NHORAN
 Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)
Home Town: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Living In: Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA
Member Since: Dec. 2002
Cooking Level: Expert
Cooking Interests: Baking, Italian, Dessert
Hobbies: Knitting, Quilting, Sewing, Gardening, Reading Books, Wine Tasting
  •    
  • Title
  • Type
  • Overall Rating
  • Member Rating
nhoran
About this Cook
The mother of four grown sons, I take pride in producing healthy, satisfying meals. Everyone is welcome at our table.
My favorite things to cook
I love to bake cookies and cakes. Most of my best recipes came to me from my mother who was a great baker, but hated cooking meals. That job belonged to my grandmother. When she died, my sibs and I thought we would starve because we thought our mother could only bake! For me, making soup is the most satisfying process in the kitchen. It is so forgiving.
My favorite family cooking traditions
My boys love "pink cake" for their birthdays and "Buche de Noel" - otherwise known as "log" - for Christmas. Chili cheese dip served with Fritos is their favorite snack food and my most requested recipe next to my gingersnap recipe.
My cooking triumphs
I used to host a faculty Christmas party every year and make all the appetizers and desserts from scratch. Thanksgiving has always been a big event at our house. My late father-in-law would drive 800 miles from Masschusetts to Ohio just to eat my dinner. He was certainly the most appreciative audience I ever had.
My cooking tragedies
One year our boxer, Rosie, climbed up onto the picnic table on our porch and ate the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie that I had left to cool there.
Recipe Reviews 20 reviews
Pumpkin Black Bean Soup
Fabulous! This recipe gave me the opportunity to try out my new immersion blender which allowed me to puree the beans right in the soup pot :-) I made the following modifications to the recipe: Used a can of "Zesty Chili Style" diced tomatoes for some added kick; 2 chicken boullion cubes and 2 beef boullion cubes to make the broth; 2 Tblsp. cider vinegar; 1/4 tsp. baking soda (to lessen the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar); and 1/2 tsp. of Penzey's new spice blend called "Forward".

4 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Sep. 19, 2011
Ginger-Peach Cake
I made some adjustments to this recipe after reading others' comments. I reduced the amount of baking powder for one thing....4 Tablespoons??? I have a feeling this is a typo and should have been 4 teaspoons. Consequently, that's what I did and it worked just fine. Then I upped the amount of sugar to 1 cup. Since I didn't have any sour cream on hand, I substituted yogurt and used sour milk for the liquid. When I cut up my peaches I had roughly two cups; that seemed to be in proportion to the amount of batter that I had. I added 1/4 cup ground almonds and then sprinkled sliced almonds and some brown sugar in the pan before pouring in the batter. I baked the cake for 1 hour and 15 mins. and it turned out just fine. My husband just helped himself to a second piece, in fact. It would be good served with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of peach ice cream!

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Aug. 13, 2011
High Temperature Eye-of-Round Roast
Simple to do. Perfect outcome ewvery time. If that doesn't desrve a 5 star rating, then nothing does!

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Jun. 16, 2010
 
ADVERTISEMENT
 
Select Your Version:  Argentina  |  Australia & New Zealand  |  Brazil  |  Canada  |  China  |  France  |  Germany  |  India  |  Japan  |  Korea  |  Mexico  |  Netherlands  |  Poland

Quebec  |  Russia  |  SE Asia  |  United Kingdom & Ireland  |  United States