cook's profile


Suzy
 
Living In: Portland, Oregon, USA
Member Since: Mar. 2002
Cooking Level: Intermediate
Cooking Interests: Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Frying, Stir Frying, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Indian, Italian, Southern, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian, Dessert, Kids, Quick & Easy
Hobbies: Reading Books
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Apricot and Black Raspberry Cream Cheese Thumbprints
Fruit and Nut Shortbread
Fruit and Nut Shortbread
Chocolate Lovers' Favorite Cake
Pepperoni Polenta Pizza
About this Cook
Not much to tell. I'm the mother figure for two (sometimes three) teen/pre-teen boys, work full time, and love to cook!
My favorite things to cook
Currently, I'm into Asian and Indian dishes. Desserts are always favorites! My husband wants me to find some authentic Russian dishes. If you have one, please pass it on!
My favorite family cooking traditions
Our best tradition was getting to choose the meal for your birthday. I've continued this tradition with my own family, though we have much more adventurous dishes to choose from than when I was a kid growing up in the Midwest. Though I have to say, bratwurst here isn't as good as it is in Wisconsin!
My cooking triumphs
Recently, I made a Pork Vindaloo that the boys (even the big one I'm married to) said was better than any restaurant.
My cooking tragedies
Early in my baking career, I completely forgot the flour in my banana bread. When we got home from church, I found that it was only an inch high! It made a pretty good topping for vanilla ice cream, but wasn't what we were looking for during Sunday brunch.
Recipe Reviews 36 reviews
Calico Cheese Dip
With slight modifications, we loved this. I'm not a big olive fan, so I left them out. I subbed cilantro for the parsley, as others have. I didn't make the salad dressing as indicated on the package; to make it a little lower in fat, I added a little extra water and cut back to 2T oil. We also like things on the spicy side, so I chopped up a couple of tablespoons of roasted Hatch chiles I keep in the freezer for just such occasions. Hubby added even more to his own bowl! We will definitely be making this one again, and with even more spicy chile. The changes make it 5-star!

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Nov. 26, 2009
Cajun Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
We used this topping for 8 portobello caps for a main dish tonight. I had difficulty with my cream cheese/shredded cheese mixture being pretty dry, but I went forward anyway, thinking that the cream cheese would get too runny in the oven if I thinned it out up front. Must be the cheap cream cheese I bought -- it stayed pretty thick. I never could mix the bread crumbs in, but we didn't miss them. Because I was using this as a main dish, I used an entire 14-oz pkg of imitation crab. It took a bit of doing, but I was finally able to mix it into the cream cheese mixture. Because we left out the bread crumbs, I sprinkled a little more shredded cheese on top at the broiling stage. The flavor was good, though I think we'd prefer to use the topping on a loaf of French bread. The mushroom flavor overpowered the topping. I guess that's what I get for changing the recipe! We will definitely use the topping again, though not for mushrooms.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Nov. 23, 2009
Cheesy Poppy Seed Bread
We've made something very similar to this for years. The differences with our version: use a 1lb loaf of Hawaiian sweet bread, add 1 tsp garlic salt and a tsp lemon juice. Our version also uses a whole cup of butter, but I always thought that it was too much. I can tell you that this is wonderfully addictive! I look forward to trying it with the sourdough for a change.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Nov. 23, 2009
 
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