Janine's Best Banana Bread

Reviewed: Dec. 26, 2009

This bread was fantastic. I made the first loaf using black bananas from my freezer. They were pretty much liquid (you get no banana chunks this way) and I made exactly as the recipes states. It was delicious. I made another loaf and tweaked it. I greased my pan with butter and then sprinkled white sugar, tapping to get the excess out. Instead of 1 cup of white sugar, I used 1/2cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar and mixed in a couple of shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg. I mixed in crushed walnuts into the final batter. I liked my tweaked version better because it suits my taste but this basic recipe turns out a near perfect loaf.

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otis

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Iwakuni, Yamaguchi, Japan

Living In: Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

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Chocolate Frosting I

Reviewed: Dec. 26, 2009

This recipe needs doctoring. I use 1/2 cup of real butter, 3/4 cup cocoa, 1/3 cup milk, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, and 3 cups powder sugar and it is perfect! Also, sift all dry ingredients to ensure a smooth texture. Give it a try this way and you'll be happy!

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LaSensei

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: South Bend, Indiana, USA

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Peppermint Meringues

Reviewed: Dec. 24, 2009

Easy! Japanese eggs are a little smaller than American Large, so I used 3 egg whites. Since I had 12 egg whites from another recipe left over, I made one batch w/ 1/2t. peppermint extract and green food coloring; one batch with 1/2t. almond essence (white); one with 1/2t. lemon extract and yellow food coloring; and the last with cocoa powder for chocolate. By placing the wax paper sheets directly on the oven racks, I was able to bake two batches at once. Now I'm giving out multi-flavored gift zip-locks.

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Cooking in Tokyo

Cooking Level: Expert

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Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Reviewed: Dec. 24, 2009

Outstanding! Be sure to use brown sugar & powdered sugar in addition to the white sugar, just as the first couple of reviews suggest. I was never a big fan of this cookie when I was growing up, because my family makes them with flour; but they're my boyfriend's favorite, so I gave them a try. This flour-less version is just wonderful! Nice, moist & chewy instead of dry and flavorless. They're great even if you run out of chocolate kisses (like I did!).

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lupusliz

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Dover, Ohio, USA

Living In: Osaka, Osaka, Japan

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Beef Pot Pie III

Reviewed: Dec. 22, 2009

My BF "Dig a hole in the backyard and bury it. Dig a deep enough hole, so if you make it again, there's room for your body." It was edible for me, but he couldn't even look at it. He covered it with paper towels. I added a cup of wine to the broth, and extra spices such as sage and thyme. I also added a sauteed onion. No salvaging this recipe.

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sailshonan

Cooking Level: Expert

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Sarah's Applesauce

Reviewed: Dec. 20, 2009

It's awesome! Tonight is about the fifth time I've made it and it always comes out good. I use Fuji apples since we live in Japan and I just can't rave about it enough....! Thank you!

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iloveavocados

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Detroit, Michigan, USA

Living In: Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

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Easy Garlic Chicken

Reviewed: Dec. 20, 2009

Delicious! Just had it for dinner tonight...at first thought it might be too much garlic but it turned out great! Was flavorful and moist and even my husband loved it..thanks for giving us a quick easy dinner option!

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iloveavocados

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Detroit, Michigan, USA

Living In: Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

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Pumpkin Maple Pie Supreme

Reviewed: Dec. 19, 2009

this was a great pie. i needed to keep the filling dairy free so i used Coconut milk instead of the half and half. It was great, there wasn't a strong coconut flavor, it still seemed like a classic pumpkin pie. my guests loved it. Personally, i always think pumpkin pie needs more crust (the best part of a pie!) so i cut out some leaves with extra pie crust and decorated the top of the pie. Very pretty!

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B Spradley

Living In: La Mirada, California, USA

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Chocolate Crinkles II

Reviewed: Dec. 19, 2009

These are some tasty chocolate cookies! They are by far my favorite chocolate cookies yet. And they look pretty with the cracked powdered sugar. The dough is really hard to work with, though. I think they are worth the hassle, but definitely keep your hands moist or floured. And freeze the dough.

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Kelly in Kitsuki

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Micanopy, Florida, USA

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Maple Cookies

Reviewed: Dec. 19, 2009

These cookies are amazing! I found them because I had some leftover maple sugar to use up and wasn't sure what to do with it. I'm glad I did. I almost didn't make them because of the reviews saying there wasn't enough flavor, or that these cookies needed something extra. But I'm glad I did. It's true the maple flavor is subtle (almost an aftertaste), and I think adding maple extra would add the flavor some reviewers felt was missing. However, as is, these are delicious, soft centered, slightly crispy edged tiny little round disks of heaven. I halved the recipe and used 1/4 cup maple sugar and 1/4 cup light brown sugar instead of dark brown, because I thought light brown would be less likely to mask the maple flavor, and I rolled them in maple sugar at the end. Maybe my favorite cookies ever.

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Kelly in Kitsuki

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Micanopy, Florida, USA

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Flambeed Vanilla-Poached Pears with Apricot Sauce

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2009

wow, this was excellent! my guests really enjoyed it. I've made it twice now. first time i served it with vanilla icecream and shortbread/buscuits because i thought the dessert needed something. But the second time we just ate it with ice cream. I will definetly be making this again. Even though i don't like pears too much this was very good.

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B Spradley

Living In: La Mirada, California, USA

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Exquisite Pizza Sauce

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2009

Very good sauce- I followed the recommendations of other reviewers and lessened the amt of honey. We like it hot and spicy, so we didn't lessen the amount of peppers. We happened to have just today bought a can of anchovies- we crushed enough to make two teaspoons (I doubled the amount to freeze some) and added that- it does add another very delicate layer of flavor- however, I am sure it would be almost as good without! I did use a 12 oz can of tomato sauce and let it reduce it down to thicken it some. Definitely a keeper.

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SLHSCHNEIDER

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Chinhae, Kyongsang-Namdo, South Korea

Living In: Myersville, Maryland, USA

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Healthy Banana Cookies

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2009

Rather good. I am a health fanatic so i used applesauce instead of oil which made the cookies a bit gummy. I think I would probably add 1/4 cup flour if I were to make these again. Overall good alternative to fat laden, high sugar cookies.

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cynthri

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Yomitan, Okinawa, Japan

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Lighter Banana Muffins

Reviewed: Dec. 17, 2009

I am so glad I tried this recipe! I have made this recipe in a variety of ways in the last 2 days! (overloaded on bananas...freezing them for easy breakfast later) I tried the straight recipe and they were like others said a little chewy but not bad, we like them. Then tried what some others said by adding an extra banana, this was much better. They turned out less chewy and more bread like. Some I have added different amounts of cinnamon, but my favorite by far are the banana with chocolate chips! Can't go wrong with these muffins. I like to play around so I am going to try adding Craisins in the next batch.

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JennShoeAg

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Mexican Rice II

Reviewed: Dec. 16, 2009

Not too impressed with the recipe as is. It is bland with just the cumin to flavor.

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ASERGEANTSWIFE

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Sugar Cookie Icing

Reviewed: Dec. 16, 2009

Good but turned a funny color after a couple of days

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ASERGEANTSWIFE

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Sugar Cookie Frosting

Reviewed: Dec. 16, 2009

A great recipe for Christmas cut outs.

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ASERGEANTSWIFE

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Shortbread Cookies IV

Reviewed: Dec. 13, 2009

great, buttery flavor! My 11-year old made these all by herself. Instead of making bar cookies, she rolled the dough into a log and sliced it into individual cookies. They baked up in less than 10 minutes. The recipe was quick, easy and resulted in a rich, great tasting cookie.

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Reviewer:

gurohime

Living In: Sammamish, Washington, USA

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Grandma's Polish Perogies

Reviewed: Dec. 12, 2009

I've made this 3 years in a row and am going to make it for the 4th time today. I'd suggest making the filling before then letting it cool and using your hands to roll it into balls before stuffing the perogies because the filling will be quite hot. My dough is always a bit sticky so follow the freezing on cookie sheets instructions before putting them together or you'll have a huge frozen brick of perogies. I live in Japan so can't get perogies anywhere and I give them out to my neighbours.

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Luc2000

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Pumpkin Bread

Reviewed: Dec. 11, 2009

This makes a moist, spicy, perfect pumpkin bread. I used fresh Japanese pumpkin, called kabocha (as I currently live in Japan, where there is no canned pumpkin). I added a little extra pumpkin to taste, but that was the only change I made. I was so sad when this bread was gone....

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