ELIZRA
 Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)
Living In: Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
Member Since: Jul. 2005
Cooking Level: Intermediate
Cooking Interests: Baking, Grilling & BBQ, Slow Cooking, Dessert
Hobbies: Gardening, Walking, Reading Books
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me
About this Cook
I'm Jenn Garber, and I love to cook! We recently started changing out diet habits to a healthier lifestyle of cooking and eating. I've been experimenting with using whole grains, and have had pretty good success. We eat a lot of fruit and veggies but I still like to use recipes and mess around making things "healthier" yet tasty.
My favorite things to cook
Oh, I like to bake pies. I started about 8 years ago when I met my husband. I was 17 and the pies were so-so. Now, he likes them better than most others he's had in his life, so I've gotten better! The hard part's the crust. It took me about 5 years, but now I've gotten better at it. I really enjoy making cookies, too, because the ingredients and mixing are such that little hands can easily help so that makes them a perfect thing to bake with my three sons (ages 6, 4 and 2).
My favorite family cooking traditions
I like making pies for my husbands and boy's birthdays. My husband's family doesn't like cake very much, so I've continued the tradition of making a birthday pie for him, and now our boys seem to like pie better than cake, so they get a "birthday pie" too. Every summer since I was 17 I've made a strawberry pie for my husband. This year was the "10th annual strawberry pie!"
My cooking triumphs
A few summer's ago I made rhubarb cobbler. I never saw rhubarb before, so I didn't know what would happen. But, my husband said it was the best he's ever had, and he loves the stuff, so I was happy.
My cooking tragedies
The Christmas I made coconut cream pies. I tried to convert the recipe so I could use cornstarch instead of flour. In my haste (I've become a much calmer, laid back cook since) I DOUBLED the amount of flour in my mind and added that much cornstarch. Well, any good cook knows that you HALF the amount of flour then add that much cornstarch. NEEDLESS TO SAY...rubber. YUCK!
Recipe Reviews 79 reviews
Mom's Corn Bread
Tasted like old bacon grease. Texture was good...but taste was not forgivable.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Nov. 4, 2009
Best Brownies
I wanted to try something different. I will stick to my recipe from the betty crocker cookbook from now on. This one is more cake like and doesn't have the same chewy texture I've come to love. The frosting, however, I had no problems with, but I did not put honey in it. I decided against putting the honey in because I usually don't prefer the taste of honey (almost sickening sweet) in dressings and frosting and such (I do, however love honey in herbal tea and wholewheat baked goods, just so you know). I ended up doubling the recipe and added 2T. of milk (one for each recipe). Good icing; not too sweet that way. I think I'll put it one my favorite stand-by brownie recipe next time.

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Aug. 1, 2009
S'mores Crumb Bars
I've made these a few times now. I've messed around with all crumbs on bottom, using milk chocolate chips, using more butter...basically trying some of the most popular suggestions. Our favorite? AS WRITTEN! The semi-sweet chips are the best compliment to the sweet marshmallows and crust and I love the look and little bit of extra "crunch" you get with the first bite when the crumbs are on the top and bottom. The butter amount is perfect. If you put more in, it's just TOO rich. But, once I accidentally used 3/4 a SICK instead of 3/4 a CUP (which is 1 and 1/2 a stick) of butter. That did not work very well! So make sure you use 3/4 a cup (not 3/4 a stick) and you will be fine. Don't forget to butter or "Pam" the pan. SOMETHING I JUST DISCOVERED: I made these last weekend for a family gathering. I used pre-crushed graham crackers I bought from the store. BIG MISTAKE! I saw where a lot of reviewers were having problems with dryness/not-sweet-enough-ness. Every time I make these with graham crackers I crush myself and use the amount of butter and sugar called for, they are SUPERB. But this time the crust did not hold together and it was not sweet enough. Down right "yucky" compared to the normal turn out. I learned my lesson! No more pre-crushed graham crackers for me.

14 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jul. 25, 2009
 
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LB
Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)
Cooking Level: Intermediate
About me: My mom was a master chef... okay, she was a… MORE
Cooking Level:
About me:
Cooking Level: Intermediate
About me: I am a busy stay at home mother to 4 children!… MORE
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