Last Thanksgiving, I used this recipe for the first time in conjunction with the Easy Herb Roasted Turkey recipe also found on this site. The result was the best turkey my husband and I have ever eaten. We are making our turkey the same way this year. I stuffed with celery, apples, lemons, onion, and garlic and then roasted it following the Easy Herb Roasted Turkey recipe. I followed that recipe to the letter. I'm telling you...that was the best turkey I've ever tasted.

Talk about simple! I used a very lean 3 pound top loin roast with very little fat (had no need to trim any off). I made the recipe just as specified...nothing in the crock pot except the roast and the recipe ingredients. This thing was fantastic. The meat was flavorful and fork-tender, as you would expect from a crockery cooker recipe. The gravy was heaven. I added about 1T of Wondra flour to the gravy after removing the roat, and whisked for about 20 seconds. The result was a gravy to die for. We served it over rice next to the roast, and everyone at table kept pouring more onto their food and saying, "Wow, I just can't believe how good this is!" with each bite. I've had bad luck with beef roasts. This recipe is foolproof.

I made this for my family as a side dish with Sunday dinner. I read the reviews that suggested adding sausage or some other kind of meat, but this dish is SO fattening and rich that I could never serve it as the main entree in any meal. As a side dish, this casserole was amazing, and we WILL make this again. This first go-round, I made it exactly as specified in the recipe. Next time, I will use light mayo, reduced-fat cheese, and light butter/margerine. The calories and fat in this are just prohibitive, but the flavor is to die for. If you serve this in small helpings as a side, it is perfect.

Oh. My. Gosh. That is all I know to say. This is, quite possibly, the most heavenly dessert I have ever put in my mouth. These are INSANELY good. The only thing I changed about the recipe was reducing the butter. I used 4T of melted butter...not a 1/2 Cup. I mean...at that point, it felt like they would be swimming in grease if I put so much butter on. The 4T brushed over the top was perfect. In addition, we always use the reduced fat Crescent rolls, so that was what I had. I can honestly tell you that the recipe loses NOTHING with reduced fat rolls. In fact, I think in this case, they're probably better because less butter in the pastry means a firmer crust to hold in all that glorious filling. I used a 9x13 pan as called for in the recipe, and it all baked up beautifully. I was able to cut them into clean squares after only 10 minutes or so of cooling. They were still molten hot from the oven at that point, but they had already set up enough to serve. I cannot comment on how well they keep because my family of three and one adult visitor DEVOURED the entire pan in--literally--1/2 hour. My husband stood in the kitchen scraping every last spare trace of the filling from the pan with his finger once they were all gone. For the last two days, I've been receiving PLEAS from my husband and child to buy more cream cheese and make some more. Simply put...you just HAVE to try these.

This recipe is, indeed, easy to make. It takes no time at all to throw together, and the end product looks like something you spent a LONG time making. They are lovely and simple. That said, my husband and I were very disappointed in these. The texture is very much like a hard granola bar--crunchy and dry and a big crumb-y mess to eat. For having such rich ingredients, the flavor isn't very complex/rich. They certainly don't taste BAD. I mean...it's butter, oats, chocolate chips, and toffee. How bad could they be, right? But. This recipe is not a chewy, decadent dessert. It's more of a sweet, crunchy snack reminiscent of the brick-like boxed granola bars from when my generation were children. I was disappointed in this recipe and will not likely make it again. Frankly, I cannot understand all the glowing reviews that make this recipe sound so special.

I was skeptical when I was cooking this, because the aroma was very onion-y (the soup mix powder has a strong aroma at first), but my worries were unfounded. This soup was so incredibly good. I used little shell pasta and followed the recipe exactly. This was so easy--so fast! I couldn't believe how good it was for being such a quick, thrown-together soup. This will be replacing my old veggie soup standby recipe, and we'll be eating it pretty regularly around here. One note: The recipe makes enough to feed an army, and I don't have an army in my house. :) I put the leftovers into freezer-safe plasticware and froze them. A week later, I reheated some for lunch, and it was still delicious. It keeps in the freezer beautifully.

I made these last night, and I'm afraid that we didn't really enjoy this recipe. I used a 9x9 silicone pan, I followed the directions exactly--including the makeshift double boiler, and they baked beautifully. The texture was a perfect brownie texture. To avoid the gooey mess that doesn't bake in the center, never bake brownies in ceramic or glass...just my experience with them. The recipe works very well as written. The reasons we were disappointed with this recipe: (1)This recipe managed to dirty up an entire sink full of dishes, and it was a complete pain to put together. (2)The chocolate flavor overtook the recipe, and the cheesecake flavor disappeared into the background. I really wanted to taste and feel that cheescake layer. It just wasn't there. I should've realized it would be like that since the recipe calls for 2 cups (practically an entire bag) of chocolate chips. I probably won't make these again. I think it would be much better without chocolate chips in the cream cheese layer, but I can't recommend this recipe to anyone who loves cheesecake and is trying to get a dessert with that flavor in it. It's just not what we thought it would be...and it's just not worth the amount of mess you have to create to make these.

There is a popular-brand cinnamon swirl cake mix that we can't get anymore where we live, and I was looking for a recipe here at Allrecipes.com to replace it. This recipe turned out to be nothing like what I was looking for, but I am SO glad I found it. Making the recipe exactly as written, the end product is a very dense cake with the texture of a good spice bread. Unlike most of the spice cakes I've had, it is not overpoweringly spicy, nor is it tremendously sweet. It's a refreshingly different kind of cake, and we all really enjoyed it. Some notes/suggestions: (1) I recommend making this in a single-layer rectangular pan. (2) When making this cake batter, it is very important that you beat the cake AS STATED for the times stated in the recipe. Your cake will not have the intended texture if you take shortcuts (like hand mixing or mixing for less time than called for) or if you overbeat the batter after the eggs have been added. So...follow the instructions. (3) If you don't like cloves, substitute ginger or allspice, etc. Just DON'T substitute all of them. Pick ONE as a substitute and go with that. Adding a tsp of three other flavors is going to overpower this cake and make it unfit to eat, in my opinion. This is a great recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it.

I bake a sweet thing for my husband every weekend, and this time, he asked for some blondies. Having never made any before, I came to Allrecipes and chose this one. I really hate to give negative reviews, but I was very disappointed in these. The flavor was only so-so. The shortening (I used the popular brand's butter flavor) leaves this blondie with an oily texture that wasn't very pleasing. The center of the pan never got firm. It stayed the consistency of the raw batter and would not set. For fear of ruining the edges by overbaking, I gave up after 35 minutes. I like gooey blondies...but I don't like eating raw blondie batter, and that's what I got. I think that perhaps replacing the shortening with all butter would help, but I think I'll just go with a different recipe next time. I don't think I would make these again.

I am a huge devotee of a certain popular name brand mix out there on the market for brownies. I mean, this box mix is GOOD. But...you know, I'm a home cook, and I'm a pretty darned good home cook. I'm also Southern. Self-respecting Southern women don't use bake mixes unless it's absolutely necessary and unless we can be 100% certain that no one will ever find out. So. I read through about 10 different brownie recipes and settled on this one. I started my batter thinking, "No WAY are these gonna be as good as my box." I got some on my finger as I was spreading it in the pan and tasted the raw batter. NOT yummy. When the timer on the oven dinged, the aroma in the kitchen did not impress me. I wanted to hate these brownies, Y'all. HOLY CHOCOLATE MIRACLE OF MERCY...these are ridiculously good. I was astounded. These will be a regular around here from now on.

Wow. Super easy and, as my husband put it, "Stupid Good." I threw these together during a commercial break while watching television with my husband. They are THAT easy. I made them, as I do with every first attempt with a new recipe, exactly as the directions stated. The end product was incredibly rich and very sweet...but to our taste, it was a wonderful and decadent dessert. I didn't detect a "fake cake mix" flavor at all. I think this will depend entirely on what cake mix you use. Some will be better than others. The only "complaint" or note I would add for others who want to make this is: The texture of this was very cobbler-y. Even the next day, it didn't set up into bars for me. It was magnificently delicious...but it never set into bars. I live in a very humid climate, so that might have something to do with it. Just make them well ahead of time if you need these for an event, or you might end up like I did with a very soft pan of goodies that would never do for cutting into neat squares. I will be making these and experimenting with new flavors a LOT in the future. My next attempt will be to add cinnamon to the crust mixture and use apple pie filling. Any fruit filling would work with this recipe, really.

This recipe is very close to the "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" recipe off the lid of every canister of Quaker Oats, which I recognized because we have made these cookies almost every weekend in my house for years. The ingredients are even in the same order. The exception that makes this recipe stand apart is the addition of cloves. They really add a wonderful spice, and I would never have thought of doing that. In addition, I liked the half-n-half shortening/butter combination. I have always replaced butter with butter-flavor shortening for this recipe because it makes them so gooey and chewy, but I think I do prefer it Beth's way. Great ideas for tweaking what I have always considered to be the best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe anywhere.

We had this for dinner tonight, and it was just wonderful. It was very easy to make and a wonderful way to use up leftover ham. As always with a first attempt at any new recipe, I made it exactly as the recipe states. It is truly wonderful as-is and needs no adjustment, in my opinion, unless you just want to experiment. I will definitely make this again. Couple of Notes/Ideas: (1) Several reviewers stated that they reduced the mustard to 1T instead of two. Look closely, the recipe only calls for 2 TEASPOONS of mustard...and this amount is just enough to give the flavor kick it needs. (2) The next time I make this, I will substitute steamed fresh broccoli flourettes instead of the frozen chopped broccoli. I think that might add a better texture and flavor. That's it! Thanks for a wonderful recipe.

I have been serving a very slightly different version of this recipe to family and friends for years. In my version: (1) I use the smaller can of pumpkin. (2) I use cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice (or allspice), and a 1/2tsp of powdered ginger. (3) I use regular whole milk instead of evaporated milk (though, I bet the evaporated is better, and I will try that next time) and...(4) I bake and serve the cake in a ceramic dish--no turning it out or inverting. Just remove it from the oven and put the whipped topping on after it cools and just before serving. In my opinion, this recipe is very "personalize-able." There are a lot of variations out there, but the basic recipe is the same in all of them. It kicks regular pumpkin pie in the patootie, and everyone will love you for making it.

I'm a huge believer in taking liberties with recipes to make them my own, but it is my habit on the first attempt at any new recipe to follow the author's instructions exactly. Because this recipe seems to be the most established and most reviewed recipe for lemon bars on the site, I gave it a go. Well...the crust isn't just oily. It's a soaked, soggy, and flavorless mess that coats the tongue and leaves a terrible aftertaste. For me, that effectively ruined the entire bar. In my opinion, the crust doesn't need to be modified. It needs to be replaced with another recipe. Truly awful stuff. The lemon layer, on the other hand, is divine. Perfect tartness--and not too sweet. That is SO hard to find. I've had lemon bars that were so tart they made my eyes water, and I've had some that were so sweet that it hurt my dental work. I consider being able to finally find the right balance in this recipe a triumph...even though the crust is a mucky travesty. I printed this out and put it on a card to keep with a note to myself saying, "Best lemon topping ever...don't use the crust." I think that is a nice summation of my feelings about this recipe.

We love roasted turkey in this family. I have been using the same method for all my turkeys for years, however, and we decided to try something new this past Thanksgiving. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I followed the directions to the letter...no deviation whatsoever (except that I did like most others recommended and put the herb mix under the skin as well as over it). Having always been a cheesecloth over the breast and baste religiously gal, I was skeptical. It had so many lovely reviews, though, I took the risk. I cannot even begin to tell you how ridiculously awesome this turkey was. I have never in my life had a turkey with so much flavor and this much moisture...and that's really saying something. We eat a lot of turkey in this family. I will never go back to my old recipe. This method is less work, less mess, and a superior turkey in both flavor and texture. You simply MUST give this a try.

This is a fantastic recipe. Whenever I make these for an event, people literally hover around the serving basket. These little cups would be a perfect thing to take to any party or potluck event. So incredibly yummy. The reasons I didn't give this recipe 5 stars: First...the filling you make for this recipe is MUCH more than you need for one can of the biscuits. You will easily need a can and a half of the biscuits to use up all the filling. I have done what some others suggested and purchased the "Grands" biscuits instead. Cut into quarters and pressed into the mini muffin pan, a can of these will accommodate your filling much better. And second...I cook them for a full 15 minutes, not ten. I've prepared these in different ovens for various events/parties/friends' homes, and it always takes longer than the 10 to 12 minutes that this recipe recommends. Aside from these two minor problems, this recipe is incredibly good. Definitely try these out.