No baking powder and brown sugar rather than white were both tip-offs to how fudgy and moist these would be. More cocoa powder than most recipes guaranteed these would be deeply chocolate. It was interesting to try something a little different and in this case it paid off. Good recipe!

This simplified take on Julia Child's classic Salad Nicoise was just what I was after for a quick and healthy dinner. As a matter of personal taste I skipped the anchovies, onion and capers and used my own Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette. Rather than mixed greens, a la Julia, I used Boston lettuce. Once the potatoes are cooked, toss them with some of the vinaigrette and cover until you're ready to serve. They absorb all that flavorful goodness. Rather than tossing altogether, I arranged this as a composed salad. This, a small baguette and a cup of clam chowder completed our meal.

This frosting is lick your fingers, spatula and bowl good - and exactly as written save for using clear vanilla and adding a pinch of salt. But I can't stress enough how important it is to use hi-ratio shortening, easily available online, for superior quality.

I didn't care for these so much because they were a little on the flat and greasy side. But I would have bet my life that Hubs would love them, because they were a little on the flat and greasy side. (And because I frosted them generously with Sugar Cookie Frosting, also from this site, even tho' in my mind they didn't need any frosting at all - yes, because they were a little on the flat and greasy side). So I held off on my review until he tried one. He instantly remarked that they were chewier than usual, so the cookie definitely lives up to its name. I thought they were a little on the sweet side, but Hubs said these were the kind of cookie he could eat until he got sick, his highest form of compliment.

Prepared as written this is a perfectly acceptable mayonnaise-based dip. But that's not what I wanted. I wanted ranch dressing, easily achieved by backing off on the mayonnaise and thinning it out with buttermilk. Dried herbs, if they're fresh, are just fine; but since I had them I used fresh herbs to taste. Much improved if prepared an hour or two in advance.

Fun to make and decorate, and fun to eat too. Tart and sweet both, and very tropical, citrusy tasting. I was a little non-believing about the small amount of oil, especially with no egg yolks in the batter, but it worked. I backed off to four cups with the powdered sugar and I was happy with that. Creative and a sure "conversation cupcake."

There is so much wrong with this recipe in my view. Temperature too high, convoluted directions, questionable ingredients and measurements - and that's just the cake! Still, underneath it all I recognized a fairly basic yellow cake recipe. First, set oven to 350, not 375. I scaled the recipe to 15 servings for a common 9" layer cake, 13x9" sheet cake or 24 cupcakes. As for ingredients, the baking powder is enough - omit the baking soda. Use half the amount of salt. For this 15-serving recipe I used 4 eggs, not 3 as the recipe would dictate for that yield. I added a tsp. of vanilla and finally, given this is an orange cake, I used all orange juice rather than half orange juice and half water. To mix the batter I used a conventional creaming method: cream the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then the vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with the juice, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. I baked this as cupcakes and frosted them with a buttercream frosting. The cake was wonderful; moist and tender with a delicate orange flavor. As written this recipe has so many flaws I'd have to rate it one star, if for no other reason than the baking directions are so off. But with some tinkering the cake is quite good so I don't want to steer others away from trying it by rating it so poorly. Rating it 3 stars will hopefully give it the attention it deserves if some things are corrected.

I followed the recipe loosely, so as to use up vegetables I had on hand, and this dish is perfect for that! I used some mixed color peppers, onions, fresh mushrooms, a handful of frozen green peas and skipped the garlic powder and dried parsley. Take some good pasta, add vegetables of choice, give it a sprinkle of grated Parmesan and it's always a winner in my book.

I've tried many variations of mashed cauliflower and while I've enjoyed them all, all were not as "fluffy" as I would like, and in fact leaned toward the "porridge-like" side - until now. Steaming the cauliflower, rather than cooking it in water, obviously is the solution and I'm happy to be this recipe's first reviewer so I can reveal the secret!

Make no mistake, this is banana CAKE, not banana BREAD. It is light, fluffy and, for some reason I don’t understand, looks like a yellow cake rather than the darker, banana flecked cake I would have expected. It’s pleasantly sweet, buttery rich and moist. I prepared the recipe as written save for substituting buttermilk for the sour milk. This recipe was just perfect for the cupcakes I used it for, frosted with Texas Chocolate Frosting, also from this site.

I was so pleased with this! Because I was using it to pipe onto cupcakes and I wasn’t sure how that would work with melting the butter first, I didn’t. In addition, I used butter rather than margarine and just three cups of confectioners’ sugar. It was light, fluffy, and unmistakably chocolate. I know it would have been darker, more fudgy looking, had I melted the butter, and I’m anxious to try it that way on brownies or a sheet cake.

Hubs knew in advance that this would have, as he refers to it, the "evil" oatmeal in it. He graciously agreed to try it anyway - for me. He liked it! I made a double recipe (winging the amounts of strawberries, strawberry jam and milk) and added a little honey just cuz. He drank that right up, dreaded oatmeal and all. He even admitted that had I not told him about the oatmeal he would have never known.

Excellent - but I found one egg to be sufficient. I also made them into individual patties.

Awesome good. Not nearly as good as what we've enjoyed in Rome, but then again there they use fresh locally grown artichokes, good, fresh pizza dough, fresh mozzarella and a minimum of fresh tomato sauce. But this isn't Rome. I used mozzarella rather than the Colby-Monterey Jack. We loved it right down to the last bite. The only thing I'll do differently next time is use my own, simple, unseasoned tomato sauce.

I didn't measure anything, just cooked and added as it looked right to me. I added chopped fresh shallot with the garlic and some fresh, baby spinach at the end. Humble, simple, but extremely delicious.

I wasn't a fan of these. The flavor was fine (I left out the almond extract in order to accentuate the flavor of the Bailey's) but I was not impressed with the texture. I found the batter too loose and the resulting cupcake heavy, dense and moist - TOO heavy, dense and moist. Perhaps both the Bailey's and the sour cream should both be reduced but I'm afraid I'm not interested in this recipe enough to play around with it. These were just passable.

Hubs grimaced when I told him the salad dressing had avocado in it. I should have just kept my mouth shut because he would have never known the difference. But even knowing that the terrible avocado was in it, he still admitted he really liked it. And then he remarked (ha!), “I like to try new things.” Of course he liked it, it was delicious! The avocado gives it richness and a beautiful hint of green color, but it does not contribute much flavor. I followed the recipe but used fresh parsley and dill. This is simply a lovely, fresh dressing with a simple elegance.

What a shame that I was the only one home while this was cooking! The aroma was awesome, predicting what a great turkey dinner we were in for. I had a small boneless breast, about 3 pounds, so I adjusted the method, measurements and cooking time to accommodate it, but other than rubbing the roast with some olive oil before sprinkling it with salt, pepper and a little chopped rosemary, I made no substitutions or omissions of ingredients. I cooked it about 6-1/2 hours on low. This was fragrant, immensely flavorful and so tender and moist. The juices it gave off during cooking made for excellent gravy. When I’m the first reviewer of a recipe, as I am here, and it turns out this good I couldn’t be more pleased to review it. I served this with Ann’s Rice Pilaf, Chic Green Beans, recipes also from this site, and a tossed green salad.

This is a good, basic, well-written recipe for gravy that will appeal to all those who either have never made gravy or who aren’t confident preparing it. I used the drippings from a roasted turkey breast plus enough boxed chicken stock to make up the difference. The cream was a nice addition, something I don’t generally use. I didn’t care for the light color of the gravy, however, particularly since I was using it for sliced roast turkey, but a little dribble of Kitchen Bouquet fixed that right up.

Not too bland, not too bold, just right - and for my turkey dinner tonight that means it was perfect. Hubs and I both appreciated its simplicity. I used orzo for the broken vermicelli and chicken broth rather than the bouillon and water. Even tho’ the submitter encourages using your choice of seasoning, I stuck to the Greek seasoning as the recipe was written. As she said, however, the recipe is versatile so it allows the flexibility to use any number of different herbs or seasonings. We loved it, plain and simple.