This is such a simple and sweet little dish that makes everyone feel warm, especially on those cool autumn or cold winter nights. It's good all year round. If you follow the directions precisely, you'll get excellent results. The type of rice truly does make a difference. Long grain rice is a completely different texture than, say, short grain rice. I noticed a creamier and thicker texture with short-grained right as opposed to long-grained. It has to do with the starch content in the rice itself. A small addition that I make to my rice pudding (and it is well loved) - Take 1/4 cup of dried, pitted cherries (you can chop them up if you want) and add to a small sautee pan. Take about 1/8th (2 tablespoons) cup of drinking sherry (I use amontillado, only because it's always in my house - slightly sweet, slightly dry) and pour over the cherries. Saute until the sherry is cooked off into a thicker liquid (or until the cherries absorb the sherry). Add your sherried-cherries when you add the butter and vanilla to the recipe. Depending on the type of cherries you use, they add a different sweetness as well as a tartness. The sherry adds sweetness and a richness that cannot be matched!

This was fabulous. The recipe was fabulous in and of itself and my guests were raving about this recipe. The only modification I would make next time is to add 50% more potatoes and double the "sauce." Likewise, I would add a teaspoon or two of dried mustard seed - It gives it a more traditional flavoring. I like my hot german potato salad a bit on the saucy side - getting it too dry is so "blegh." Might as well boil plain potatoes and eat them right out of the pain with only a dash of salt and other flavor. But it IS the best recipe base I have ever used, and was well loved by those I served. (made a German dinner - Bratwurst, German potato salad, braised red cabbage, sauerkraut and Brussels sprouts.)

Perfect pumpkin pie spice - The only additional I made was 1/4 teaspoon of allspice to complete the palette. Additionally, you can toast the spice until it just starts to smoke a bit (not BURN it), as it will bring out the rich flavors of the individual spices.

I had a fantastic time making this pie. Roasting the pumpkin, peeling, scraping, pulping and pureeing... It was nice to get down into the nitty gritty of the pie's origin instead of just using a can of premade pumpkin pie mix. All in all, I don't even care for pumpkin pie, but so many people around me love it that it is in high demand. I could not tell a huge difference between the premade pumpkin and that which I made, but others said they could. I don't think I will be making this again anytime soon because it IS a lot of work, but it is definitely worth making once, or always if you are a purist when it comes to ingredients.

All I can say is...FABULOUS! Don't be afraid to put in your favorite mushrooms in here. The recipe does NOT specify. Many people have made the mistake in thinking they can only put "button mushrooms in here." BORING! I put in chanterelles and oyster mushrooms and it made a fantastically rich and delicious soup. Also, the chanterelles I had were dried, so I reconstituted them in water before, and they gave the soup a great texture. Keep in mind: The paprika is KEY to making it Hungarian and beautifully colored. I had a great time making and eating this soup, as it was super simple in the end. The only thing that would make it better is instead of adding raw flower, a roux was made for the thickening agent. Try it out for yourself!

I made this thing crust pizza dough into a flat bread on my baking stone. It was so good that the flat bread was complimented more for the crust than the toppings. I am a traditionalist, what with the kneading and the old fashioned babying...But this was easy in a time crunch and delicious to boot.

Fantastic, easy-to-read and easy-to-use recipe. Straightforward and came out with some delicious ribs. This is a very basic recipe, and as with most BBQ you can add whatever you want to flavor these ribs. I added them to the slow-cooker and then put them over my ancient weber BBQ over lump charcoal and got some good hickory smoke chips going. They turned out fabulous.

This was good for the amount of time it took, but it just doesn't beat an old fashioned hollandaise sauce made in a double boiler. I suppose it is more the atmosphere and my own placebo effect tainting the flavor of this sauce for me, but when I make Eggs Benedict, specifically, all 4 burners must be going, and a double boiler is one of them! Kudos on time, though!

Another fabulous recipe - Delicious and full of coconut flavor. Adding coconut extract gives it a richer flavor, as well as toasting the coconut. Also, I used flour as a thickening agent. Corn starch is good, but it's too much like jello. It should be creamy, and the only way to achieve that is to use a flour thickener.

These were the best tasting things that I have ever made! And simple, to boot! Placing the dough in the bread machine made it easier than I anticipated. The hardest part was learning to shape them. They come out of the oven hard on the outside, but adding the butter instantly softens them up and make them stay soft. I added myriad toppings, such as garlic salt on some (my personal favorite), salt and pepper on others, plain salt, Parmesan cheese, sugar and cinnamon, cumin and coriander and fennel. What a lovely recipe!

This was fabulous! It was such a big hit, all of it was eaten, which was surprising judging how decadent it was. First suggestion: Add rosewater to your whipped cream. You can't actually "taste" the rosewater, but you can definitely smell it...and taste is 90% smell. It is traditional to add rosewater to the whipping cream in a trifle. Second suggestion: Use real whipping cream (SUPER stiff peaks). The difference is surprising. Cool-whip and real whipping cream is to the savory comparison of "Miracle whip" versus "real mayo." A world of difference there, if you know what I mean.

This is an easy basis for a liqueur. Note that Cordial is just another name for "liqueur." I used a bit less vodka, because a quart doesn't necessarily fit in a quart jar when it is filled with berries and sugar. But I ended up making about 3 jars of the stuff. Two months was an excellent aging time. What a treat to have an explosion of blackberry flavor in october/november? Plus, the liqueur will last indefinitely at room temperature if properly corked or sealed.

This was the most down to earth, simple recipe for flan I have ever found. Not to mention, it made the perfect texture. Some suggest adding an extra egg or two (or even more) and that is a good suggestion if you like your flan egg-ey. Adding more and more eggs gets it close and closer to the texture of scrambled eggs, which is good but not always desired. Adding more eggs also helps to set it better and makes it easier to get out of the pan. Personally, I prefer to follow teh recipe exactly, as it gives the most traditional texture and flavor. Also, some advice on the sugar syrup: DO NOT BE AFRAID OF MAKING SUGAR SYRUP. The instructions here are perfect for making the sugar syrup - Just get over the fear, as it is easy (especially once you get used to it). There will always be a few tiny chunks in your sugar syrup. Recommendation here, as others have put it down. Have your pan pre-heated as it will keep the sugar syrup liquid longer while you allow it to spread on teh bottom of the pan. If you do it this way, you shouldn't need a spatula to spread it around. And when you get read to pour your milk and egg mixture, ladle a bit in first, and then pour the rest in, to equalize temperature. After it comes out of the oven, you might have a few "volcanoes," meaning places where the sugar syrup has boiled through. Don't worry about it! Just cool it until it is cold in the fridge, take a knife and scraped the sides and turn it upside down and voila. Perfect flan!

This is by far the best cranberry mixture I have ever had the pleasure of making and eating. The difference in this recipe is that there are all kinds of things. The "purist" cranberries (ie. cranberries, orange juice and sugar) are still wonderful, don't get me wrong! But to have such a decadent and surprising change will thrill your guests (if you are cooking for a party)! There are those who will always hate cranberries, but those who just "didn't care for them" before fall in love with them after this recipe. Try it out, and don;t be afraid to mix it up a bit with this recipe!

I have made this cake for the cafe and my family over a hundred times now. You can make it as is, and it is excellent, or you can deviate. First word of advice: DO NOT FROST THE SIDES OR TOP OF THIS CAKE. It has a wonderful rustic look if you frost ONLY the internal layers. The chocolate topping is made with FAR too few squares of chocolate. Add extra, and for each extra you add, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of shortening. I like to create a ganache shell on top of my cake, so I pour chocolate there and spread it super thin, then drizzle chocolate down the size. It gives it a beautiful, rustic-artisan look. You can decorate the top of the cake by SPARINGLY sprinkling raw or toasted coconut (or chopped nuts) on top of the cake and then drizzling additional chocolate in a crisscross pattern over the top of that. Feel free to deviate in nuts you use - I often use hazelnuts along with pecans. I also often toast my coconut instead of using plain raw coconut. This will drastically change the flavors of the cake, but it's always fun to deviate once in a while. Also, when you make your layers, place parchment paper on the bottom of your pans. Put the pan, cake and all, in the freezer until frozen. Place the bottom of the pan in hot water for about 10 to 20 seconds. This will warm the bottom of the cake. Remove the layers, remove the parchment paper, and cut the bulb off the top of each layer to make a perfectly round, flat layer. This will increase presentability by 100%!

This was an excellent, basic tzatziki sauce to use with greek dishes, such a gyros with fresh lamb or falafels with delicious chickpeas.

The first time I made falafels was with this recipe. I love to cook food, full of meat, full of veggies or just plain vegan. This one isn't entirely vegan, but definitely vegetarian. It was a hit with people who didn't even like vegetarian food; people who couldn't even fathom eating a meatless meal. It's so full of flavor and texture that you don't even miss the meat. Be sure to have some excellent pita on hand, very fresh veggies (like chopped or sliced red tomato, fresh lettuce or spinach, and chopped red or strong white onion). You need a good tzatziki sauce to go with this, though. I know this site has an excellent recipe for that!

This is an easy potato dish, full of starch creating a great comfort food. I admit, though, that it's a bit heavy for my liking, but for those people who love the heavy foods, such as biscuits and gravy or mashed taters and country fried steak, this would probably be a winner. The kids love this stuff and half the time prefer eating it to the entrees I prepare. Does that mean I should work on my entrees??!

This is a delightful dish to use as a side to any dinner serving some kind of poultry. In fact, you can stuff this stuff into a bird and make a rice-stuffing and it won't ONLY turn out great, but it will flavor the bird and keep it moist and tender. This dish is healthy and full of fiber and things that make your body happy, including your tongue!

As you can see, this recipe is rated 5 stars even after a thousand ratings. It IS delicious, in absolute entirety. This made a perfectly textured pudding, with the varying textures of the banana slices and the vanilla wafer cookies. I have made this recipe a hundred times now and served it as a simple dessert. Since it is so decadently flavored with the pudding, the milk and the rich creme cheese, it is always assumed as a "professional" dish, even though anyone with some experience can make it. Plus it makes so much, and is so easy to prepare beautifully! I'd recommend this to anyone who loves pudding - and bananas - as much as I do.