    Used 1 head butter lettuce, 1 medium orange, 1/2 avocado, plus marcona almonds; served 2 generously. In the dressing, used shallot instead of garlic, white wine vinegar instead of red, yogurt instead of egg yolk (neat trick). 1/3 the dressing was more than enough. Delicious and refreshing.

• Lavender-infused Mom Collins

  • anya_sf on October 22, 2020

    Delicious version of a Tom Collins. I used Hendrick's gin and skipped the sugar rim.

• Cheeseburger fried rice

  • anya_sf on July 16, 2018

    Like most fried rice recipes, this was pretty quick and easy to make. I changed the cooking instructions a bit - drained off the excess bacon fat and reserved it; drained the cooked ground beef onto paper towels. Cooked the eggs in some of the reserved bacon fat, then removed them to the plate with the cooked onions, etc. Cooked the rice in some more of the bacon fat until it was coated, *then* added the ground beef, onions, and egg back in. I used a whole (small) head of iceberg, so it was probably double the amount, and would do that again. We had it with ketchup, but next time I'll make 1000 Island dressing. My family really enjoyed this.

• Chicken and pumpkin dumplings

  • anya_sf on November 01, 2019

    I cooked the chicken a day ahead (without the peas), using half the broth and thickening it a bit with flour. Upon reheating, I did need to add more broth. The dumplings were quick and easy to make. The pumpkin gave them a pretty hue but didn't add much flavor. My family loved this - true comfort food. I'd consider adding extra vegetables, such as diced winter squash, chopped fennel, etc.

• Easy ham and cheese croissants

  • anya_sf on July 29, 2022

    I had just enough leftover puff pastry in the freezer for 2 croissants. As usual for me, I overstuffed them, so some of the cheese leaked out, but I just scraped it off the pan and ate it. Not really croissants of course, but delicious nonetheless and super easy.

• Here’s how to make restaurant-quality Brussels sprouts at home

  • anya_sf on October 14, 2022

    Similar to CI's skillet-roasted Brussels sprouts recipe, but without requiring a nonstick pan. 1 lb sprouts didn't quite fit on the bottom, so a few went up the sides, which turned out to be good as the sprouts on the bottom got overly charred - I think my stove just runs very hot and I need to cook these on medium heat instead. So know your stove and adjust the heat accordingly. Otherwise, good, very quick and easy.

• Super citrus smoothie

  • ingabritt on May 03, 2017

    I used regular yogurt and regular lemons. Delicious!

• One-pot baharat chicken and rice

  • RTB.Oakland on April 07, 2022

    Made with pork. Very good.

  • RTB.Oakland on September 28, 2022

    Made with salmon. Basmati rice. Costco frozen wild caught sockeye salmon filets. Oaktown Spice Shop Baharat Powder. Filets cooked 4 minutes med-low skin side down.

• Whole wheat and millet banana bread

  • ricki on June 10, 2020

    A keeper. Made half the recipe using 3/4 soft whole-wheat flour and ¼ white pastry flour. Cut sugar by about 10% and used 50/50 mix of sour cream and milk instead of buttermilk. One loaf was done in 50 minutes.

• Fresh fig and almond breakfast cake

  • hilarie on August 22, 2020

    Promising recipe. Will add more cardamom next time. Took longer to bake than indicated, probably 40 minutes but my oven runs cold.

• Chocolate waffles, cream, and chocolate sauce

  • JJ2018 on September 02, 2019

    Enjoyed these waffles they aren’t too sweet but are nice and chocolaty.

• Cranberry jam doughnuts with spiced orange sugar

  • AndieEats on January 01, 2021

    Definitely better on day 1, but still good enough on day 2. The zest didn't come through very much - double next time. Use a deeper bowl for the sugar coat. Needed extra sugar for the cranberry jam am was still very tart. Also make sure not to get to much pith of the peel or if makes things bitter. Fried up little tiny Timbit-sized circles and other shapes from some bigger scraps after cutting.

• Whole roasted cauliflower with cheddar beer sauce

  • cucinahalcon on November 24, 2018

    I made this on Super Bowl Sunday, 2015, and it was delicious! Two of us easily at the whole head. There was a little extra sauce, so it would be good to also have some good bread on hand for sopping up the leftover sauce. By the way, the sauce alone is amazing, and could be used for pretzel dip or anything else.

• Kale cherry and cashew salad

  • jhallen on April 04, 2021

    This recipe is simple and great. I omitted the radishes and increased the cashews & goat cheese just slightly.

• Pumpkin bread with walnuts

  • skvalentine on October 11, 2022

    My kids devoured this-- a real treat. I used a mix of roasted Seminole Squash and canned sweet potato.

• Ina Garten's apple pie bars

  • skvalentine on November 20, 2022

    These are very good but very sweet. Brought to an office potluck and several people wanted the recipe!

• Tahini flax seed banana bread

  • skvalentine on April 04, 2022

    This was just OK for me. My kids didn't like the tahini flavor, and the finished bread was kind of wet/soggy, even thought the bottom was burned. I blame my oven because I seem to have this problem with every banana bread recipe I try, but still, I won't be repeating this one.

• Peanut butter love cookies

  • Running_with_Wools on December 06, 2020

    I made these last night because the cookie jar was empty and I happened to have the mini-reeses. I adapted them to be gluten-free with King Arther one-to-one flour. They came out absolutely delicious - tender and a little chewy. For me and my partner, I added a square of really dark (86%) chocolate, and some Maldon salt. I added two reeses to the kids' cookies because I made them a little bigger than recommended. I got 18 cookies out of this batch. I will be making these again.