Albuquerque, New Mexico

VERY good! We used butter instead of the shortening. I do recommend brushing them with melted salted butter right after taking them out of the oven, and maybe just before baking, too.

boy was this great I added vanilla, blueberries, and oats. But even without all that stuff I added it would still be the best crisp ever.

I didn't have high hopes for this, but it actually was pretty good. I do agree that it's a little bland--even after I upped the paprika to 2 tsp. I found that I should have sauteed the onions a little longer than 10 minutes, but if you are good at doing a fine dice (I'm not), then 10 minutes might be fine. Keep a careful eye on the potatoes, carrots and celery while boiling, so the potatoes don't get too mushy. (And try to dice the carrots small so they cook through.) I used white potatoes, which worked well. I think this might benefit from substituting chicken or vegetable broth for the water. I added a European seasoning called Vegeta that I like, and that perked the soup right up.