Move over "Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" (from this website), because these are my new favorite! I didn't put the cinnamon sugar topping on because I want to ice them, but the anise and orange are sufficient to give these cookies great flavor without the cinnamon. If you roll the cookies to 1/8" thick, they puff up less for icing; but puffier cookies could easily be covered with fondant. I'll post photos when they're finished. Just wanted to give the recipe my review right away so that others won't be afraid to try the recipe! And, just for the record, I used margarine instead of Crisco and it worked fine. I did have to adjust for high altitude (7220 ft) by adding extra flour until the dough removed easily from the beater. With the anise and orange (I used dried grated peel and only 1-1/2 tsp), adding extra flour wasn't an issue as far as flavor. The dough rolls out really great - hardly even sticks to my plastic mat. Very easy to work with. Highly recommend that others try the recipe.

Reviewed On: Feb. 9, 2012

4 lbs. vs. 4 cups of grapes? I think 4 lbs! I thought I had enough grapes at 4 cups; but there was so much cream cheese mixture at that point, I ended up adding two good-sized chopped apples, two sliced bananas, two cans of drained pineapple chunks and a handful of dried cherries before I decided that was enough. I'm pretty sure I have enough salad now to feed at least 16 people. Not sure what size my largest Pyrex mixing bowl is that I used, but the next size down says 2.5L. It is still very tasty, although not holding strictly to the "grape salad" title. I might add a little cinnamon to it at this point.

Reviewed On: Feb. 5, 2012

Good thing there were some reviews, though I didn't read all right away until the broiler started smoking and the shrooms started burning. I moved the oven rack down even farther - about 8" and switched from Broiler High to Broiler Low before my husband had to fan the smoke alarm to keep it from going off. I think the idea for this recipe is good, but (1) way too salty with so much soy per shroom, (2) the sesame oil did seem to smoke quite a bit, had I not caught it in time it would have been disastrous, (3) would have been nice to have the instructions a little more informational about broiler temp. The plating looked great, but it was just way too salty as written.

Reviewed On: Jan. 31, 2012