These are very yummy, but with a name like carmelitas, I thought they would taste more like caramel and less like chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate, but it wasn't what I was looking for in this recipe. After making this a few times, I have determined that my family likes it best if I reduce the butter to 2/3 cup, reduce the chocolate to 1/3 cup (about 2.5 oz) and omit the nuts. This cuts down on the greasiness and really lets that caramel flavor shine! A real keeper!

Reviewed On: Apr. 15, 2008

This 5* rating is based on the addition of celery (1/2 cup), carrots and peas (1&1/2 cups each). Without veggies of some sort, to us, this soup was really more like chicken and rice in a LOT of gravy. With the veggies, it was heaven!

Reviewed On: Feb. 25, 2008

This rating is for the meatballs only. I used oatmeal instead of crumbs, but that is just preference. I can't believe how tender these come out when cooked in the sauce. Ingenious! Here's a tip I learned about meatballs... instead of rolling out each tedious one, try rolling a handfull of meat into a 1" thick rope and then cutting the rope into 1/2-1" lengths. Much faster!

Reviewed On: Feb. 22, 2008