Bread Machine Bagels

Reviewed: Apr. 23, 2009

AMAZING! I've tried bagel recipes before, and they just didn't turn out well. I followed this recipe to a T, aside from omitting the egg wash and poppy seeds. They were a little crisp on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. DE-LISH! I put them in an air-tight container, and they were great the next day for breakfast as well.

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Megan L

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Watkins Glen, New York, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Penne Primavera

Reviewed: Apr. 9, 2009

This was a good recipe. I'm only giving it 4 stars, because I had to do a fair bit of tweaking by taste to make it a tasty dish. A great base, but a little off. Good thing it is open for tweaking in any direction. I had to add 2x the vegetable broth, and simmered the complete dish for twice the amount of time at the end for the pasta to be edible. I used whole wheat penne, used TWO big garlic cloves, and left out the cheese, making it a delicious vegan dinner, with a bit of tweaking on the flavor.

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Megan L

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Watkins Glen, New York, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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White Bean Chicken Chili

Reviewed: Apr. 8, 2009

Both my boyfriend and I loved this recipe, which is a tough call. I veered from the recipe a bit and cooked the diced chicken and 4 cloves of fresh garlic in a pan, then threw everything into a crockpot on high for 2 hours and low for another hour after that. I did not use oil, tomatillos or lime and used 1 can of diced tomatoes with chilis. I also added a can of pinto beans and a can of corn instead of fresh. I served it with lowfat sour cream, shredded cheese and Tostitos chips and it was soooo yummy! We fought over the last bowl of leftovers.

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Melody

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Pasadena, Maryland, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

Reviewed: Mar. 12, 2009

Great! I made a few changes. I used lots more phyllo because I like the crunch. I used frozen spinach, added fresh dill and salt, and used butter instead of olive oil. My friend recommended that you can freeze uncooked and it keeps well. Will be making again.

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MYPRETTYPEONIES

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Accokeek, Maryland, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Chicken Andouille Gumbo

Reviewed: Mar. 12, 2009

Pretty good, but needs more meat. I couldn't find andouille and I short cut the chicken. My first attempt at the roux burned, but the second attempt was fine. Got it to peanut butter color on a low-med temp. I used frozen okra, which I dumped in at the end. Couldn't find file powder either. I made hush puppies to go with it. I wouldn't have wanted it any spicier. Time consuming, even with my short cuts. Definitely would make it again.

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MYPRETTYPEONIES

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Accokeek, Maryland, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Michelle's Famous Washed Cranberry Sauce

Reviewed: Mar. 12, 2009

Delicious. I prefer this over cooking it into a thick mono-textured sauce, though I like that too. The berries retain their shape and make a thin sweet sauce for them to swim in. Tart and good. I'll definitely be eating cranberries more often!

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MYPRETTYPEONIES

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Accokeek, Maryland, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Fish Chowder

Reviewed: Mar. 11, 2009

We enjoyed this soup last night while the rain poured down and the wind howled. It is delicious comfort food that's good for you too. The recipe seems to tolerate tweaking very well. I used only one can of (fat-free) evaporated milk, added a can of chopped clams, upped the mushrooms and spices, and substituted haddock for cod. My husband and I rate dishes on a scale from 1-10 and he said this is a ten. It made a big batch but he said no, we should not share it with the neighbors.

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Sylvia B

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Red Creek, New York, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Parmesan Knots

Reviewed: Mar. 8, 2009

I'm not sure that they were particularly memorable, but they were tasty, and really, really quick and easy to prepare (especially since I didn't even make knots--I just plunked the biscuit dough down like normal). It's a great alternative to garlic bread--faster than buttering and seasoning all of those slices and a bit cheaper too. It's nice to do something different with pasta meals. Someone did ask me where I got them, so they must have been alright!

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HuskerGirl

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Geneva, Nebraska, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Sugar Cookie Icing

Reviewed: Mar. 3, 2009

I'm in love! I can't believe how professional this icing looks! A more traditional frosting (butter-based), which is what I used to use before I found this, is perhaps a little bit tastier, but this icing is certainly plenty delicious and more than makes up the difference in appearance and practicality (it's invaluable that these stack so well--no sticking together, no waiting years for them to finally dry). People were really impressed by these, and this will be my sugar cookie icing from now on. Like others, I had to add more milk, but that's no problem. The recipe is a good starting place, and it's easy enough to add milk a little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. I think I added about 3-4 more tablespoons when it was all said and done.

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HuskerGirl

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Geneva, Nebraska, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Corn Pudding II

Reviewed: Mar. 1, 2009

Our chickens are laying lots of eggs so I tried this recipe to use some up. It turned out really well. I misread the recipe and used two 10 oz bags of supersweet corn. I reduced the butter to 2 tablespoons and the sugar to 1/4 cup. Baked in an 8.5 by 11 inch casserole, it took far longer than 45 minutes, maybe 1.25 hours. Turned out as a creamy custard over a corn base and was plenty sweet enough for my husband and me. The corn was a little watery on the bottom but fine. Will make for company and holidays.

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Sylvia B

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Red Creek, New York, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Quinoa and Black Beans

Reviewed: Mar. 1, 2009

I made this early last week and have been thinking about this dish everyday since. I cut in half, soaked the quinoa for 20 minutes or so. I used about 1/2 the cumin and toasted it with the quinoa as it sauteed. I love cumin, but not everyone does. A smaller dose is just enough to add a delicious flavor, and no one has any idea that the flavor is cumin. Added the corn and beans at the same time - cooked the whole dish about 10 less then suggested. Also subbed parsley for the cilantro - love cilantro but was using what I had on hand.

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PYTNPLACE

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Ithaca, New York, USA

Living In: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

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Wilted Spinach

Reviewed: Feb. 24, 2009

Sooooo good! I used a bag of fresh baby spinach. 3 minutes was too long for me, so I'll try 2 next time. I made a half batch of the "dressing" and it was perfect. It made it to have with ham steak, which added the saltiness I wanted. (I used lemon juice out of the little plastic lemon since I had no fresh and I toasted my pinenuts.)

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MYPRETTYPEONIES

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Accokeek, Maryland, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Chicken Enchiladas I

Reviewed: Feb. 18, 2009

follow the recipe and my family loved it.

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Elizabeth

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Ithaca, New York, USA

Living In: Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA

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Fudge Truffle Cheesecake

Reviewed: Feb. 16, 2009

Delicious and very easy to make! The texture is just fabulous--very moist and smooth. Like others, I shut off the oven and left the cheesecake in it for another hour after the initial baking time. It was perfect! I also made a brownie crust, as suggested in another review, and it was a great compliment to the cheesecake! I coated my cheesecake with the Chocolate Ganache recipe from this website. Very, very yummy, and very, very rich--just a little slice will be sufficient! This was the perfect Valentine's Day dessert! (though it would work any time you really want to wow people without a lot of work!)

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HuskerGirl

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Geneva, Nebraska, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Chocolate Ganache

Reviewed: Feb. 16, 2009

I put this on the Fudge Truffle Cheesecake from this site. Decadent and very, very easy! The only time-consuming thing about this recipe was chopping the chocolate (and if I had a blender or food processor, that wouldn't have taken any time or effort either!) Thanks for this recipe--it made my cheesecake look so fancy!

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HuskerGirl

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Geneva, Nebraska, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Cookie Balls

Reviewed: Jan. 31, 2009

One of the best treats out there. I usually just make them for Christmas, because it's not really something you want to get into on a regular basis...but oh so good! Last time I made them was during a massive baking day, and I assigned these to my boyfriend. He did a great job and was definitely a fan of the finished product! (Of course, I'm not sure how you couldn't be!) We chilled the "dough" before making balls too, and it made everything very easy.

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HuskerGirl

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Geneva, Nebraska, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Candy Cane Fudge

Reviewed: Jan. 31, 2009

Pretty tasty and visually interesting. The downside (or, perhaps the upside, if you don't want to eat a lot of sweets!) is that it is *very* rich fudge. Still, it's an attractive addition to Christmas sweets and a nice contrast to traditional fudge. As for the coloring, to avoid the pink hue, it's best to use gel food coloring (I got mine at a craft store). *A little goes a long way!!!* Just put a bit on a spoon and stir it a few times to get the attractive marbled appearance in the photo that appears with this recipe. Regular (liquid) food coloring isn't quite potent enough to not be pink.

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HuskerGirl

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Geneva, Nebraska, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Catherine's Spicy Chicken Soup

Reviewed: Jan. 31, 2009

Yummy! I love the chicken tortilla soup at Panera, and since there is no Panera in my current town (a tragedy in its own right, but probably one that saves me money), I was looking for a good spicy chicken soup recipe. This one is different than Panera's, but still tasty. I like that it's pretty adaptable--different veggies or different beans would all taste great. I don't care for tomatoes, so I left out all of them (except the soup), and it still tasted great, though it was probably a bit more brothy-looking than it might have been otherwise. But it has great flavor, and that's the most important part!

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HuskerGirl

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Geneva, Nebraska, USA

Living In: Ithaca, New York, USA

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Cheesy Potato and Corn Chowder

Reviewed: Jan. 31, 2009

Cheese and potatoes--there was little chance that I wouldn't like this recipe! But, I found it to be just the right amount of thickness and just a good, solid winter soup. The recipe as it stands makes a *lot* of soup, so I froze some and hope that it will still be good after that.

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