Alison's Reviews
18 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 18Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook: 350 Inspired Recipes from Elizabeth Baird and the Kitchen Canadians Trust Most
By Elizabeth Baird
Random House Canada - 2004
This recipe is simple and has worked every time I've made it. The gravy is yummy. I love it with Yorkshire puddings and is one of my comfort foods!
useful (0)
Everyday Food
(April, 2008)
This is a very versatile and forgiving recipe. It is easy to make substitutions or deletions and can be used a few ways. Excellent with rigatoni or on toasts and with fish. Freezes very well.
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This recipe does freeze well. It is tasty and healthy and I like this one as it is chocked full of veggies and milk - and Connor likes it! I also add corn to this, though you could likely add any vegetable. Be careful with the sauce, it makes a heck of a lot, so you need a large pot - but you need it all!! Also great with fresh noodles if trying to make it a little nicer. I find the sauce doesn't do well with too much substitution of skim milk if trying to make it lighter. Also, the layers are quite thick and I have found it difficult to fit them in the dish, so have sometimes just done the 1 layer of ricotta (which is fine, because that is the thinnest layer anyway) and finished with veg and parmesan.
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Everyday Food
(May/Jun, 2003)
This is a favorite. Easy and quick to make and very tasty. I often add more corn, but not really much else. I have had it with tortillas and over rice. It's low in fat and high in protein and Connor likes it (if I don't make it too spicy). I used to have a hard time finding green chiles, so have used jalopenos. A bit spicier, but also tasty - I just used 1 though.
useful (1)
This recipe does work better if the carrots are finely shredded. They cook in just fine. I've had tastier carrot muffin recipes, though this one is fine.
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Everyday Food
(Jan/Feb, 2007)
Very easy and tasty recipe. It doesn't take much time but looks impressive!
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Fearless in the Kitchen
By Christine Cushing
CanBook Distributor - 2002
This is an excellent recipe and relatively easy to make. I have made my own pasta, but in a pinch, won ton wrappers work well. I also have never used the amaretti (hard to find in Stratford) and like it without. I also make my own roasted pumpkin for the filling. We have skipped the pancetta when making for vegetarian friends. The sauce takes a bit to reduce, and I always have had lots of filling left over - which is fine as it freezes very well, making the next time you make them even faster. I advise freezing in cubes. One batch of sauce has done me many meals.
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I found this a tasty recipe, but quite sweet and a bit labour intensive. Now, I have only made it once, as it did take a while, and I didn't have all of the original ingredients (Spicy green olives, good quality madras curry powder - I used a paste) so maybe it wouldn't have been so sweet. I may try making it again, maybe skipping the icing sugar as I think I'd like it a bit more savoury.
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I really like this recipe as it is a nice take on lasagna, and it is the one I make the most now. It doesn't have much cheese, just the parmesan in the sauce (and only a little), but is quite creamy and tasty, you don't miss it. We have pureed the meat sauce a bit and added a little tomato paste to it as it can be a bit runny and separate. We did that the last time and it was the best one we've made. Also, best to use 2% milk, skim doesn't thicken well with the bechemel (adding to my previous lasagna's runniness I presume).
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Feast: Food to Celebrate Life
By Nigella Lawson
Hyperion - 2004
These are tasty, but not the ones mom and dad made when I grew up. I like my puddings a little goey, so you may want to cook for a little less time. I did them individually in muffin tins.
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This is Derek's favorite cake by far. I have never cooked it according to the recipe as I haven't found instant espresso powder. I had used a chocolate powder, but now I skip that step - though Derek has used instant coffee. The weights are all in grams, so a kitchen scale is a must. We tend to use kahlua. For the cream, we did the chocolate thing once, but prefer just to use whipping cream and keep it a little lighter.
useful (2)
The cake itself was quite good, but was a bit rich and not as good once the icing was added. I would make the cake again, but try a different icing.
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The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes
By Zanne Early Stewart, Ruth Reichl, John Willoughby
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2006
This is a very good and easy to make cupcake recipe. I have made it several times and always enjoyed them. The frostings for them are good, but I really like the lemon one, so don't bother with the chocolate one anymore - makes a lot of frosting - have tried freezing half, will report if it worked, otherwise maybe 1/2 the recipe.
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See review for buttermilk cupcakes. This makes a lot of icing. I love the lemon, chocolate ok. Trust me, the lemon rocks.
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These are very good and very quick to make. I have never made even close to the 12 1/2 dozen it says - they must be very tiny indeed. I like larger cookies and find this recipe makes 30 - 40 regular sized cookies. 150 must be about the size of batter surrounding 1 choclate chip.
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I made the Cuban Pork, which wasn't bad, but then had a lot of pork loin left over - the cuban sandwich was the perfect choice. Not a mixture I would think of putting together myself, I made them up for lunch one day, then then next. Froze some of the pork, and then had them again another time. Easy to put together, great in the sandwich maker. Just have to make the Cuban pork again...
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Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook
By Beth Hensperger
Harvard Common Press - 2004
This was very tasty - I modified it and added chicken thighs. I would change it quite a bit the next time I make it ( and I will) I would add another pepper, cut the sausage in 1/2 or 3/4, add more chicken, and maybe more rice - or I may cook rice on the side and have this (even though, yes it has rice) on top. It is a lot of one flavour (although good) so would like to break it up a bit. My husband thought it make be good with a heartier grain, a bulgur wheat etc, I'm not so sure - we just cooked ours a bit too long and the rice kind of mushed.
useful (1)
This was good, but I think a bit dry ( though I may have cooked it a bit long - I need 12 hour slow cooker recipes by time I get to eat dinner) I will try it again, but keep an eye on the pork - it doesn't have a lot of extra moisture added to it.
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