I have never cooked venison in the past, and I found that this recipe was extremely easy to follow, and the meat turned out tender and flavorful. So, I can safely recommend this for novice cooks. My husband took the chili to work with him, and his co-workers ate the entire pot. I'm making another pot tonight. I did cut back on the salt by one teaspoon, and I found that this recipe was plenty salty (and I generally like a lot of salt in my food.) I also do not own a meat grinder, so I diced the venison, and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!

Reviewed On: Dec. 16, 2008

The addition of lemongrass to this chicken noodle soup was wonderful - gives it a fresh taste with just a tiny bit of a bite. I used Better than Bouillon as opposed to powdered bouillon, and it turned out great. Additionally, I cooked the chicken whole for one hour with thyme, garlic, pepper, onion, carrots, celery, and a bit of salt. Then, I threw those veggies out (they were soggy after cooking for an hour and I just wanted them for the flavor) and pulled the meat off the bone. I put the meat to the side. I chopped fresh carrots and celery and cooked them in the stock until tender. Then, I added the noodles, cooked until done, and put the chicken back in the soup last. I find that this helps me to keep my chicken from getting stringy from overcooking. Wonderful soup!

Reviewed On: Dec. 14, 2008

This recipe was very easy to make, and it does have a nice gingerbread flavor. Additionally, the dough was easy to work with (not crumbly, dry, or too fragile). However, I found the finished cookie to be too dry for my liking. I do have a gas oven which tends to cook hot, so I reduced the cooking temp to 335 for 8 minutes. My cookies came out crispy on the edges, but a little chewy in the middle. I also increased the ginger to 1 tablespoon and added 1/2 tsp of cloves, because I like a pungent gingerbread cookie. This would be a perfect construction gingerbread recipe for making a house, and it's still good enough to eat (some of the construction gingerbreads taste like cardboard- this one doesn't). However, if you really want a moist, chewy, gingerbread cookie, in my opinion, this is not the best recipe. Look for a recipe that uses butter (more fat) to make the tastiest gingerbread. I also prefer gingerbread made with brown sugar as opposed to white sugar.

Reviewed On: Dec. 14, 2008